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With the holiday break and now a bye, the University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team has recovered and reset.
The Wildcats (11-8 overall, 5-4 Hockey East) entered the break on a five-game winning streak. The fifth was a 3-2 overtime victory over intrastate rival and previously undefeated Dartmouth College on Dec. 14.
Following last weekend’s non-league split with Colgate University, UNH has even more time off before its Hockey East series with Northeastern University on Jan. 16 and 18.
Through their recent abundance of idle time, the Wildcats are now near full health and have had time to focus on specific areas of their game, coach Mike Souza said.
“It’s a strange schedule for us, but I actually think we can use it to our advantage to get healthy,” Souza said. “We haven’t had our whole roster healthy since the first game of the season.”
Freshman forward Sam Oliver, who has missed UNH’s past three games with a fractured foot, was the only player who missed Thursday’s practice due to injury. Oliver (two goals, five assists) is expected to return to practice next week, Souza said.
The Wildcats recently had forwards Felix Gagnon, a freshman, and Marty Lavins, a junior alternate captain, return from upper-body injuries.
Gagnon (five goals, four assists) played last weekend after missing three games.
Lavins (one goal, two assists) missed nearly two months before he returned for UNH’s series sweep at rival and then-No. 11 Maine Dec. 5-6.
Souza and Lavins spent part of the holiday break with the U.S. Collegiate Selects team that finished runner-up in the Spengler Cup tournament to host HC Davos (Switzerland).
Souza, who served as an assistant coach to Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky, said he hopes the Spengler Cup experience fuels Lavins going forward.
“To play at that level — the pace of play, the competitiveness of those games — hopefully it’s a catalyst for him to have a great second half of his junior year,” Souza said. “I think our team follows him into battle and sort of morphs into the way he plays. ... He was invited to be part of that group not because of his stat line but because of the way he plays winning hockey and that’s what we need him to play for us.”
This week’s practices have focused on addressing some areas that have become UNH’s identity, like its transition and defensive zone play, Souza said.
While they have been competitive, Souza and his staff have also tried to make the practices fun for their players.
UNH took Monday off after Sunday’s 3-2 home triumph over Colgate and had three straight high-tempo practices Tuesday through Thursday.
The Wildcats will also practice on Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday’s practice will be held from 12:45-2 p.m. at Everett Arena in Concord. It is free and open to the public.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for UNH freshman defenseman Ryan Philbrick, who is from Concord and played for Concord High School, which uses Everett Arena as its home rink.
Before transferring to Cushing Academy and graduating from there in 2023, Philbrick recorded more than 100 career points for Concord.
The Wildcats also have three other Granite Staters on the roster: forwards Cy LeClerc (Brentwood) and Ronan Walsh (Andover) and goaltender Kyle Chauvette (Goffstown).
Souza would like to schedule more UNH practices at community rinks in the state either this year or next year. Ideally, it will become part of the team’s regular routine, he said.
“I think it’s important that our program gets out and connects with our community beyond the Seacoast,” he said. “I’d like to think of us as our state’s team and I think our state’s team needs to get out and be seen throughout the state.
“Hopefully it inspires the next generation of New Hampshire kids to want to play here at UNH.”
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Continue reading...
The Wildcats (11-8 overall, 5-4 Hockey East) entered the break on a five-game winning streak. The fifth was a 3-2 overtime victory over intrastate rival and previously undefeated Dartmouth College on Dec. 14.
Following last weekend’s non-league split with Colgate University, UNH has even more time off before its Hockey East series with Northeastern University on Jan. 16 and 18.
Through their recent abundance of idle time, the Wildcats are now near full health and have had time to focus on specific areas of their game, coach Mike Souza said.
“It’s a strange schedule for us, but I actually think we can use it to our advantage to get healthy,” Souza said. “We haven’t had our whole roster healthy since the first game of the season.”
Freshman forward Sam Oliver, who has missed UNH’s past three games with a fractured foot, was the only player who missed Thursday’s practice due to injury. Oliver (two goals, five assists) is expected to return to practice next week, Souza said.
The Wildcats recently had forwards Felix Gagnon, a freshman, and Marty Lavins, a junior alternate captain, return from upper-body injuries.
Gagnon (five goals, four assists) played last weekend after missing three games.
Lavins (one goal, two assists) missed nearly two months before he returned for UNH’s series sweep at rival and then-No. 11 Maine Dec. 5-6.
Souza and Lavins spent part of the holiday break with the U.S. Collegiate Selects team that finished runner-up in the Spengler Cup tournament to host HC Davos (Switzerland).
Souza, who served as an assistant coach to Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky, said he hopes the Spengler Cup experience fuels Lavins going forward.
“To play at that level — the pace of play, the competitiveness of those games — hopefully it’s a catalyst for him to have a great second half of his junior year,” Souza said. “I think our team follows him into battle and sort of morphs into the way he plays. ... He was invited to be part of that group not because of his stat line but because of the way he plays winning hockey and that’s what we need him to play for us.”
This week’s practices have focused on addressing some areas that have become UNH’s identity, like its transition and defensive zone play, Souza said.
While they have been competitive, Souza and his staff have also tried to make the practices fun for their players.
UNH took Monday off after Sunday’s 3-2 home triumph over Colgate and had three straight high-tempo practices Tuesday through Thursday.
The Wildcats will also practice on Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday’s practice will be held from 12:45-2 p.m. at Everett Arena in Concord. It is free and open to the public.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for UNH freshman defenseman Ryan Philbrick, who is from Concord and played for Concord High School, which uses Everett Arena as its home rink.
Before transferring to Cushing Academy and graduating from there in 2023, Philbrick recorded more than 100 career points for Concord.
The Wildcats also have three other Granite Staters on the roster: forwards Cy LeClerc (Brentwood) and Ronan Walsh (Andover) and goaltender Kyle Chauvette (Goffstown).
Souza would like to schedule more UNH practices at community rinks in the state either this year or next year. Ideally, it will become part of the team’s regular routine, he said.
“I think it’s important that our program gets out and connects with our community beyond the Seacoast,” he said. “I’d like to think of us as our state’s team and I think our state’s team needs to get out and be seen throughout the state.
“Hopefully it inspires the next generation of New Hampshire kids to want to play here at UNH.”
[email protected]
Continue reading...
