The New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey team is a

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) Division I

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

program that represents the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

. The Wildcats are a member of Hockey East. They play at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire.

History

Early years

The first New Hampshire ice hockey team played in January 1925, winning its first two games in a contest held in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...

. A year later, under the stewardship of Ernest Christensen, UNH played its first home game at the UNH ice rink, an outdoor facility that was completely dependent on cold weather for its surface. The Wildcats would play a small number of games for their first 15 seasons, fluctuating between an undefeated season in 1927 and a winless campaign in 1932. Christensen retired in 1938 and the team eventually came under the tutelage of Anthony Dougal but his tenure was suspended in 1943 due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The team finally returned to the ice in January 1947 with Dougal remaining for one year before handing the program over to Joseph Petroski. Horace "Pepper" Martin took over after four rather poor seasons and New Hampshire's fortunes began to change. By the mid-1950s the Wildcats started to play more and win more games than they ever had before and in 1955 an artificial ice rink was constructed on campus to help the team play more than a handful of home games.

ECAC

In 1961 New Hampshire was one of 28 schools that were founding members of

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

. Martin turned the team over to A. Barr Snively and plans were underway to replace the Harry C. Batchelder Rink with an indoor ice rink. In the offseason of 1964, two events happened that hampered the ice hockey program. First, in April, head coach Snively suffered a heart attack and tragically died. With the school searching for a replacement the ECAC announced that it was dividing itself into two separate tiers. 'Major' programs would continue on with

but 'minor' schools would be forced to join the newly-formed ECAC 2. Because their indoor facility had not yet been completed New Hampshire was forced out of the top tier. Rube Bjorkman was eventually named as head coach and he led the team for four years. During his tenure, the indoor arena was completed and christened as the Snively Arena after his late predecessor and a year later the program was readmitted into the top echelon of college hockey. It was Bjorkman's successor, Charlie Holt, who put New Hampshire on the college hockey map. In Holt's first season UNH played its first postseason game, earning Holt his first of three Spencer Penrose Awards. In his first five seasons, the Wildcats finished with a winning record and then won the ECAC regular season championship in his sixth year. The Wildcats made their first NCAA appearance in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and captured their first Conference championship two years later, but no matter how good Holt's teams were national success continued to elude him. under Holt the Wildcats went 0–6 in the frozen four and 2–8 in the tournament overall. While the wins started to come few and far between in the mid-1980s Holt continued to helm the program as it left ECAC Hockey to form Hockey East with six other northeastern schools.

Bob Kullen

Holt stepped down in 1986 and was replaced by long-time assistant Bob Kullen. In his first year the team saw marginal improvement but that summer Kullen was diagnosed with a rare form of heart disease that necessitated a transplant and his missing an entire season to recuperate. Dave O'Connor served as the interim head coach for 1987–88 allowing Kullen to return in the fall of '88. In two years New Hampshire saw its wins total improve to 12 and then 17 but by 1990 Kullen started rejecting his new heart and was forced to resign. Another UNH assistant, Dick Umile, was named as his replacement and unfortunately, Kullen died in November 1990 at the age of 41. Hockey East swiftly renamed its coach of the year award in his honor while the team continued the upward swing he began, allowing Umile to be the first recipient of the rechristened award.

Umile years

In Umile second season New Hampshire made the NCAA tournament for the first time in almost a decade and retroactively finished first in the conference after

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

was forced to forfeit 13 games. The team continued to play well for several seasons but after a disappointing season in 1996, the team won its first Hockey East Championship and set a new program record with 28 wins. The following year the Wildcats made the Frozen Four for the first time in 16 years and then reached even higher in 1999. in the penultimate year of the millennium the Wildcats won 30 games for the first time, establishing a still-record of 31 victories (as of 2019), winning their second conference title (first outright) and were led by sophomore goaltender Ty Conklin and senior center Jason Krog, the latter won the NCAA scoring title by 16 points and captured the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton Universit ...

(UNH's only recipient as of 2019). Despite losing in the Hockey East tournament finale The team received the #2 overall seed and a bye into the second round. The Wildcats defeated two Michigan schools to reach their first National Championship game where they would ultimately fall in overtime to conference rival Maine. UNH would continue to be a power in Hockey East, winning back to back conference championships in 2002 and 2003 and reached their second NCAA title game in '03 where they lost to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 5-1. UNH would make the NCAA tournament every year from 2002 through 2011 but the team could not make it out of the Regionals after 2003. Starting in 2012 the program began a slow decline, ending up dead-last in the conference in 2017–18. After that season Umile decided to retire, leaving the school as the all-time leader in just about every coaching category and recording the third most wins all-time for one school at the Division I level. Umile's final act for the program was to name his successor, allowing 1999 alumnus Michael Souza to become the 14th head coach in program history.

Head coaches

As of the completion of 2021–22 season

Statistical Leaders

Source:

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending ...

'' minimum 30 games played Statistics current through the start of the 2019–20 season.

Current roster

As of August 23, 2022.

Awards and honors

Hockey Hall of Fame

Source: *

Rod Langway Rodney Cory Langway (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Associati ...

(2002)

United States Hockey Hall of Fame

Source: * Charlie Holt (1997) *

(1999)

NCAA

Individual awards

* Jason Krog: 1999 Spencer Penrose Award * Charlie Holt: 1969, 1974, 1979 * Dick Umile: 1999 NCAA Scoring Champion * Louis Frigon: 1971 * Jason Krog: 1999 * Tyler Kelleher: 2017

All-American teams

AHCA First Team All-Americans *1960–61: Rod Blackburn, G *1972–73: Gordie Clark, F *1973–74: Cap Raeder, G; Gordie Clark, F *1975–76: Cliff Cox, F; Jamie Hislop, F *1976–77: Tim Burke, D; Bob Miller, F *1977–78: Ralph Cox, F *1978–79: Ralph Cox, F *1981–82: Andy Brickley, F *1997–98: Mark Mowers, F *1998–99: Jason Krog, F *2000–01: Ty Conklin, G *2001–02:

Darren Haydar Darren J. Haydar (born October 22, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Haydar was selected by the Nashville Predators in the ninth round (248th overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He is one of the top AHL players of all ...

Tim Murray Timothy Patrick Murray (born June 7, 1968) is an American lawyer and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 71st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2013, when he resigned to become the head of the Worcester Chamber of Co ...

, D; Jason Krog, F *1998-99: Jayme Filipowicz, D *1999–00: Ty Conklin, G *2002–03: Mike Ayers, G; Lanny Gare, F; Colin Hemingway, F *2004–05: Brian Yandle, D *2005–06: Brian Yandle, D *2006–07: Trevor Smith, D *2007–08: Brad Flaishans, D; Matt Fornataro, F *2009–10: Brian Foster, G; Blake Kessel, D *2016–17: Tyler Kelleher, F

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

Individual awards

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

* Ralph Cox, C: 1979 Rookie of the Year * Bob Miller, F: 1975 * Normand Lacombe, RW: 1982 Most Outstanding Player in Tournament * Greg Moffett, G: 1979

All-Conference teams

First Team All-ECAC Hockey *1971–72: Gordie Clark, F; Guy Smith, F *1972–73: Gordie Clark, F *1973–74: Gordie Clark, F *1974–75: Jamie Hislop, F *1975–76: Jamie Hislop, F *1976–77: Bob Miller, F *1977–78: Ralph Cox, F *1978–79: Ralph Cox, F *1981–82: Andy Brickley, F *1997–98: Mark Mowers, F *1998–99: Jason Krog, F *2000–01: Ty Conklin, G *2001–02:

, F; Colin Hemingway, F *2003–04: Steve Saviano, F *2004–05: Sean Collins, F *2007–08: Kevin Regan, G; Mike Radja, F *2009–10: Bobby Butler, F *2010–11: Blake Kessel, D; Paul Thompson, F *2012–13: Trevor van Riemsdyk, F *2015–16: Andrew Poturalski, F Second Team All-ECAC Hockey *1968–69: Rick Metzer, G *1973–74: Cap Raeder, G *1975–76: Cliff Cox, F; Tim Burke, F *1976–77: Tim Burke, D *1978–79: Greg Moffett, G; Bob Gould, F *1982–83: Normand Lacombe, F *1983–84: Bruce Gillies, G; Brian Byrnes, D

Hockey East

Individual awards

* Jason Krog: 1999 * Ty Conklin: 2000 *

: 2002 * Mike Ayers: 2003 * Steve Saviano: 2004 * Kevin Regan: 2008 * Bobby Butler: 2010 * Paul Thompson: 2011 Rookie of the Year * Jeff Levy: 1991 * Mark Mowers: 1995 *

: 1999 * Sean Collins: 2002 Best Defensive Forward * John Sadowski: 2000 * Preston Callander: 2005 Len Ceglarski Award * Joe Flanagan: 1992 * Todd Hall: 1996 * Steve Saviano: 2004 * Jackson Pierson: 2022 Best Defensive Defenseman * Steve O'Brien: 1999 *Joe Charlebois: 2008 Three-Stars Award * Colin Hemingway: 2002 * Bobby Butler: 2010 * Paul Thompson: 2011 * John Henrion: 2013 * Tyler Kelleher: 2017

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

* Dick Umile: 1991, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2010 Tournament Most Valuable Player *

: 2002

All-Conference teams

First Team All-Hockey East *1994–95: Eric Flinton, F *1995–96: Todd Hall, D; Mark Mowers, F *1996–97:

, D; Eric Boguniecki, F; Mark Mowers, F; Jason Krog, F *1997–98: Jason Krog, F *1998–99: Jayme Filipowicz, D; Jason Krog, F *1999–00: Ty Conklin, G *2000–01: Ty Conklin, G *2001–02:

, F; Colin Hemingway, F *2002–03: Mike Ayers, G; Lanny Gare, F *2003–04: Steve Saviano, F *2006–07: Trevor Smith, F *2007–08: Kevin Regan, G; Brad Flaishans, D; Mike Radja, F *2009–10: Brian Foster, G; Blake Kessel, D; Bobby Butler, F *2010–11: Blake Kessel, D; Paul Thompson, F *2012–13: Trevor van Riemsdyk, D *2015–16: Andrew Poturalski, F *2016–17: Tyler Kelleher, F Second Team All-Hockey East *1990–91: Jeff Levy, G *1991–92: Scott Morrow, F *1992–93: Rob Donovan, F *1997–98: Derek Bekar, F; Mark Mowers, F *1998-99: Ty Conklin, G;

, F *1999–00: Michael Souza, F;

, F *2001–02: Mike Ayers, G; Garrett Stafford, D *2002–03: Colin Hemingway, F *2004–05: Brian Yandle, D; Sean Collins, F *2005–06: Brian Yandle, D;

Daniel Winnik Daniel Spencer Winnik (born March 6, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who is currently playing with Geneve-Servette HC in the National League (NL). Playing career After two seasons in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey L ...

, F *2006–07: Chris Murray, D *2007–08: Craig Switzer, D; Matt Fornataro, F *2008–09: James van Riemsdyk, F *2013–14: Eric Knodel, D; Kevin Goumas, F *2016–17: Tyler Kelleher, F Third Team All-Hockey East Hockey East All-Rookie Team *1984–85: Stephen Leach, F *1987–88: Pat Morrison, G; Chris Winnes, F *1990–91: Jeff Levy, G *1993–94:

, D; Eric Boguniecki, F *1994–95: Mark Mowers, F *1995–96: Derek Bekar, F *1996–97: Sean Matile, G; Michael Souza, F *1997–98:

Matthias Trattnig Matthias Trattnig (born April 22, 1979) is an Austrian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 4th round (94th overall) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and was a leader at the University of Maine. Tr ...

, F *1998–99: Ty Conklin, G;

, F *2001–02: Sean Collins, F *2003–04: Brett Hemingway, F *2004–05: Kevin Regan, G *2007–08: James van Riemsdyk, F *2011–12: Casey DeSmith, G; Trevor van Riemsdyk, D *2016–17: Patrick Grasso, F

Program Records

Hockey East

Individual

*Most Career Short-Handed Goals: Mark Mowers; 8 *Longest Goalie Win Streak: Kevin Regan; 11

Olympians

This is a list of New Hampshire alumni were a part of an Olympic team.

New Hampshire Wildcats Hall of Fame

The following is a list of people associated with the New Hampshire men's ice hockey program who were elected into the New Hampshire Wildcats Hall of Fame (induction date in parenthesis). * Gordie Clark (1982) * Ernest Christensen (1982) * Rod Blackburn (1983) * Cliff Cox (1983) * Jamie Hislop (1983) * A. Barr Snively (1983) *

Hank Swasey Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

(1983) * Tim Burke (1984) * Louis Frigon (1985) * Russell Martin (1986) * Roger Magenau (1986) *

Josiah Bartlett Josiah Bartlett ( – May 19, 1795) was an American Founding Father, physician, statesman, a delegate to the Continental Congress for New Hampshire, and a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. He served as ...

(1986) * Ralph Cox (1986) * Howard Hanley (1987) * Graham Bruder (1987) * John Gray (1987) * Bob Gould (1988) * William Weir (1989) * Cap Raeder (1989) * Charlie Holt (1989) * Mickey Goulet (1990) *

(1990) * Albert Brodeur (1991) * J. Allan Clark (1991) * Edward Noel (1991) * Greg Moffett (1992) * Horace "Pepper" Martin (1993) * R. Braden Houston (1993) *

Frank Roy Francis Roy (born 29 August 1958) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell and Wishaw from 1997 to 2015. He was a Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury from 2006 to 2010, ...

(1993) * Dick Umile (1994) * Bob Miller (1994) * Donald Perkins (1995) * Michael Ontkean (1995) * Herbert Merrill (1996) * Raymond March Jr. (1996) * Guy Smith (1996) * Dave Lumley (1997) * Raymond Patten (1997) * Andy Brickley (1998) * Kenneth McKinnon (1999) * Bob Towse (2000) * Richard David (2000) * Kevin Dean (2000) * Bob Towse (2000) * Don Otis (2001) * Peter Van Buskirk (2001) * Paul Powers (2003) * Jason Krog (2005) * Mark Mowers (2006) * Ty Conklin (2008) * Dave O'Connor (2008) *

(2012)

Wildcats in the NHL

As of July 1, 2022. File:Ty Conklin on the ice during warm ups.jpg, Ty Conklin File:Casey DeSmith and Sidney Crosby 2017-12-09 17847.jpg, Casey DeSmith File:Warren Foegele (39958893991).jpg, Warren Foegele File:Peter LeBlanc IceHogs.jpg,

Peter LeBlanc Peter LeBlanc (born February 3, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who last played for the Essen Mosquitoes of the German Oberliga. He played a solitary game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Washington Capitals. Pl ...

File:Bryan Muir.jpg, Bryan Muir File:Mike Sislo - New Jersey Devils.jpg, Mike Sislo File:Trevor Smith 2012-02-25.JPG, Trevor Smith File:James van Riemsdyk 2012-04-021.JPG, James van Riemsdyk File:Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk.jpg, Trevor van Riemsdyk File:Daniel Winnik.jpg,

WHA

Several players also were members of WHA teams. Source:

References

External links

New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Hampshire Wildcats Men's Ice Hockey Ice hockey teams in New Hampshire

History

Early years

ECAC

Bob Kullen

Umile years

Head coaches

Statistical Leaders

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

Current roster

Awards and honors

Hockey Hall of Fame

United States Hockey Hall of Fame

NCAA

Individual awards

All-American teams

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

Individual awards

All-Conference teams

Hockey East

Individual awards

All-Conference teams

Program Records

Hockey East

Individual

Olympians

New Hampshire Wildcats Hall of Fame

Wildcats in the NHL

WHA

See also

References

External links