2023–24 New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey season

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2023–24 New Hampshire Wildcats
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceT–5th Hockey East
Home iceWhittemore Center
Rankings
USCHO#20
USA Today#19
Record
Overall20–15–1
Conference12–11–1
Home14–4–1
Road6–11–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachMike Souza
Assistant coachesGlenn Stewart
Jeff Giuliano
Captain(s)Alex Gagne
Alternate captain(s)Harrison Blaisdell
Nikolai Jenson
New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons
« 2022–23 2024–25 »

The 2023–24 New Hampshire Wildcats Men's ice hockey season was the 98th season of play for the program and the 40th in Hockey East. The Wildcats represented the University of New Hampshire, played their home games at the Whittemore Center and were coached by Mike Souza in his 6th season.

Season[edit]

Hoping to continue their strong play from the end of the previous season, New Hampshire began the year with a tough slate by facing preseason #1 Boston University in the opener. Surprisingly, the Wildcats outscored the Terriers and planted their flag early in the year. UNH then earned a split with the defensing national champions, Quinnipiac, but not everything was looking good. Tyler Muszelik had been in goal for all three games and allowed 4 goals in each. Even so, the team was set to continue with the sophomore netminder in goal but he was knocked out of the lineup with a lower body injury in the third week of the season.[1]

Transfer Jakob Hellsten took over in goal and the goaltending results improved immediately. Over the next four games, hardly allowed a goal, albeit against weaker opposition. Hellsten played so well that when Muszelik had recovered the two goalies had to share the crease. This situation only made the difference between the two more stark as Hellsten swiftly proved to be the better of the two. In the meantime, New Hampshire's offense continued to score at an impressive rate. The Wildcats scored at least 3 goals in eight of their first thirteen games and entered the break in a prime position to finally end their NCAA tournament drought.

After the winter break, Muszelik had the worst game of his career, allowing 5 goals on 13 shots against Army. While the Wildcats were good enough at the time to absorb the loss, it was the last real opportunity for Muszelik in goal and Hellsten would start all but one game for the rest of the season. The UNH defense did a good job insulating their goaltender as the Wildcats were the #3 team in the nation in shots allowed (23.5 per game).[2] That assistance helped Hellsten's efforts to keep the puck out of the net, however, the Wildcats began experiencing other troubles.

The offense that had carried the team in the first half of the year suddenly found it difficult to score consistently. UNH squandered several chances to win games by failing to score and went .500 over their final 14 games. Though the team was not helped by that middling stretch, New Hampshire was saved due to the fact that the Hockey East was the top-ranked league in college hockey that year. Even with their up and down play, the Wildcats remained in the top-20 by season's end and still had a small chance at earning an at-large bid.

With UNH starting in the first round of the conference tournament, the team would need to at least make the semifinal round if not the conference championship game to make the tournament. As the 6th seed, the Wildcats opened against last-place Massachusetts Lowell. Hellsten set a new program record by posting his third consecutive shutout which, coincidentally, all came against the River Hawks. The offense was barely visible in the match but New Hampshire would have to hope that that was a one-off and the scoring would return in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, the trend continued and their long-time rival Maine was more than happy to take advantage. The Wildcats only managed to muster 18 shots on goal and none of them found the back of the net. To make matters worse, UNH was whistled for five penalties in the game and the two power play goals from the Black Bears were more than enough to end New Hampshire's season.[3]

Departures[edit]

Player Position Nationality Cause
Ryan Black Forward  United States Graduation (retired)
Damien Carfagna Defenseman  United States Transferred to Ohio State
Nico DeVita Defenseman  United States Transferred to Ferris State
Jake Dunlap Forward  United States Transferred to Ohio State
Kalle Eriksson Defenseman  Sweden Graduation (signed with Almtuna IS)
David Fessenden Goaltender  United States Graduate transfer to Canisius
Joe Hankinson Forward  United States Graduation (retired)
Will Margel Forward  United States Transferred to Mercyhurst
Cade Penney Defenseman  Canada Left program (retired)
Chase Stevenson Forward  Canada Graduation (retired)

Recruiting[edit]

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Ryan Conmy Forward  United States 18 Alexandria, VA; selected 182nd overall in 2023
Brendan Fitzgerald Defenseman  United States 20 North Reading, MA
Zach Hahn Defenseman  United States 21 Huntington, NY
Jakob Hellsten Goaltender  Sweden 23 Ljusdal, SWE; transfer from North Dakota
Marty Laviņš Forward  Latvia 20 Riga, LAT
Luis Lindner Defenseman/Forward  Austria 22 Spittal an der Drau, AUT; transfer from American International
Nick Ring Forward  United States 19 Hingham, MA
Jason Siedem Forward  United States 20 Madison, NJ
J. P. Turner Forward  United States 20 East Falmouth, MA
Ronan Walsh Forward  United States 21 Andover, NH

Roster[edit]

As of July 10, 2023.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Illinois Jeremy Forman Senior G 5' 10" (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1999-09-22 Northbrook, Illinois Corpus Christi (NAHL)
2 New York (state) Jack Babbage Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-08-30 Tully, New York Quinnipiac (ECAC)
3 Massachusetts Conor Lovett Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2001-04-07 Franklin, Massachusetts Cedar Rapids (USHL)
5 New York (state) Zach Hahn Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2002-08-06 Huntington, New York P. A. L. (NCDC)
6 Latvia Marty Laviņš Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-04-10 Riga, Latvia Cedar Rapids (USHL)
7 Russia 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 Minnesota Nikolai Jenson (A) Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 2000-07-28 Cold Spring, Minnesota Youngstown (USHL)
9 Massachusetts Connor Sweeney Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-05-05 North Andover, Massachusetts Islanders (NCDC)
10 New Hampshire Ronan Walsh Freshman F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2002-05-03 Andover, New Hampshire Amarillo (NAHL)
12 Massachusetts Liam Devlin Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2001-01-07 Needham, Massachusetts Omaha (USHL)
13 Massachusetts Nick Cafarelli Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 2001-12-31 Middleton, Massachusetts Wenatchee (BCHL)
15 Austria 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 Saskatchewan 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 Latvia Kristaps Skrastiņš Sophomore 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 Massachusetts Brendan Fitzgerald Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2003-03-06 North Reading, Massachusetts Cedar Rapids (USHL)
20 California Colton Huard Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-11-27 Foothill Ranch, California Chicago (USHL)
21 New Hampshire Cam Gendron Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 1999-02-05 Hampstead, New Hampshire New Jersey (NAHL)
22 Massachusetts J. P. Turner Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2003-01-31 East Falmouth, Massachusetts Fargo (USHL)
23 New Jersey Jason Siedem Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-10-17 Madison, New Jersey Blackfalds (AJHL)
24 Massachusetts Robert Cronin Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 2000-08-15 Plymouth, Massachusetts Dubuque (USHL)
25 Massachusetts Nick Ring Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2003-10-26 Abington, Massachusetts Sioux Falls (USHL)
26 Florida Morgan Winters Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-12-08 Osprey, Florida Omaha (USHL)
28 New Hampshire Alex Gagne (C) Junior 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 Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-08-17 Brentwood, New Hampshire Janesville (NAHL)
30 New Jersey 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 New Hampshire Rafe Gaughan Senior G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-11 Somersworth, New Hampshire Northeast (NA3HL)
36 Virginia 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 Sweden Jakob Hellsten Junior G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-02 Ljusdal, Sweden North Dakota (NCHC)

Standings[edit]

Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#1 Boston College †* 24 20 3 1 1 0 1 61 105 56 39 33 5 1 179 87
#2 Boston University 24 18 4 2 1 1 1 57 104 53 39 28 9 2 162 95
#6 Maine 24 14 9 1 0 1 0 44 76 67 37 23 12 2 119 94
#16 Providence 24 11 9 4 3 1 2 37 66 58 35 18 13 4 100 83
#13 Massachusetts 24 12 10 2 4 2 0 36 57 62 37 20 14 3 108 105
#19 New Hampshire 24 12 11 1 1 0 0 36 69 56 36 20 15 1 106 90
Northeastern 24 9 14 1 1 3 0 30 65 71 36 17 16 3 113 97
Connecticut 24 9 14 1 1 1 1 29 49 77 36 15 19 2 90 105
Vermont 24 7 14 3 1 0 3 26 52 81 35 13 19 3 87 106
Merrimack 24 6 17 1 0 1 1 21 62 85 35 13 21 1 98 114
Massachusetts Lowell 24 4 17 3 1 4 0 18 39 78 36 8 24 4 72 113
Championship: March 23, 2024
† indicates regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO Division I Men's Poll; Updated: April 1, 2024

Schedule and results[edit]

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 7 5:00 pm vs. Maine* Jack Kelley RinkWaterville, Maine (Rivalry, Exhibition) ESPN+ Hellsten L 2–3  1,452
Regular Season
October 13 7:00 pm #1 Boston University Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+, NESN Muszelik W 6–4  6,070 1–0–0 (1–0–0)
October 20 7:00 pm #4 Quinnipiac* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Muszelik L 2–5  5,689 1–1–0
October 21 7:00 pm #4 Quinnipiac* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+, NESN Muszelik W 5–4 OT 5,169 2–1–0
October 26 7:00 pm #18 Northeastern Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten W 4–1  3,613 3–1–0 (2–0–0)
October 28 7:00 pm Dartmouth* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire (Rivalry) ESPN+ Hellsten W 3–1  4,258 4–1–0
November 3 7:00 pm #7 Providence #15 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten T 1–1 SOL 6,501 4–1–1 (2–0–1)
November 4 7:00 pm at #7 Providence #15 Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island ESPN+ Hellsten L 0–2  2,850 4–2–1 (2–1–1)
November 17 7:00 pm at Northeastern #13 Matthews ArenaBoston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Muszelik W 4–2  2,612 5–2–1 (3–1–1)
November 18 7:00 pm Northeastern #13 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten W 4–0  6,010 6–2–1 (4–1–1)
November 24 7:00 pm at #20 RIT* #12 Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York FloHockey, NESN Muszelik L 4–5  2,365 6–3–1
November 25 5:00 pm at #20 RIT* #12 Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York FloHockey, NESN Hellsten W 4–3 OT 2,610 7–3–1
December 1 7:00 pm at #11 Maine #15 Alfond ArenaOrono, Maine (Rivalry) ESPN+ Hellsten L 2–5  5,043 7–4–1 (4–2–1)
December 9 4:00 pm Rensselaer* #16 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Muszelik W 1–0  5,299 8–4–1
December 29 7:00 pm at Army* #16 Tate RinkWest Point, New York FloHockey Muszelik L 3–6  2,610 8–5–1
December 30 7:00 pm at Sacred Heart* #16 Martire Family ArenaFairfield, Connecticut FloHockey Hellsten W 6–2  3,368 9–5–1
January 5 7:00 pm Princeton* #17 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten W 5–2  4,190 10–5–1
January 6 4:00 pm Princeton* #17 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten W 3–1  4,449 11–5–1
January 13 6:00 pm at #2 Boston University #16 Agganis ArenaBoston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Hellsten L 0–3  5,359 11–6–1 (4–3–1)
January 19 7:00 pm at Connecticut #17 Toscano Family Ice ForumStorrs, Connecticut ESPN+, NESN Hellsten W 5–0  2,691 12–6–1 (5–3–1)
January 21 4:00 pm Connecticut #17 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+, NESN Hellsten L 1–2  5,482 12–7–1 (5–4–1)
January 26 7:00 pm at Vermont #17 Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont ESPN+ Hellsten L 1–2  2,604 12–8–1 (5–5–1)
January 27 7:00 pm at Vermont #17 Gutterson FieldhouseBurlington, Vermont ESPN+ Muszelik W 6–3  3,150 13–8–1 (6–5–1)
February 2 7:00 pm #3 Boston University #18 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten L 3–6  6,501 13–9–1 (6–6–1)
February 3 7:00 pm Merrimack #18 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten W 3–1  5,080 14–9–1 (7–6–1)
February 9 7:00 pm at #1 Boston College #17 Conte ForumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts ESPN+ Hellsten L 1–6  6,608 14–10–1 (7–7–1)
February 10 7:00 pm at Merrimack #17 J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Hellsten L 1–3  2,639 14–11–1 (7–8–1)
February 16 7:00 pm #7 Maine #19 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire (Rivalry) ESPN+, NESN Hellsten W 6–2  6,501 15–11–1 (8–8–1)
February 17 7:00 pm #7 Maine #19 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire (Rivalry) ESPN+ Hellsten W 5–2  6,501 16–11–1 (9–8–1)
February 23 7:00 pm at #14 Massachusetts #16 Mullins CenterAmherst, Massachusetts ESPN+ Hellsten L 2–3  6,089 16–12–1 (9–9–1)
February 24 7:00 pm #14 Massachusetts #16 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten W 3–2 OT 6,085 17–12–1 (10–9–1)
March 1 7:00 pm #1 Boston College #17 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Hellsten L 3–5  6,501 17–13–1 (10–10–1)
March 3 5:00 pm at #1 Boston College #17 Conte ForumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts ESPN+ Hellsten L 0–1  5,402 17–14–1 (10–11–1)
March 8 7:15 pm at Massachusetts Lowell #18 Tsongas CenterLowell, Massachusetts ESPN+, NESN Hellsten W 4–0  4,986 18–14–1 (11–11–1)
March 9 7:00 pm Massachusetts Lowell #18 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire ESPN+, NESN Hellsten W 4–0  5,885 19–14–1 (12–11–1)
Hockey East Tournament
March 13 7:00 pm Massachusetts Lowell* #17 Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire (Opening Round) ESPN+, NESN Hellsten W 1–0  4,032 20–14–1
March 16 7:00 pm at #8 Maine* #17 Alfond ArenaOrono, Maine (Quarterfinal, Rivalry) ESPN+ Hellsten L 0–5  5,043 20–15–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[5]

Scoring statistics[edit]

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Ryan Conmy RW 34 14 17 31 14
Cy LeClerc F 36 10 18 28 17
Morgan Winters F 33 10 12 22 19
Colton Huard D 36 5 17 22 16
Liam Devlin F 28 13 7 20 37
Robert Cronin F 33 4 12 16 14
Luke Reid D 36 1 15 16 18
Harrison Blaisdell C 32 11 3 14 24
Stiven Sardarian C/RW 32 7 7 14 12
Marty Laviņš C 35 5 9 14 6
Alex Gagne D 36 1 13 14 24
Kristaps Skrastiņš C 35 5 7 12 4
Nick Cafarelli F 28 6 5 11 41
J. P. Turner C 24 4 6 10 21
Nick Ring F 34 2 8 10 6
Luis Lindner D/F 36 0 10 10 2
Nikolai Jenson D 35 4 5 9 12
Jack Babbage D 15 1 4 5 0
Brendan Fitzgerald D 28 0 5 5 44
Connor Sweeney F 32 0 4 4 8
Cam Gendron F 10 1 2 3 2
Conor Lovett F 20 1 2 3 0
Jason Siedem F 8 1 0 1 0
Jeremy Forman G 1 0 0 0 0
Zach Hahn D 1 0 0 0 0
Tyler Muszelik G 8 0 0 0 0
Jakob Hellsten G 28 0 0 0 0
Total 106 188 294 349

[6]

Goaltending statistics[edit]

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Jakob Hellsten 28 1675:11 15 12 1 57 570 5 .909 2.04
Tyler Muszelik 8 478:27 3 3 0 27 187 1 .874 3.38
Empty Net - 21:04 - - - 6 - - - -
Total 36 2174:57 20 15 1 90 757 6 .894 2.48

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 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR 15 14т 13 12 15 16 16 17 16 17 17 18 17 19 16 17 18 17 19 19 20
USA Today NR NR NR NR 16 15 13 10 14 16 16 16 16 17 16 17 17 19 17 17 18 17 18 19 19 19

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 or 25.[7]
Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "UNH hockey: Emergence of transfer Hellsten provides Wildcats with boost". New Hampshire Union Leader. November 1, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  2. ^ "2023-24 National Team Statistics". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Maine vs UNH Hockey East Quarterfinals Game Highlights 2024-03-16". YouTube. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  4. ^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". UNH Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "2023-24 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". New Hampshire Wildcats. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  6. ^ "Univ. of New Hampshire 2023-2024 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.