University of New Hampshire Athletics
The 2008-09 Wildcats celebrate a Northeast Regional win over North Dakota.
Insider Report: Let The Regionals, And Memories, Begin
3/26/2019 4:38:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
Northeast Regional Central Website
DURHAM, N.H. – The 2008-09 season for the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team was ticking to a close in the NCAA Northeast Regional at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Wildcats were down to their final seconds and coach Dick Umile had goalie Brian Foster on the bench and sent five forwards and a defenseman – Peter LeBlanc, Jerry Pollastrone, Mike Sislo, Thomas Fortney, James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Kapstad - onto the ice for a faceoff in the North Dakota end for one last desperate push to force a tie.
There were 5.7 seconds left in the game and North Dakota clung to its 5-4 lead in the first-round game of the NCAA tournament.
Fortney, a senior, earned his spot on the ice through his success on faceoffs.
He won the faceoff back to Kapstad who slid it to Sislo for a one-timer. Sislo's shot went off the backboards and the puck bounced around and Pollastrone got it to Fortney's stick in front.
"I hadn't heard the horn yet," Fortney said later that night. "That was a good sign."
Fortney shot the puck into the net.
"I looked up and saw point-one," Fortney said. "I didn't know it was that close."
As close as could possibly be.
Fortney tied it officially at 19:59.9 of the third period. One-tenth of a second remained in regulation.
UNH and North Dakota went to overtime and LeBlanc took little time to make sure the last-second goal meant something – he blasted in a long shot for the game-winner just 45 seconds into OT.
Thursday is the 10th anniversary of one of the greatest wins – and the most dramatic finish – in UNH hockey history.
Friday and Saturday, the NCAA tournament and the Northeast Regional are back in Manchester – at what is now known as the SNHU Arena – and UNH is once again playing host to the event.
It's the eighth time the school has hosted the Northeast Regional since the first in Manchester in 2004. Every other year starting in 2007, UNH has been the host.
Massachusetts, the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional, plays No. 4 Harvard at 3 p.m. Friday on ESPN2. No. 2 seed Clarkson faces No. 3 Notre Dame at 6:30 on ESPNU.
The winners meet in the regional championship game Saturday, March 30 on ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. The winner of the regional title game will advance to the Frozen Four in Buffalo on April 11 and 13.
Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Northeast Regional can be purchased by phone at 800-745-3000, through the SNHU Arena's box office, online at ticketmaster.com and at NCAA.com/frozenfour.
Director of athletics Marty Scarano likes the field for this year's regional and is excited about the progress UNH made this year and its prospects of working its way back into the NCAAs.
"It's a great field and we're obviously delighted to see UMass here," Scarano said. "I think that will drive great attendance. The regionals are so important to us in many ways, really regardless of whether we're in it or not. It kind of puts a real national stamp, an endorsement if you would, for our hockey program, that we're willing to take on the enterprise of hosting these. It's considerable work and effort and some financial exposure."
The regionals have been well received.
"Again, if we're in it or not – and we fully intend on being in it again – it's great for college hockey," Scarano said. "I think it's a great environment. We do it really well. I'm always proud of my staff. All these years of us doing it, we never take it for granted and the staff works really hard and I think we have one of the best regionals in the United States. We've been told that by a number of people."
UNH did little in the way of hosting NCAA events before Scarano arrived in the summer of 2000.
"I said if we want to have national recognition, we've got to take on some of these events," Scarano said. "I remember the regionals at the time really took on a different meaning. Manchester had spent all that money on the arena. That was a huge endeavor for the city of Manchester. The regionals became bigger than UNH. It was about the city of Manchester and about the state."
Scarano's staff, led by his assistants Steve Metcalf and Dot Sheehan, led the way and more than 10,000 fans packed the arena for the inaugural regional in 2004.
"Dot Sheehan did a great job of including anyone who was anybody in the city of Manchester and government to be there for that event," Scarano said. "We got off to a great start in the very first one and we've never really looked back. In addition, the management team at the arena, Tim Bechert and his staff, have been wonderful partners all these years. It's a shared partnership and they do a fabulous job for us."
This weekend, with Hockey East champion Massachusetts and its in-state rival Harvard in the first game and Notre Dame and Clarkson in the second, more regional memories will be made.
Massachusetts is led by defenseman Cale Makar, who should be skating in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets before long. Notre Dame won the Northeast Regional in 2017 and was the runnerup for the NCAA title last season.
For Scarano and Wildcat fans, the dramatics of 2009 will be tough, probably impossible, to match.
"I don't think anything will be better," Scarano said. "The overtime win against North Dakota is one of the top memories in UNH history. I remember being in the runway with Paul Chapman, our strength coach, and I could barely see. When we scored, he almost crushed my ribs. He picked me up over his head."
Scarano and his jubilant group – including UNH president Mark Huddleston and UNH alum and longtime fan, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch - whooped it up in a runway at the opposite end of the ice from where the goal was scored.
"Mark Huddleston was there and he was brand-new," Scarano said. "It was his first go-around. John Lynch is jumping around. We're all jumping around. It was great. You can't even put appropriate words around how you're feeling in those moments."
THE NCAAs
OFFICIAL UNH GEAR:
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
DURHAM, N.H. – The 2008-09 season for the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team was ticking to a close in the NCAA Northeast Regional at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Wildcats were down to their final seconds and coach Dick Umile had goalie Brian Foster on the bench and sent five forwards and a defenseman – Peter LeBlanc, Jerry Pollastrone, Mike Sislo, Thomas Fortney, James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Kapstad - onto the ice for a faceoff in the North Dakota end for one last desperate push to force a tie.
There were 5.7 seconds left in the game and North Dakota clung to its 5-4 lead in the first-round game of the NCAA tournament.
Fortney, a senior, earned his spot on the ice through his success on faceoffs.
He won the faceoff back to Kapstad who slid it to Sislo for a one-timer. Sislo's shot went off the backboards and the puck bounced around and Pollastrone got it to Fortney's stick in front.
"I hadn't heard the horn yet," Fortney said later that night. "That was a good sign."
Fortney shot the puck into the net.
"I looked up and saw point-one," Fortney said. "I didn't know it was that close."
As close as could possibly be.
Fortney tied it officially at 19:59.9 of the third period. One-tenth of a second remained in regulation.
UNH and North Dakota went to overtime and LeBlanc took little time to make sure the last-second goal meant something – he blasted in a long shot for the game-winner just 45 seconds into OT.
Thursday is the 10th anniversary of one of the greatest wins – and the most dramatic finish – in UNH hockey history.
Friday and Saturday, the NCAA tournament and the Northeast Regional are back in Manchester – at what is now known as the SNHU Arena – and UNH is once again playing host to the event.
It's the eighth time the school has hosted the Northeast Regional since the first in Manchester in 2004. Every other year starting in 2007, UNH has been the host.
Massachusetts, the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional, plays No. 4 Harvard at 3 p.m. Friday on ESPN2. No. 2 seed Clarkson faces No. 3 Notre Dame at 6:30 on ESPNU.
The winners meet in the regional championship game Saturday, March 30 on ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. The winner of the regional title game will advance to the Frozen Four in Buffalo on April 11 and 13.
Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Northeast Regional can be purchased by phone at 800-745-3000, through the SNHU Arena's box office, online at ticketmaster.com and at NCAA.com/frozenfour.
Director of athletics Marty Scarano likes the field for this year's regional and is excited about the progress UNH made this year and its prospects of working its way back into the NCAAs.
"It's a great field and we're obviously delighted to see UMass here," Scarano said. "I think that will drive great attendance. The regionals are so important to us in many ways, really regardless of whether we're in it or not. It kind of puts a real national stamp, an endorsement if you would, for our hockey program, that we're willing to take on the enterprise of hosting these. It's considerable work and effort and some financial exposure."
The regionals have been well received.
"Again, if we're in it or not – and we fully intend on being in it again – it's great for college hockey," Scarano said. "I think it's a great environment. We do it really well. I'm always proud of my staff. All these years of us doing it, we never take it for granted and the staff works really hard and I think we have one of the best regionals in the United States. We've been told that by a number of people."
UNH did little in the way of hosting NCAA events before Scarano arrived in the summer of 2000.
"I said if we want to have national recognition, we've got to take on some of these events," Scarano said. "I remember the regionals at the time really took on a different meaning. Manchester had spent all that money on the arena. That was a huge endeavor for the city of Manchester. The regionals became bigger than UNH. It was about the city of Manchester and about the state."
Scarano's staff, led by his assistants Steve Metcalf and Dot Sheehan, led the way and more than 10,000 fans packed the arena for the inaugural regional in 2004.
"Dot Sheehan did a great job of including anyone who was anybody in the city of Manchester and government to be there for that event," Scarano said. "We got off to a great start in the very first one and we've never really looked back. In addition, the management team at the arena, Tim Bechert and his staff, have been wonderful partners all these years. It's a shared partnership and they do a fabulous job for us."
This weekend, with Hockey East champion Massachusetts and its in-state rival Harvard in the first game and Notre Dame and Clarkson in the second, more regional memories will be made.
Massachusetts is led by defenseman Cale Makar, who should be skating in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets before long. Notre Dame won the Northeast Regional in 2017 and was the runnerup for the NCAA title last season.
For Scarano and Wildcat fans, the dramatics of 2009 will be tough, probably impossible, to match.
"I don't think anything will be better," Scarano said. "The overtime win against North Dakota is one of the top memories in UNH history. I remember being in the runway with Paul Chapman, our strength coach, and I could barely see. When we scored, he almost crushed my ribs. He picked me up over his head."
Scarano and his jubilant group – including UNH president Mark Huddleston and UNH alum and longtime fan, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch - whooped it up in a runway at the opposite end of the ice from where the goal was scored.
"Mark Huddleston was there and he was brand-new," Scarano said. "It was his first go-around. John Lynch is jumping around. We're all jumping around. It was great. You can't even put appropriate words around how you're feeling in those moments."
THE NCAAs
- UNH is hosting the 2019 NCAA Men's Hockey Northeast Regional at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H., on Friday and Saturday.
- The No. 1 seed in Manchester plays No. 4 Harvard at 3 p.m. on Friday on ESPN2.
- No. 2 seed Clarkson plays No. 3 Notre Dame at 6:30 p.m. on Friday on ESPNU.
- The Northeast Regional winner advances to the Frozen Four in Buffalo, April 11-13.
- Harvard is the only one of the four teams in Manchester that has won an NCAA national championship.
- The Crimson won the 1989 title.
- Harvard coach Ted Donato was a sophomore forward in 1989 and was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.
- Massachusetts has an overall record of 28-9-0.
- Clarkson is 26-10-2.
- Notre Dame is 22-13-3.
- Harvard is 19-10-3.
OFFICIAL UNH GEAR:
- Check out UNHShop.com for the latest in official UNH Wildcats' merchandise.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
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