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 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.
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 Joe Cipollone Forward Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays) Filip Engarås Forward Signed professional contract (Bakersfield Condors) Eric Esposito Forward Graduate transfer to Mercyhurst Lucas Herrmann Forward Left program (retired) Drew Hickey Defenseman Graduation (retired) Eric MacAdams Forward Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder) Will MacKinnon Defenseman Graduation (signed with Reading Royals) Jake Moniz Goaltender Left program (retired) Jackson Pierson Forward Graduate transfer to Notre Dame Carsen Richels Forward Transferred to St. Scholastica Mike Robinson Goaltender Graduation (signed with Reading Royals) Alec Semandel Defenseman Graduation (signed with HK 36 Skalica) Ryan Verrier Defenseman Graduation (signed with Worcester Railers) Tyler Ward Forward Graduation (signed with Maine Mariners)
Recruiting Jack Babbage Defenseman 22 Tully, NY; transfer from Quinnipiac Damien Carfagna Defenseman 19 Wood-Ridge, NJ Nico DeVita Defenseman 21 Bellevue, WA; transfer from Ferris State Jake Dunlap Forward 20 Windham, NH Cy Leclerc Forward 20 Brentwood, NH Conor Lovett Forward 21 Franklin, MA; transfer from Merrimack Tyler Muszelik Goaltender 18 Long Valley, NJ; selected 189th overall in 2022 Cade Penney Defenseman 21 White Rock, BC Stiven Sardaryan Forward 19 Saint Petersburg, RUS; selected 88th overall in 2021 Kristaps Skrastiņš Forward 20 Grobiņa, LAT Morgan Winters Forward 20 Osprey, FL
Roster As of August 23, 2022.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
Scoring statistics F 35 12 12 24 18 F 35 13 7 20 6 F 35 12 8 20 28 D 35 3 16 19 6 D 35 6 10 16 2 RW 34 5 8 13 0 F 23 3 8 11 29 D 33 1 9 10 33 D 35 1 8 9 14 F 28 3 4 7 10 C/RW 29 2 5 7 8 C 26 3 3 6 4 D 33 2 4 6 12 F 31 1 4 5 14 D 35 0 5 5 14 F 20 4 0 4 16 C 32 1 3 4 10 F 34 0 3 3 6 F 23 1 1 2 4 F 29 1 1 2 16 C/W 12 0 2 2 0 F 7 0 1 1 2 D 14 0 1 1 4 G 25 0 1 1 15 G 2 0 0 0 0 D 7 0 0 0 0 G 13 0 0 0 0 Total 74 124 198 271
Goaltending statistics 25 1427:21 7 14 1 63 647 1 .911 2.65 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
PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 26 27 (Final) USCHO.comNR-NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.
Awards and honors New Hampshire Wildcats Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship Award
Players drafted into the NHL 2023 NHL entry draft 6 172 Ryan MacPherson † Philadelphia Flyers 6 182 Ryan Conmy † Los Angeles Kings 7 221 Sebastian Bradshaw † Dallas Stars † incoming freshman
References