UNH Hockey: A Proud History

1920s

In December 1924, football coach Hank Swasey announces tryouts for a UNH hockey team. Thirty men show up. The new team--the UNH Bulls--plays its first game on Jan. 19, 1925, defeating Bates 2-1.

Ernest Christensen becomes coach and has an outdoor rink built behind New Hampshire Hall. A new UNH mascot is chosen in 1926, and the team becomes the Wildcats.

The 1927 team is the only UNH men's team ever to go undefeated for an entire season, with a 6-0 record. UNH goalie Ed Hunt holds opponents scoreless for three consecutive games in 1929--a record matched three times but never broken.

1930s

Despite the irregularity of practice outdoors, Christensen fields competitive teams. Two more unbroken records are set in1938, when the Wildcats score 19 goals in a game against St. Anselm's, with six contributed by Ray Patten.

In 1939, Christensen resigns with a 55-54-8 cumulative record. The rink is relocated across Main Street, where the ice is better protected.

1940s

Because of the war, only two games are played in the 1942-43 season, and none for the next four years. Hockey returns to UNH in 1947, but weather limits opportunities for practice and forces cancellation of many games. The Wildcats play only seven games in two years.

1950s

Horace "Pepper" Martin becomes coach. Weather still limits practice, and the Wildcats have four losing seasons. In 1955, Horace Batchelder provides equipment to make artificial ice, and Batchelder Rink is dedicated. The Wildcats compile a 38-16 record from 1957 to 1960.

1960s

In 1961, senior goalie Rod Blackburn becomes the first UNH player to be named first-team All American.

A. Barr "Whoop" Snively replaces Martin as hockey coach in 1962, but dies two years later. He is succeeded by Rube Bjorkman. In 1965, the University encloses Batchelder Rink, with an arena and names it in Snively's honor.

The Wildcats move up to ECAC Division I in 1967. They post winning records in the next two seasons, and Bjorkman is named New England Hockey Coach of the Year in 1968. Then, Charlie Holt takes the helm, steering the Wildcats to the ECAC playoffs in each of his first two years.

1970s

UNH has some of the best players in college hockey, including Rich Davis, Mike Ontkean and Bob Brant (all 100-point scorers), Dick Umile (the team's MVP in 1970), Graham Bruder and UNH legend Louis Frigon.

In the mid-'70s, four Wildcats are named All Americans: Gordie Clark, Jamie Hislop, Cliff Cox and goalie Cap Raeder. The team is ranked number one in the nation in 1974.

As the stars of the early '70s move on, other exciting players arrive. Eight players on the 1976-77 team will play in the National Hockey League. All American honors go to Bob Miller and Tim Burke in 1977 and to Ralph Cox in 1978 and 1979.

The Wildcats advance to the final game in the ECAC playoffs in 1977 and win UNH's first and only men's ECAC championship in 1979.

Women's hockey becomes a varsity sport in 1977, with Russ McCurdy as head coach. In their first game on Dec. 3, 1977, the UNH women defeat Colby College 8-4. They will go undefeated for four seasons.

1980s

The Wildcat men start the decade with their first losing season under Holt, but make it all the way to the NCAA final four in 1982. Andy Brickley is named an All American.

The UNH women's winning streak--the longest in the history of college hockey--continues for 75 games until December 1981. They are no longer invincible but still hard to beat and complete their first decade with a cumulative record of 179-13-6, with four EAIAW championships and two ECAC championships (the EAIAW becomes the ECAC in 1983).

Three UNH women win ECAC All Star honors in the 1980s: Lauren Apollo in 1985 and Vivienne Ferry and Shelly DiFronzo in 1986. DiFronzo repeats as an All Star in 1989.

In 1984 UNH joins Hockey East, a new "super league" for men's hockey. This is fast company, and the Wildcats aren't quite up to speed. The UNH men won't see another winning season until the 1990s.

Holt retires in 1986. He has been voted the nation's outstanding hockey coach three times and will later (in 1997) be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. He is succeeded by Bob Kullen, who resigns for health reasons in 1990.

In 1989-90, the UNH women finish the season with their third ECAC title.

1990s

Coach Dick Umile guides the men's team to a 20-win season in 1990-91, their best showing in seven years. They go to the Hockey East playoffs in '92, '93 and '94, going all the way to the final game in '92 before losing to Maine.

The UNH women claim another ECAC championship in 1990-91. McCurdy leaves in 1992 and is succeeded by Karen Kay, who guides the Wildcats to their fifth ECAC championship in 1995-96. The title game against Providence that year is the longest in the history of college hockey, going into five overtimes.

On Nov. 10, 1995, the Wildcat men play their first game in the Whittemore Center, edging BU 6-5. The women christen the new arena on Dec. 2 with a 12-0 win over Yale.

In 1996-97, the UNH men share the Hockey East regular-season championship with BU, then go all the way to the final game in the playoffs, where they lose to BU 4-2. The next season they advance to the Final Four in the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 16 years, losing to Michigan in the semifinals. Captain Mark Mowers is named a first-team All American in 1998.

The Wildcat women win the first-ever national championship sponsored by the American Women's College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) in 1998. Brandy Fisher wins the inaugural Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, recognizing the best player in women's hockey. Fisher and Nicki Luongo are both named All Americans, an honor Luongo earns again in 1999.

The Wildcats win a record 31 games in 1998-99, defeating Maine to win their first outright regular-season crown. That season, they go all the way to the NCAA championship game, but Maine takes the victory, 3-2, in overtime.

In April 1999, Jason Krog receives the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the nation's outstanding male college hockey player. He is already the Hockey East Player of the Year. It is the first time a Wildcat has received either of these honors. Krog ends his college career with 238 points, the second-highest total in UNH history.

In the 1999-2000 season, the men's team is ranked number one and advances to the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Junior goaltender Ty Conklin is named Hockey East Player of the Year.

The Wildcat women wind up the 20th century by winning more than 20 games for the sixth consecutive year. Carisa Zaban shatters Kathy Bryant's 19-year-old career scoring record, finishing with 263 career points and All American honors. ~

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