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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Senior defenseman Anthony Wyse and the Wildcats play BC in their home opener Friday night.
Photo by: Jess Speechley
Insider Hockey Report: Up First at Home, BC and Dartmouth
10/31/2019 2:00:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
DURHAM, N.H. – Home at last.
The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team, already five games into the 2019-20 season, gets to play its first contests in the friendly confines of its home rink this weekend, taking on a couple of longtime and close rivals.
The Wildcats face No. 15 Boston College, once again stacked with talented and high-profile players coached by Jerry York, in their home opener Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Whittemore Center. Saturday night, Dartmouth College comes to town for another 7 p.m. game.
"It's awesome," said junior forward Charlie Kelleher about the first home weekend. "The support my first two years means so much to us, their coming out and being loud and being there through thick and thin. We're pretty excited to go out and try to get a couple of wins in front of them this weekend."
The UNH Marching Band will perform on the ice during the first intermission of Friday night's game and the first of a six-set pack of trading cards will be given away.
Season, group and individual game tickets – including a flexible, six-ticket mini-plan – are available for all home games by CLICKING HERE or by calling 603-862-4000. Group tickets start at $9. Friday night's game will be televised on NESN.
Head coach Mike Souza chuckled during his weekly press conference Wednesday when it was pointed out that he has a winning record against York and Boston College.
The Wildcats tied BC 2-2 on the road on Nov. 16 last season and behind junior Patrick Grasso's two goals, beat the Eagles, 6-2, in Durham on Jan. 12.
"I have a ton of respect for coach York, who doesn't?" Souza said. "What he's mean to college hockey. . . . To win over 1,000 games and just to think of the years in the business and the success in the business is unbelievable, the more I think about it."
BC is 2-3 so far this year, bringing York's career total for wins to 1,069. He's in his 48th season as a head coach, 26th at BC and the total wins are by far the best ever in college hockey. The closest to him in Division I is the late Ron Mason of Michigan State with 924. The closest coach still active in Division I is Rick Gotkin at Mercyhurst with 561.
And get this: York's lineup Friday night will likely include three first-round picks in the 2019 NHL entry draft. In fact, BC has three of the top 16 picks.
Freshman forward Matt Boldy was picked 12th by the Minnesota Wild, freshman goalie Spencer Knight was picked 13th by the Florida Panthers and freshman forward Alex Newhook was taken 16th by the Colorado Avalanche.
"It's the usual BC," said UNH senior defenseman Anthony Wyse. "They're super-skilled, like to play fast. We've got to do our best to neutralize their speed. That's what they're known for."
The Eagles, 2-3-0 overall and 0-1-1 in Hockey East, have played a tough schedule. They opened with wins over now-No. 7 Wisconsin, 5-3, and at Colgate, 3-0. They've lost their last three games, at No. 1 Denver, 3-0 and 6-4; and against No. 8 Providence, 6-2.
UNH is 2-2-1 overall and 1-1-0 in Hockey East.
The Wildcats beat Merrimack, 3-2 in overtime last Friday, and lost at Boston University, 3-0, on Saturday. They outshot the Terriers, 14-4, in the third period and the only goal in the 20 minutes was an empty-netter late.
"I thought that third period, even though we didn't score, was the best period we've played all year," Wyse said. "We have to get 'Ws,' but I thought we played real well in the third period and we have to build off that."
HOME AGAIN
WILDCAT NOTES
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team, already five games into the 2019-20 season, gets to play its first contests in the friendly confines of its home rink this weekend, taking on a couple of longtime and close rivals.
The Wildcats face No. 15 Boston College, once again stacked with talented and high-profile players coached by Jerry York, in their home opener Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Whittemore Center. Saturday night, Dartmouth College comes to town for another 7 p.m. game.
"It's awesome," said junior forward Charlie Kelleher about the first home weekend. "The support my first two years means so much to us, their coming out and being loud and being there through thick and thin. We're pretty excited to go out and try to get a couple of wins in front of them this weekend."
The UNH Marching Band will perform on the ice during the first intermission of Friday night's game and the first of a six-set pack of trading cards will be given away.
Season, group and individual game tickets – including a flexible, six-ticket mini-plan – are available for all home games by CLICKING HERE or by calling 603-862-4000. Group tickets start at $9. Friday night's game will be televised on NESN.
Head coach Mike Souza chuckled during his weekly press conference Wednesday when it was pointed out that he has a winning record against York and Boston College.
The Wildcats tied BC 2-2 on the road on Nov. 16 last season and behind junior Patrick Grasso's two goals, beat the Eagles, 6-2, in Durham on Jan. 12.
"I have a ton of respect for coach York, who doesn't?" Souza said. "What he's mean to college hockey. . . . To win over 1,000 games and just to think of the years in the business and the success in the business is unbelievable, the more I think about it."
BC is 2-3 so far this year, bringing York's career total for wins to 1,069. He's in his 48th season as a head coach, 26th at BC and the total wins are by far the best ever in college hockey. The closest to him in Division I is the late Ron Mason of Michigan State with 924. The closest coach still active in Division I is Rick Gotkin at Mercyhurst with 561.
And get this: York's lineup Friday night will likely include three first-round picks in the 2019 NHL entry draft. In fact, BC has three of the top 16 picks.
Freshman forward Matt Boldy was picked 12th by the Minnesota Wild, freshman goalie Spencer Knight was picked 13th by the Florida Panthers and freshman forward Alex Newhook was taken 16th by the Colorado Avalanche.
"It's the usual BC," said UNH senior defenseman Anthony Wyse. "They're super-skilled, like to play fast. We've got to do our best to neutralize their speed. That's what they're known for."
The Eagles, 2-3-0 overall and 0-1-1 in Hockey East, have played a tough schedule. They opened with wins over now-No. 7 Wisconsin, 5-3, and at Colgate, 3-0. They've lost their last three games, at No. 1 Denver, 3-0 and 6-4; and against No. 8 Providence, 6-2.
UNH is 2-2-1 overall and 1-1-0 in Hockey East.
The Wildcats beat Merrimack, 3-2 in overtime last Friday, and lost at Boston University, 3-0, on Saturday. They outshot the Terriers, 14-4, in the third period and the only goal in the 20 minutes was an empty-netter late.
"I thought that third period, even though we didn't score, was the best period we've played all year," Wyse said. "We have to get 'Ws,' but I thought we played real well in the third period and we have to build off that."
HOME AGAIN
- The Wildcats have five home games in November.
- The first of a six-set trading card series will be given away at the Boston College game.
- The UNH Marching Band will perform on the ice during the first intermission that night
- Season, group and individual tickets for all UNH home games are available at www.unhwildcats.com or by calling 603-862-4000.
- Group ticket options start at $9.
- A flexible six-ticket mini-plan is available.
- The Wildcats play No. 3 Massachusetts on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.
- Michigan is in town for games Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.
- UNH plays a pair of road games at Maine on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16.
- The Wildcats play Northeastern in Belfast, Ireland on Friday, Nov. 29 in the first round of the Friendship Four.
- They play either Colgate or Princeton the next day.
WILDCAT NOTES
- Dartmouth opens its season Friday night with a game at Harvard.
- UNH swept a pair of games from Dartmouth last season, winning 3-2 in Hanover on Dec. 7 and 4-0 in Durham the next night.
- Junior defenseman Max Gildon leads Hockey East with three power play goals.
- Kelleher has three goals and five assists to lead the team in scoring with eight points.
- Gildon has three goals and four assists for seven points.
- Sophomore forward Jackson Pierson also has seven points, with two goals and five assists.
- Junior forward Kohei Sato leads the team with four goals.
- The Wildcats continue to lead Hockey East in power play scoring with seven goals in 22 chances for 31.8 percent.
- They had two power play opportunities against BU and did not score.
- UNH has already matched its total for league road wins from last year.
- The Wildcats got their first road win against Vermont on Feb. 8 last season.
- Sophomore Ty Taylor made 19 saves and picked up a win in his first game of the season at Merrimack.
- Junior Mike Robinson was back in net against BU and made 22 saves.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Players Mentioned
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