- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,170,815
- Reaction score
- 59
Speed, leadership and goals.
Those are some of the elements that Morgan Winters provides the University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team when he is on the ice.
Winters, a forward and the team’s senior captain, gave the Wildcats all three last week, when they opened the season with a series split at No. 3 Michigan State University.
Winters, who played in 26 games and missed time due to an upper-body injury last year, was chosen as the Hockey East player of the week this week for his performance against the Spartans.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound wing from Osprey, Florida, recorded two goals and assisted on linemate Marty Lavins’s game-winning tally in the Wildcats’ 4-3 triumph over Michigan State. In their 2-0 loss to the Spartans, Winters logged two shots on goal and two blocks.
“We love when he’s in the lineup,” said Cy LeClerc, a senior alternate captain and Brentwood resident. “He’s fast, he can score, he can make plays. ... When he’s healthy, it’s awesome for us. It gives us more depth and he can score goals. We need that.”
Winters and the Wildcats (1-1) open Hockey East play on Saturday night (6) with a trip to Lawler Rink in North Andover, Mass., to face Merrimack College (1-1).
Winters said he wants to stay healthy and get back to where he was his sophomore year, when he registered 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 33 games. He spent the offseason in Durham, eating the right way, working out and recovering.
“A lot of work has gone into it the last months or so, but I’m feeling great on the ice and off the ice as well,” Winters said before last week’s season-opening series.
Both LeClerc and UNH coach Mike Souza consider Winters one of, if not the fastest, player on the roster.
Winters scored his second goal in the win over the Spartans on an odd-man rush and his first by redirecting a Nick De Angelis blast from the high slot.
Over 81 career games, Winters, who has had multiple surgeries over his UNH career, has scored 18 goals and had 25 assists.
“His legs make us a different team,” Souza said of Winters. “It just gives us more speed and the ability to get on pucks quicker and — it’s amazing to think he’s a senior now but to have that leadership in the lineup is important.”
Winters said he feels honored to be UNH’s 121st captain and tries to lead similarly to his predecessor, graduated two-year captain Alex Gagne.
Gagne, a defenseman from Bedford, now plays for the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.
“I’m going to take a lot of it,” Winters said of Gagne’s leadership style. “Every day Alex showing up to the rink early, always leading by example, having a big voice in the locker room. I’m definitely going to pick a part his brain throughout the year.”
When Souza told Winters that he was now the Wildcats’ captain, the coach told him that through adversity comes strength — or it can derail someone.
“I think he’s become a stronger player and a stronger person through the adversity that he’s faced through injury,” Souza said. “I think his teammates have recognized that.”
[email protected]
Continue reading...
Those are some of the elements that Morgan Winters provides the University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team when he is on the ice.
Winters, a forward and the team’s senior captain, gave the Wildcats all three last week, when they opened the season with a series split at No. 3 Michigan State University.
Winters, who played in 26 games and missed time due to an upper-body injury last year, was chosen as the Hockey East player of the week this week for his performance against the Spartans.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound wing from Osprey, Florida, recorded two goals and assisted on linemate Marty Lavins’s game-winning tally in the Wildcats’ 4-3 triumph over Michigan State. In their 2-0 loss to the Spartans, Winters logged two shots on goal and two blocks.
“We love when he’s in the lineup,” said Cy LeClerc, a senior alternate captain and Brentwood resident. “He’s fast, he can score, he can make plays. ... When he’s healthy, it’s awesome for us. It gives us more depth and he can score goals. We need that.”
Winters and the Wildcats (1-1) open Hockey East play on Saturday night (6) with a trip to Lawler Rink in North Andover, Mass., to face Merrimack College (1-1).
Winters said he wants to stay healthy and get back to where he was his sophomore year, when he registered 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 33 games. He spent the offseason in Durham, eating the right way, working out and recovering.
“A lot of work has gone into it the last months or so, but I’m feeling great on the ice and off the ice as well,” Winters said before last week’s season-opening series.
Both LeClerc and UNH coach Mike Souza consider Winters one of, if not the fastest, player on the roster.
Winters scored his second goal in the win over the Spartans on an odd-man rush and his first by redirecting a Nick De Angelis blast from the high slot.
Over 81 career games, Winters, who has had multiple surgeries over his UNH career, has scored 18 goals and had 25 assists.
“His legs make us a different team,” Souza said of Winters. “It just gives us more speed and the ability to get on pucks quicker and — it’s amazing to think he’s a senior now but to have that leadership in the lineup is important.”
Winters said he feels honored to be UNH’s 121st captain and tries to lead similarly to his predecessor, graduated two-year captain Alex Gagne.
Gagne, a defenseman from Bedford, now plays for the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.
“I’m going to take a lot of it,” Winters said of Gagne’s leadership style. “Every day Alex showing up to the rink early, always leading by example, having a big voice in the locker room. I’m definitely going to pick a part his brain throughout the year.”
When Souza told Winters that he was now the Wildcats’ captain, the coach told him that through adversity comes strength — or it can derail someone.
“I think he’s become a stronger player and a stronger person through the adversity that he’s faced through injury,” Souza said. “I think his teammates have recognized that.”
[email protected]
Continue reading...
