The 2021–22 New Hampshire Wildcats Men's ice hockey season was the 96th season of play for the program and the 38th season in the Hockey East conference. The Wildcats represented the University of New Hampshire and were coached by Mike Souza, in his 4th season.
Season For much of the season, New Hampshire's attempt at rebuilding the program were hampered by a lack of offense. The Wildcats finished almost as many games being shut out (four) as scoring more than 3 goals (five). A majority of the team's victories came as a result of strong defensive play.
UNH had their moments during the year, defeating several ranked teams, but they couldn't sustain their success for long. In the first half of the season the wildcats hovered around the .500 mark. After returning from the winter break, the team went on a 5-game winning streak to get their head above water. After that good stretch, however, the team stumbled down the stretch and lost eight of their final ten games. The offense was about as strong as it had been earlier in the year but the defense faltered, allowing almost 4 goals per game over that span.
The result of their poor finish was that New Hampshire slid down the Hockey East standings and had to open the conference playoffs on the road. They travelled south to play Boston College and vastly outshot the Eagles in the match, 47–27. Unfortunately, the defense was again an issue and the team needed a hat-trick from Tyler Ward just to get the game into overtime. It was not the Wildcat's night, unfortunately, and BC netted the game-winner. The loss capped off the season which, though it was an improvement over the previous campaign, was the 8th consecutive year that UNH did not possess a winning record.
Departures Angus Crookshank Forward Signed professional contract (Ottawa Senators) Patrick Grasso Forward Graduation (signed with Utica Comets) Charlie Kelleher Forward Graduation (retired) Benton Maass Defenseman Graduate transfer to Minnesota State Joe Nagle Defenseman Transferred to Norwich Kohei Sato Forward Graduate transfer to Bentley Ty Taylor Goaltender Transferred to MacEwan
Recruiting Harrison Blaisdell Forward 20 Sheffield, GBR; transfer from North Dakota; selected 134th overall in 2019 Robert Cronin Forward 21 Plymouth, MA Liam Devlin Forward 20 Needham, MA David Fessenden Goaltender 23 Parker, CO; transfer from Alabama–Huntsville Alex Gagne Defenseman 19 Bedford, NH; selected 192nd overall in 2021 Rafe Gaughan Goaltender 21 Somersworth, NH; joined mid-season Colton Huard Defenseman 20 Welland, ON Will Margel Forward 20 Potomac, MD Connor Sweeney Forward 21 North Andover, MA
Roster As of August 19, 2021.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
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Scoring statistics LW 34 11 16 27 4 F 34 12 12 24 8 C 33 7 14 21 16 F 34 9 7 16 35 D 28 6 10 16 6 F 30 7 5 12 16 D 32 0 12 12 12 D 34 3 5 8 18 C 25 2 6 8 6 C 30 2 6 8 0 RW 33 1 7 8 42 D 33 1 7 8 16 F 15 3 4 7 6 D 24 1 6 7 28 D 27 1 5 6 12 D 30 1 5 6 18 F 33 4 1 5 16 C/W 18 1 3 4 6 LW 30 3 0 3 14 F 19 1 1 2 14 F 24 0 1 1 8 G 1 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 0 0 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 F 1 0 0 0 0 D 7 0 0 0 0 G 9 0 0 0 0 LW 13 0 0 0 0 F 22 0 0 0 2 G 27 0 0 0 15 Total 76 133 209 318
Goaltending statistics 1 0:53 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00 1 0:36 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.000 0.00 9 492 2 4 1 18 180 0 .909 2.19 27 1513 12 14 0 66 618 2 .904 2.62 1 34 0 1 0 4 13 0 .765 7.08 Empty Net - 21 - - - 7 - - - - Total 34 2064 14 19 1 95 814 2 .895 2.76
Rankings
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.
Players drafted into the NHL
2022 NHL entry draft 6 189 Tyler Muszelik† Florida Panthers † incoming freshman
Awards and honors Jackson Pierson Len Ceglarski Award
References