New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey

     NCAA Tournament Runner-up1999, 2003NCAA Tournament Frozen Four1977, 1979, 1982, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003NCAA Tournament appearances1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013Conference Tournament championships1979, 2002, 2003Conference regular season championships1992, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010Current uniform

The New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are a member of Hockey East. They play at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire.^[2]

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.^[3] 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. 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.^[4]

ECAC

In 1961 New Hampshire was one of 28 schools that were founding members of ECAC Hockey. 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.^[5] 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 ECAC Hockey 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 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.^[6] 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 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 (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, 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.

John "Jack" French

After his tour of duty in the US Navy, he worked at the UNH as the Athletic Equipment Manager for a total of 38 years from 1963-2001. He was beloved by the students and staff and holds the record for most games attended including hockey, football, baseball and basketball. He was a member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association.

Seasons

^[7]

Head coaches

As of the completion of 2023–24 season^[8]

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1922–1923	Hank Swasey	1	2–2–0	.500
1925–1936, 1937–1938	Ernest Christensen	12	55–54–8	.504
1936–1937	Carl Lundholm	1	3–5–0	.375
1938–1939	George Thurston	1	5–4–0	.556
1939–1943, 1946–1947	Anthony Dougal	5	15–28–0	.349
1947–1951	Joseph Petroski	4	9–20–0	.310
1951–1962	Horace "Pepper" Martin	11	76–76–3	.500
1962–1964	A. Barr Snively	2	23–22–0	.511
1964–1968	Rube Bjorkman	4	57–40–0	.588
1968–1986	Charlie Holt	18	347–232–18	.596
1986–1987, 1988–1990	Bob Kullen	4	37–66–8	.369
1987–1988	Dave O'Connor	1	7–20–3	.283
1990–2018	Dick Umile	28	598–375–114	.603
2018–Present	Michael Souza	6	78–102–21	.440
Totals	14 coaches	98 seasons	1312–1039–175	.554

Statistical Leaders

Source:^[9]

Career points leaders

Player	Years	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Ralph Cox	1975–1979	128	127	116	243
Jason Krog	1995–1999	151	94	144	238
Darren Haydar	1998–2002	158	102	117	219
Jamie Hislop	1972–1976	119	77	132	209
Mark Mowers	1994–1998	144	85	112	197
Louis Frigon	1967–1971	89	98	95	193
Bob Gould	1975–1979	135	91	101	192
Cliff Cox	1972–1976	108	87	88	175
Jon Fontas	1974–1978	107	72	102	174
Frank Roy	1975–1979	131	71	103	174
Joe Flanagan	1988–1992	140	85	89	174

Career goaltending leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

minimum 30 games played

Player	Years	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Ty Conklin	1998–2001	93	5580	57	23	12	202	1	.915	2.18
Kevin Regan	2004–2008	112	6599	70	29	10	250	9	.928	2.27
Casey DeSmith	2011–2014	97	5637	48	36	8	218	9	.923	2.32
Jeff Pietrasiak	2002–2006	55	2904	27	13	6	119	2	.917	2.46
Mike Ayers	2000–2004	102	5755	58	25	12	239	12	.914	2.49

Statistics current through the start of the 2019–20 season.

Current roster

As of July 10, 2023.^[10]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Jeremy Forman	Senior	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-09-22	Northbrook, Illinois	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
2		Jack Babbage	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-08-30	Tully, New York	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	—
3		Conor Lovett	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-04-07	Franklin, Massachusetts	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
5		Zach Hahn	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2002-08-06	Huntington, New York	P. A. L. (NCDC)	—
6		Marty Laviņš	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2003-04-10	Riga, Latvia	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
7		Stiven Sardarian	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-02-07	Saint Petersburg, Russia	Youngstown (USHL)	BUF, 88th overall 2021
8		Nikolai Jenson	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-28	Cold Spring, Minnesota	Youngstown (USHL)	—
9		Connor Sweeney	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-05-05	North Andover, Massachusetts	Islanders (NCDC)	—
10		Ronan Walsh	Freshman	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2002-05-03	Andover, New Hampshire	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
12		Liam Devlin	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-01-07	Needham, Massachusetts	Omaha (USHL)	—
13		Nick Cafarelli	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2001-12-31	Middleton, Massachusetts	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
15		Luis Lindner	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-16	Spittal an der Drau, Austria	American International (AHA)	—
16		Luke Reid	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-09-26	Warman, Saskatchewan	Chicago (USHL)	NSH, 166th overall 2020
17		Kristaps Skrastiņš	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-11-20	Grobiņa, Latvia	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
18		Harrison Blaisdell (A)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-03-18	Regina, Saskatchewan	North Dakota (NCHC)	WPG, 134th overall 2019
19		Brendan Fitzgerald	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2003-03-06	North Reading, Massachusetts	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
20		Colton Huard	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-11-27	Foothill Ranch, California	Chicago (USHL)	—
21		Cam Gendron	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1999-02-05	Hampstead, New Hampshire	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
22		J. P. Turner	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2003-01-31	East Falmouth, Massachusetts	Fargo (USHL)	—
23		Jason Siedem	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-10-17	Madison, New Jersey	Blackfalds (AJHL)	—
24		Robert Cronin	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2000-08-15	Plymouth, Massachusetts	Dubuque (USHL)	—
25		Nick Ring	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2003-10-26	Abington, Massachusetts	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
26		Morgan Winters	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-12-08	Osprey, Florida	Omaha (USHL)	—
28		Alex Gagne (A)	Junior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2002-08-12	Bedford, New Hampshire	Muskegon (USHL)	TBL, 192nd overall 2021
29		Cy LeClerc	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-08-17	Brentwood, New Hampshire	Janesville (NAHL)	—
30		Tyler Muszelik	Sophomore	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2004-07-01	Long Valley, New Jersey	NTDP (USHL)	FLA, 189th overall 2022
35		Rafe Gaughan	Senior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-02-11	Somersworth, New Hampshire	Northeast (NA3HL)	—
36		Ryan Conmy	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2004-10-23	Alexandria, Virginia	Sioux City (USHL)	LAK, 182nd overall 2023
37		Jakob Hellsten	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-02-02	Ljusdal, Sweden	North Dakota (NCHC)	—

Awards and honors

NCAA

Individual awards

All-American teams

AHCA First Team All-Americans

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

ECAC Hockey

Individual awards

All-Conference teams

First Team All-ECAC Hockey

Second Team All-ECAC Hockey

Hockey East

Individual awards

All-Conference teams

First Team All-Hockey East

Second Team All-Hockey East

Third Team All-Hockey East

Hockey East All-Rookie Team

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.

Name	Position	New Hampshire Tenure	Team	Year	Finish
Bob Miller	Center	1974–1975, 1976–1977	USA	1976	5th
Steve Leach	Right Wing	1984–1986	USA	1988	7th
Adrien Plavsic	Defenseman	1987–1988	CAN	1992	Silver
Jeff Lazaro	Right Wing	1986–1990	USA	1994	8th
James van Riemsdyk	Left Wing	2007–2009	USA	2014	4th
Bobby Butler	Right Wing	2006–2010	USA	2018	7th
Daniel Winnik	Forward	2003–2006	CAN	2022	6th

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 parentheses).^[13]

Wildcats in the NHL

As of July 1, 2023.

= NHL All-Star team

= NHL All-Star[14]

= NHL All-Star[14] and NHL All-Star team

= Hall of Famers

• 
  Ty Conklin
• 
  Casey DeSmith
• 
  Warren Foegele
• 
  Peter LeBlanc
• 
  Bryan Muir
• 
  Mike Sislo
• 
  Trevor Smith
• 
  James van Riemsdyk
• 
  Trevor van Riemsdyk
• 
  Daniel Winnik

WHA

Several players also were members of WHA teams.