Friends of UNH Hockey

Welcome to Friends of UNH Hockey

The Friends of UNH Hockey is the largest athletic booster organization at the University of New Hampshire and one of the most successful in college hockey. We have been supporting the Wildcats since 1972 and are looking forward to another exciting season of Hockey East action! You can read more about our history or join us right now using our new online system.

Be sure to check back throughout the season for more information. As a member of the Friends, you’ll also be kept up to date with Blue Lines, our monthly newsletter as well as notifications of upcoming events. GO CATS!

FAN FAVORITE VOTING STARTS FRIDAY

Each year UNH Hockey faithful cast their ballots for their favorite Wildcat. Past winner’s have included greats who names read like a UNH Hall of Fame roster. These players create palpable anticipation in the home crowd every time they touch the puck. Voting for this years Fan Favorite begins this Friday Night as the Wildcats take on Providence College. Anyone in attendance is encouraged to stop by the table located at the Box Office end of the concourse, and fill out a ballot. The winner will be announced at the last home game of the regular season.

OPERATION: HAT TRICK, FEB. 12TH

The Friends of UNH Hockey would like to remind our members that the second annual Operation Hat Trick Night at the Whittemore Center will take place on Friday February 12th as the UNH Men’s Hockey Team takes on the Friars of Providence College. For every 2 Operation Hat Trick Hats sold a third hat will be donated to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Hats will be available for sale for $20 the night of the game at the Friends of Hockey merchandise booth.

“The thing most wanted by those members of the military who have received head injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan is a baseball cap to cover their wounds, dressings and scars.”

‘CATS FACE OFF AGAINST MAINE

WILDCATS TRAVEL TO ORONO FOR WEEKEND SERIES
Oh what a lovely trip! This coming weekend UNH will make the trek up I-95 to face-off against the University of Maine in Orono. The two games will mark the end of a stretch where the Wildcats have played six of seven away from the friendly confines of the Whittemore Center. Starting on January 16 when they defeated Dartmouth, 5-2, in Manchester, the ‘Cats have won three of their four road games to solidify their hold on first place in Hockey East.

When the season started it was difficult to believe that the Black Bears would be making much noise in Hockey East. After all, last year they won just three of their last 21 games and barely eked into eighth place where they lost to eventual national champ Boston University. It was the second year in a row where Maine had a losing record and did not make the NCAA tournament. A far cry from their glory days when they routinely made the Frozen Four and won their two championships.

Picked to finish near the bottom of Hockey East, the Black Bears have surprised a lot of folks by currently holding onto fourth place. Last weekend they took three out four points at Vermont. Maine’s success has been predicated on their offense, which currently leads Hockey East in goals scored (88} and power play (30%) in overall games.

Up front they are led by sophomore Gustav Nyquist, who is tied for second (14 goals, 22 assists) with Bobby Butler for overall scoring in Hockey East. Nyquist, who also ranks third nationally in points per game (1.50), was the Hockey East Player of the Month for December. Other forwards to watch are sophomore Brian Flynn (7-17-24) and senior Tanner House (11-9-20).

On the blue line the leading performer is sophomore Will O’Neill, who ranks second in Hockey East scoring (5-17-22) behind Blake Kessel. Juniors Jeff Dimmen (4-11-15) and Josh Van Dyk (1-11-12) also bear watching. In goal for most of the season has been sophomore Scott Darling, who ranks second in Hockey East for both save percentage (.916) and goals against (2.39), league games only.

While the Black Bears continue to hold the advantage in the all-time series between the teams (54-45-5), UNH has won 10 of the last 12, including a five-game active winning streak at Alfond Arena. In their most recent meeting the ‘Cats won 5-2 on October 24 at the Whittemore Center. Stevie Moses had two goals in the second period to lead the victory.

Butler is the active leader in Wildcat scoring against Maine with five points in 11 games, while Peter LeBlanc and Mike Borisenok each have four career points. In net, Brian Foster is 3-1-0 lifetime against the Black Bears with a 2.00 GAA and a .921 save percentage.

UPDATES

FOSTER NAMED HOCKEY EAST GOALIE OF THE MONTH
For the second consecutive month, Brian Foster was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Month after sporting a 5-2-1 record in January. In the eight games, the Pembroke, NH native posted a 2.33 goals against average and .928 save percentage. Foster won two of the three overtime games that the Wildcats played this past month, including the scintillating 4-3 victory over Merrimack last Saturday night. His top save performance came the night before when he turned aside 40 of 43 shots in a 3-2 loss at Merrimack.

It is the fourth time in his career that Foster has been named Goalie of the Month, having copped the honor in October and February of last year. This season the senior netminder has been named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on four occasions. After a rough start to the season, Foster now ranks third in the league in goals against (2.59), second in save percentage (,915), and second in total saves (485). He also leads all Hockey East goaltenders in minutes played with 1042.08.

BUTLER & KESSEL NOMINATED FOR THE WALTER BROWN AWARD
Senior forward Bobby Butler and sophomore defenseman Blake Kessel were two of 16 semi-finalists nominated for the Walter A. Brown Award, given annually by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston to the best American born college hockey player in New England. Butler and Kessel were two of 11 players from Hockey East who were selected. Read more »

UNH SPLITS WITH MERRIMACK

THOMPSON WINS IT IN OT AT THE WHIT, 4-3
WARRIORS EDGE UNH AT HOME, 3-2

Paul Thompson’s goal with 11.1 seconds left in overtime lifted UNH to a 4-3 victory over Merrimack College on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center. The win gave the Wildcats a hard fought split in the weekend series against the ninth place Warriors and solidified their hold on first place in Hockey East. The winning goal came near the end of the extra five minutes when UNH outshot Merrimack 11-1 but could not dent Andrew Braithwaite (43 saves on the night). The sequence began in the right corner, where Phil DeSimone centered it out to Thompson in front. The junior’s first shot was blocked by Braithwaite, who then denied Bobby Butler on the rebound. With the puck still free, Thompson took a swipe at it and somehow it found its way through the maize of bodies, over Braithwaite’s shoulder and into the net.
“It came out of the scrum to me and I just threw it back on net,” Thompson said. “I don’t actually know how it went in; I think it might have hit something. I was actually trying to get a better shot off and kind of fanned on it a bit. It just stayed on the ice and I was lucky to get it in there.” Read more »

THE FAN’S TAKE OF THE GAME

Newmarket’s own Pete Williams, men’s league goalie extroadinaire, was one of the few UNH fans who made it to both games this past weekend. When we bumped into him on Saturday night at BU, all he wanted to talk about was Friday’s exciting overtime victory at Providence. Well, why not let us give us little taste of both of UNH’s victories over the weekend.

Another solid, solid weekend for the ‘Cats. Took the day off on Friday for the Providence trip – Providence Place, Thayer Street, Federal Hill. All topped off with a Cat win at Schneider. A beautiful thing. It had been awhile since I have been to the Coffin and I was very impressed with the rehab of the interior. It’s amazing what a can of paint can do. I am happy to note that Coach U agreed with me that the first period at Providence was one of the best we have played this year, capped with Paul Thompson’s shot from the corner along the goal line. He had no angle at all. Providence picked it up in the second but we came on strong again in the third and OT. I was very impressed with play of Greg Burke and, of course, Stevie Moses, who has so many moves I think he fakes himself out sometimes. Brian Foster also had some outstanding saves, especially with a flurry of about four shots in a row in the second. Plus a couple of good physical hits by Mike Beck and Damon Kipp. A clean, fun game to watch and nice to see OT go in our favor for a change.

An equally solid performance at the Whit South (aka Harry Agganis Arena) on Saturday. It’s always a pleasure to beat BU in their own rink (again!). The ‘Cats had great transition passing, though not as good as the Providence game. They’re really doing a nice job getting the puck out of their zone and on the attack and did a great job of finding the ‘trailer’ on the rush. Once again a great game by Foster, surviving the onslaught you knew was coming in the third. Grant Rollheiser as third star?? The team played flat out for 120 minutes and the results showed. Maybe it’s just me but I like the way we play on smaller rinks better than at the Whit. Wouldn’t we all love to replay the Badger series right now? Need I daresay that if we play like we did this past weekend, we can compete with anybody out there. Keep it up. Speed Kills.