Wildcats Host No. 8 Boston College Friday (7 PM, ESPN3); Travel to No. 10 UMass Lowell Saturday (7 PM)

University of New Hampshire Men's Hockey
No. 8 Boston College (17-9-2, 12-3-1 HEA) at New Hampshire (11-11-4, 6-5-3 HEA) - Buy Tickets
Date: Friday, February 3, 2017 - 7:00 PM
ESPN3: Dan Parkhurst (Play-by-Play), Pete Webster (Analyst)
Radio: Mike Murphy (Play-by-Play) // Nate Bridges (Analyst) (6:30 PM Pregame Show)
Promotions/Giveaways: The first 1,500 fans that night will enjoy a limited-edition I Believe in UNH T-shirt, and every fan will again receive a free shaker stick. In addition, the popular chuck-a-puck makes its long-awaited return to the Whittemore Center with prizes at stake.
Next Game: Saturday, Feb. 4 - 7 PM at UMass Lowell
Next Home Game: Saturday, Feb. 18 - 7 PM vs. Boston University - Buy Tickets
Promotion: Blue out for BU

What to Know...

The University of New Hampshire is coming off a 0-2-0 weekend against Providence College at home.
UNH fell by a score of 3-0 on Friday, Jan. 27 and 3-2 on Saturday, Jan. 28.
In Saturday's loss, junior netminder Danny Tirone made 45 saves. He now has 690 on the season which is tops in Hockey East.
Senior forward and Hobey Baker Award candidate Tyler Kelleher had a goal and an assist in the game. He leads Hockey East in points (43) and is tied for second in the nation. He leads the country in assist with 28.
Freshman forward Patrick Grasso scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season in Saturday's game, the most by any freshman in the nation.
Boston College has been the victors of its last three games, most recently with a 6-4 win over Notre Dame.
Senior Matthew Gaudreau leads the team in points with 24 on six goals and 18 assists.
Friday's game will be the 150th meeting between UNH and BC in the all-time series. BC holds a 72-63-14 advantage.
UNH head coach Dick Umile and BC head coach Jerry York have a combined 1,611 wins in their head coaching careers and have coached a combined total of 2,782 games.
UNH holds a 17-10-3 advantage over BC at the Whittemore Center.
The Wildcats take on No. 10 UMass Lowell on Saturday, Feb. 4. UNH's last 10 of 12 games of the season (Jan. 20-Feb. 25) are against teams ranked in the top-20 nationally.
On Friday, Feb. 3, the first 1,500 fans will receive a free, limited edition 'I Believe in UNH' t-shirt while all fans will receive a shaker pom stick.
For more information on men's hockey, visit www.UNHWildcats.com.

Vote for TK: The fan voting for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award has begun and Tyler Kelleher is a candidate for the award. He can be voted for by visiting the Hobey Baker Award page on Facebook.

The Great Wall of Tirone: Junior netminder Danny Tirone leads Hockey East in saves with 690. He is ranked fourth in the nation in the category. He has made 40-plus saves in a game three times this season and 10 times in his career.

Milestone Watch: Senior forward Tyler Kelleher is closing in on 100 assists for his career (99) and 150 points in his career (147). He would be the 17th Wildcat to ever dish out 100 assists and the 25th 'Cat to tally 150 points.

Powerful Power Play: In Sunday's 7-4 win over Brown (Jan. 8), the Wildcats went 4-for-5 on power plays and converted the first four consecutively. It was the first time UNH had four ppgs in a game since Feb. 23, 2008 against Boston College (4-for-8). UNH scored each goal under one minute into the power play, using only 1:43 total out of eight minutes.

Helping out Five Times: Tyler Kelleher had five assists in Sunday's 7-4 win at Brown (Jan. 8). He was the first 'Cat to tally five assists since Nick Sorkin did on Nov. 26, 2011.

You Have Passed: With Kelleher's assist in the Jan. 20 game at Notre Dame, he is now one point ahead of head coach Dick Umile on the all-time scoring list at UNH. He has 147 points on 48 goals and 99 assists in 139 games played.

Offensive Defenseman: Senior captain Matias Cleland was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Jan. 9 for his four-assist performance against Brown on Jan. 8. The four points were a career high. He is fourth in the nation in assists among all skaters with 24.

What a Warrior: Senior forward Tyler Kelleher was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Month for December by Hockey East. He had six goals and five assists during the month with three two-goal games.

Five is Fine: Senior forward Tyler Kelleher recorded a career-high five points against the University of Massachusetts on Friday, Nov. 22 with one goal and four assists. He was the first 'Cat to record five points in a game since Kevin Goumas on Nov. 24, 2012.

Rookie of the Month: Freshman forward Patrick Grasso was named the HCA National Rookie of the Month as well as the HE Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month on Wednesday, Nov. 2. He was awarded the league Rookie of the Month accolade again on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Four-on-Four: Patrick Grasso scored four times on four shots against Merrimack in the 6-2 win on Saturday, Oct. 29. He was the first Wildcat to score four goals in a game since Steve Moses in 2012. He netted three goals in the first period in the span of 3:56.

Grasso's National Ranking (Updated 2/1):

Among Freshmen All Players Totals

Goals 1st T-9th 16 goals

Points 3rd T-31st 26 points

Power Play Goals 1st T-6th 8 goals

Power Play Points 1st T-10th 15 points

Hat Tricks T-1st T-7th 1 hat trick

350 and Counting: Head coach Dick Umile recorded his 350th Hockey East win in the 6-2 triumph over Merrimack (Oct. 29). His league record is 354-193-91. He has the most wins among active HE coaches and is second all-time to Jack Parker (BU; 421).

Longevity: Umile is the third longest tenured coach at their current institution as he is entering his 27th season with the 'Cats. Red Berenson (Michigan) is going into his 33rd season while Rick Gotkin (Mercyhurst) is going into his 29th season.

'C' is for Captain, and Cleland: Senior blueliner Matias Cleland was elected captain by his teammates and is the first Wildcat to be a lone captain with no assistants since James Richmond in 1986-87.

Wildcat Blue Genes: The incoming freshman class has many NHL ties. Brendan van Riemsdyk is the youngest brother of James van Riemsdyk ('09) and Trevor van Riemsdyk ('14), both of whom play in the NHL. Joe Sacco is the son of Boston Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco, who played 738 games in the NHL. Patrick Grasso is the nephew of Joe Mullen, who won three Stanley Cups. He is currently an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers. Nick Nonis is the son of Dave Nonis, who was a two-year captain at Maine and the former General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks (2004-08) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (2013-15) and is currently the consultant to the GM for Anaheim.

Wildcats Through and Through: Head coach Dick Umile ('72) and associate head coaches Glenn Stewart ('94) and Mike Souza ('00) are all graduates and former players of UNH. Assistant AD for Hockey Operations Colin Shank ('05) is also a graduate of UNH.

Three Coaches, 402 Points: Umile, Stewart and Souza are each members of the Century Club for the men's hockey program. Souza tallied 156 points (66g, 90a), Umile 144 points (60g, 84a) and Stewart notched 102 points (51g, 51a).

Where Kelleher Ranks in his Career Nationally (Updated 2/1):

Points:

1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 157

2. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 147

3. Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 135

4. Max French - Bentley - 130

5. Austin Ortega - Omaha - 128

Assists:

1. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 99

2. Mike Vecchione - Union - 96

3. Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 78

4. Alexander Kerfoot - Harvard - 76

Justin Danforth - Sacred Heart - 76

Points Per Game (Min. 100 games)

1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 1.15 (137 games played)

2. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 1.06 (139 games played)

3. Max French - Bentley University - 1.04 (125 games played)

4. Alexander Kerfoot - Harvard - 0.98 (106 games played)

5. C.J. Smith - UMass Lowell - 0.97 (106 games played)

Wildcats Drafted by NHL Teams: Junior Shane Eiserman and sophomore Marcus Vela have both been drafted by NHL organizations. Eiserman was taken by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round of the 2014 draft as the 100th overall pick. Vela was picked in the seventh round of the 2015 draft as the 190th pick.

Granite State Connection: Three Wildcats hail from the Granite State; Chris Miller of Windham, Nick Nonis of Hampton Falls and Joe Lazzaro of Hampstead.

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