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2022–23 New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey season

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2022–23 New Hampshire Wildcats
men's ice hockey season
Conference10th Hockey East
Home iceWhittemore Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall11–21–3
Conference6–13–3
Home6–8–3
Road5–13–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachMike Souza
Assistant coachesGlenn Stewart
Jeff Giuliano
Ty Conklin
Captain(s)Chase Stevenson
Alternate captain(s)Harrison Blaisdell
Kalle Eriksson
Alex Gagne
New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons
« 2021–22 2023–24 »

The 2022–23 New Hampshire Wildcats Men's ice hockey season was the 97th season of play for the program and the 39th in the Hockey East conference. The Wildcats represented the University of New Hampshire and were coached by Mike Souza, in his 5th season.

Season

[edit]

With about half of the roster changing in the offseason, the outlook for New Hampshire was a complete unknown. Gone was the team's starting goaltender, as well as its top three scorers. David Fessenden, who had previously been a starter at Alabama–Huntsville, held the inside track for the job at the start but he ended up sharing the job with Tyler Muszelik for most of the season. The revamped offense seemed capable enough in the first few games, enabling the team to post an early 3–2 record. Unfortunately, after that decent start, the scoring completely dried up. Over a nearly 8-week stretch, New Hampshire went 0–12–1 and scored more two goals on just one occasion. While the defense wasn't particularly strong in that span, the offense squandered the chances they got by averaging slightly more than 1 goal per game. It wasn't until the series with Arizona State in min-December that the team pulled out of its tailspin but they still ended the first half of the season 10 games under .500.

With the Wildcats on pace for one of their worst performances in history, UNH stumbled after their return from the winter break. The team got swept by a down Union squad and then had to run through a gauntlet as 8 of their next 9 games came against ranked opponents. With everything arrayed against them, New Hampshire completely turned its season around. Fessenden played some his best hockey in that 9-game stretch while the offense rediscovered its scoring touch. The Wildcats went 7–2 in those games to pull itself out of the doldrums. While they weren't solely responsible, the wins that UNH posted in that run helped knock Connecticut and Providence out of the NCAA tournament.[1]

While the wins came too late to save New Hampshire's season, they did show what the team was capable of doing. The offense struggled over the final few games and cost the team in their lone playoff game, but the Wildcats had already proven themselves to be 'giant-killers'.

Departures

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Cause
Joe Cipollone Forward  United States Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays)
Filip Engarås Forward  Sweden Signed professional contract (Bakersfield Condors)
Eric Esposito Forward  United States Graduate transfer to Mercyhurst
Lucas Herrmann Forward  United States Left program (retired)
Drew Hickey Defenseman  United States Graduation (retired)
Eric MacAdams Forward  United States Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder)
Will MacKinnon Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with Reading Royals)
Jake Moniz Goaltender  United States Left program (retired)
Jackson Pierson Forward  United States Graduate transfer to Notre Dame
Carsen Richels Forward  United States Transferred to St. Scholastica
Mike Robinson Goaltender  United States Graduation (signed with Reading Royals)
Alec Semandel Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with HK 36 Skalica)
Ryan Verrier Defenseman  United States Graduation (signed with Worcester Railers)
Tyler Ward Forward  Canada Graduation (signed with Maine Mariners)

Recruiting

[edit]
Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Jack Babbage Defenseman  United States 22 Tully, NY; transfer from Quinnipiac
Damien Carfagna Defenseman  United States 19 Wood-Ridge, NJ
Nico DeVita Defenseman  United States 21 Bellevue, WA; transfer from Ferris State
Jake Dunlap Forward  United States 20 Windham, NH
Cy Leclerc Forward  United States 20 Brentwood, NH
Conor Lovett Forward  United States 21 Franklin, MA; transfer from Merrimack
Tyler Muszelik Goaltender  United States 18 Long Valley, NJ; selected 189th overall in 2022
Cade Penney Defenseman  Canada 21 White Rock, BC
Stiven Sardaryan Forward  Russia 19 Saint Petersburg, RUS; selected 88th overall in 2021
Kristaps Skrastiņš Forward  Latvia 20 Grobiņa, LAT
Morgan Winters Forward  United States 20 Osprey, FL

Roster

[edit]

As of August 23, 2022.[2]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Illinois Jeremy Forman Junior G 5' 10" (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1999-09-22 Northbrook, Illinois Corpus Christi (NAHL)
2 New York (state) Jack Babbage Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-08-30 Tully, New York Quinnipiac (ECAC)
3 Massachusetts Conor Lovett Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2001-04-07 Franklin, Massachusetts Cedar Rapids (USHL)
6 Washington (state) Nico DeVita Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 2001-05-24 Bellevue, Washington Ferris State (CCHA)
7 Russia Stiven Sardarian Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2003-02-07 Saint Petersburg, Russia Youngstown (USHL) BUF, 88th overall 2021
8 Minnesota Nikolai Jenson Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 2000-07-28 Cold Spring, Minnesota Youngstown (USHL)
9 Massachusetts Connor Sweeney Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-05-05 North Andover, Massachusetts Islanders (NCDC)
10 Sweden Kalle Eriksson (A) Senior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1999-09-15 Leksand, Sweden Madison (USHL)
11 New Hampshire Jake Dunlap Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 2001-12-05 Windham, New Hampshire Madison (USHL)
12 Massachusetts Liam Devlin Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2001-01-07 Needham, Massachusetts Omaha (USHL)
13 Massachusetts Nick Cafarelli Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 2001-12-31 Middleton, Massachusetts Wenatchee (BCHL)
15 British Columbia Chase Stevenson (C) Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-01-13 West Kelowna, British Columbia Trail (BCHL)
16 Saskatchewan Luke Reid Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2001-09-26 Warman, Saskatchewan Chicago (USHL) NSH, 166th overall 2020
17 Latvia Kristaps Skrastiņš Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-11-20 Grobiņa, Latvia Amarillo (NAHL)
18 Saskatchewan 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 New Jersey Damien Carfagna Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-12-12 Wood-Ridge, New Jersey Sioux City (USHL)
20 California Colton Huard Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-11-27 Foothill Ranch, California Chicago (USHL)
21 New Hampshire Cam Gendron Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 1999-02-05 Hampstead, New Hampshire New Jersey (NAHL)
22 Minnesota Joe Hankinson Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1999-06-15 Hopkins, Minnesota Cedar Rapids (USHL)
24 Massachusetts Robert Cronin Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 2000-08-15 Plymouth, Massachusetts Dubuque (USHL)
25 Maryland Will Margel Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-03-16 Potomac, Maryland Johnstown (NAHL)
26 Florida Morgan Winters Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-12-08 Osprey, Florida Omaha (USHL)
27 Pennsylvania Cade Penney Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-03-23 West Chester, Pennsylvania Surrey (BCHL)
28 New Hampshire Alex Gagne (A) Sophomore D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 2002-08-12 Bedford, New Hampshire Muskegon (USHL) TBL, 192nd overall 2021
29 New Hampshire Cy LeClerc Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-08-17 Brentwood, New Hampshire Janesville (NAHL)
30 New Jersey Tyler Muszelik Freshman G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2004-07-01 Long Valley, New Jersey NTDP (USHL) FLA, 189th overall 2022
35 New Hampshire Rafe Gaughan Sophomore G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-11 Somersworth, New Hampshire Northeast (NA3HL)
41 Colorado David Fessenden Senior G 6' 6" (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1998-04-30 Parker, Colorado Alabama–Huntsville (WCHA)

Standings

[edit]
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#4 Boston University †* 24 18 6 0 2 2 0 54 99 62 40 29 11 0 154 106
#14 Merrimack 24 16 8 0 2 4 0 50 72 52 38 23 14 1 106 89
#16 Northeastern 24 14 7 3 0 2 2 49 78 45 35 17 13 5 107 82
Connecticut 24 13 9 2 4 2 2 41 78 71 35 20 12 3 113 96
Massachusetts Lowell 24 11 10 3 2 2 3 39 56 54 36 18 15 3 89 82
Maine 24 9 11 4 1 1 1 32 62 65 36 15 16 5 92 94
Providence 24 9 9 6 3 0 2 32 64 60 37 16 14 7 103 87
Boston College 24 8 11 5 0 0 1 30 70 73 36 14 16 6 104 104
Massachusetts 24 7 14 3 1 3 2 28 55 80 35 13 17 5 94 103
New Hampshire 24 6 15 3 2 2 2 23 44 76 35 11 20 3 74 105
Vermont 24 5 16 3 2 1 1 18 36 76 36 11 20 5 69 103
Championship: March 18, 2023
† indicates regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 7 7:00 PM at #17 Clarkson* Cheel ArenaPotsdam, New York ESPN+ Fessenden W 4–3 OT 2,267 1–0–0
October 8 7:00 PM at St. Lawrence* Appleton ArenaCanton, New York ESPN+ Muszelik W 4–1  2,048 2–0–0
October 15 7:00 PM Boston College* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden L 2–4  6,179 2–1–0 (0–1–0)
October 18 7:00 PM at Merrimack J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Muszelik L 1–6  2,814 2–2–0 (0–2–0)
October 21 7:00 PM Army* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden W 3–1  5,608 3–2–0
October 23 1:00 PM at Boston College Conte ForumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts ESPN+ Fessenden L 0–5  3,524 3–3–0 (0–3–0)
October 28 7:00 PM #13 Providence Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Muszelik T 2–2 SOL 3,906 3–3–1 (0–3–1)
October 29 7:00 PM at #13 Providence Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island NESN+, ESPN+ Fessenden L 1–3  2,333 3–4–1 (0–4–1)
November 4 7:00 PM at #16 Northeastern Matthews ArenaBoston, Massachusetts NESN+, ESPN+ Muszelik L 2–6  2,468 3–5–1 (0–5–1)
November 5 7:00 PM #16 Northeastern Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden L 0–3  4,337 3–6–1 (0–6–1)
November 11 7:00 PM at Vermont Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont ESPN+ Fessenden L 1–2 OT 3,003 3–7–1 (0–7–1)
November 12 7:00 PM at Vermont Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont ESPN+ Fessenden L 1–2  2,753 3–8–1 (0–8–1)
November 15 7:00 PM #10 Harvard* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Muszelik L 1–3  2,812 3–9–1
November 18 7:00 PM #16 Massachusetts Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire NESN, ESPN+ Fessenden L 2–4  4,506 3–10–1 (0–9–1)
November 26 7:00 PM at Holy Cross* Hart CenterWorcester, Massachusetts FloHockey Muszelik L 2–3  408 3–11–1
December 2 7:00 PM #9 Boston University Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire NESN+, ESPN+ Muszelik L 3–6  4,396 3–12–1 (0–10–1)
December 3 6:00 PM at #9 Boston University Agganis ArenaBoston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Fessenden L 0–3  3,574 3–13–1 (0–11–1)
December 9 7:00 PM Arizona State* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden L 1–4  3,859 3–14–1
December 10 4:00 PM Arizona State* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Muszelik W 5–4  3,363 4–14–1
December 30 4:00 PM at Union* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Fessenden L 3–4  1,530 4–15–1
December 31 4:00 PM at Union* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Muszelik L 2–3  1,352 4–16–1
January 6 7:00 PM at #11 Providence Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island ESPN+ Fessenden W 2–0  2,842 5–16–1 (1–11–1)
January 8 2:00 PM Sacred Heart* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden W 4–1  4,205 6–16–1
January 15 3:00 PM at #19 Massachusetts Mullins CenterAmherst, Massachusetts NESN, ESPN+ Fessenden W 3–1  4,246 7–16–1 (2–11–1)
January 20 7:15 PM at #19 Massachusetts Lowell Tsongas CenterLowell, Massachusetts ESPN+ Fessenden L 2–6  6,016 7–17–1 (2–12–1)
January 21 7:00 PM #19 Massachusetts Lowell Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden L 2–3  4,237 7–18–1 (2–13–1)
February 3 7:00 PM #15 Merrimack Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden W 3–2 OT 3,536 8–18–1 (3–13–1)
February 4 6:00 PM at #16 Massachusetts Lowell Tsongas CenterLowell, Massachusetts ESPN+ Muszelik W 5–4  5,252 9–18–1 (4–13–1)
February 10 7:00 PM #13 Connecticut Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Fessenden W 4–1  4,528 10–18–1 (5–13–1)
February 11 4:00 PM #13 Connecticut Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire NESN, ESPN+ Muszelik W 3–2 OT 4,845 11–18–1 (6–13–1)
February 17 7:00 PM Maine Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire (Rivalry) NESN, ESPN+ Fessenden T 2–2 SOW 6,501 11–18–2 (6–13–2)
February 18 7:00 PM Maine Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire (Rivalry) ESPN+ Muszelik T 0–0 SOW 6,501 11–18–3 (6–13–3)
February 25 7:00 PM at #16 Connecticut Toscano Family Ice ForumStorrs, Connecticut ESPN+ Fessenden L 1–6  2,691 11–19–3 (6–14–3)
March 2 7:00 PM Vermont Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Muszelik L 2–3  3,448 11–20–3 (6–15–3)
Hockey East Tournament
March 8 7:00 PM at Providence* Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island (First Round) ESPN+ Fessenden L 1–2 OT 1,286 11–21–3
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[3]

Scoring statistics

[edit]
Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Liam Devlin F 35 12 12 24 18
Cy LeClerc F 35 13 7 20 6
Chase Stevenson F 35 12 8 20 28
Colton Huard D 35 3 16 19 6
Damien Carfagna D 35 6 10 16 2
Ryan Black RW 34 5 8 13 0
Nick Cafarelli F 23 3 8 11 29
Nikolai Jenson D 33 1 9 10 33
Alex Gagne D 35 1 8 9 14
Jake Dunlap F 28 3 4 7 10
Stiven Sardarian C/RW 29 2 5 7 8
Kristaps Skrastiņš C 26 3 3 6 4
Kalle Eriksson D 33 2 4 6 12
Robert Cronin F 31 1 4 5 14
Luke Reid D 35 0 5 5 14
Morgan Winters F 20 4 0 4 16
Harrison Blaisdell C 32 1 3 4 10
Connor Sweeney F 34 0 3 3 6
Cam Gendron F 23 1 1 2 4
Conor Lovett F 29 1 1 2 16
Will Margel C/W 12 0 2 2 0
Joe Hankinson F 7 0 1 1 2
Jack Babbage D 14 0 1 1 4
David Fessenden G 25 0 1 1 15
Jeremy Forman G 2 0 0 0 0
Nico DeVita D 7 0 0 0 0
Tyler Muszelik G 13 0 0 0 0
Total 74 124 198 271

[4]

Goaltending statistics

[edit]
Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
David Fessenden 25 1427:21 7 14 1 63 647 1 .911 2.65
Tyler Muszelik 14 685:29 4 7 2 37 278 1 .883 3.24
Empty Net - 21:21 - - - 5 - - - -
Total 35 2134:01 11 21 3 105 925 2 .898 2.95

Rankings

[edit]
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 (Final)
USCHO.com NR - NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[5]

Awards and honors

[edit]
Player Award Ref
New Hampshire Wildcats Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award [6]

Players drafted into the NHL

[edit]
Round Pick Player NHL team
6 172 Ryan MacPherson Philadelphia Flyers
6 182 Ryan Conmy Los Angeles Kings
7 221 Sebastian Bradshaw Dallas Stars

† incoming freshman [7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Men's Division I PairWise Rankings". Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". UNH Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "2022-23 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". New Hampshire Wildcats. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  4. ^ "Univ. of New Hampshire 2022-2023 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "Boston University's Hutson named to Hockey East all-rookie team, claims conference scoring crown, three stars award". USCHO. March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2023 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved June 30, 2023.