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UNH Hockey Off Season Thread 2026

JB said:
I tend to agree with you and I thought it was an interesting topic for mid July.

It will be interesting to see if it works, I am not sure with a trip to the Frozen 4, name of Penn State and B10 Hockey they needed an elevated profile. At the same time I can see Gadowsky getting annoyed loosing recruiting battles to Michigan and wanting to try and change that game.

As to Penn State winning. They need a style tweak. I love watching them play and it is terrifyingly beautiful hockey. BUT... when the refs put the whistles away in a playoff format the D can clamp down and you need to have enough on your back end to win the games. In 24-25 BU, (WMU or DU would have) clamped down on PSU and UMD did it last year.
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I also wonder how much of an influence their FF run had on McKenna’s decision to head to Happy Valley. To my recollection he did not commit until last summer (so after their playoff success). If they bowed out earlier in the playoffs, does he choose to go elsewhere? Perhaps Michigan or another BIG10 school? I’m not sure what others were throwing his way regarding NIL, and if Penn State was simply the highest bidder.

Perhaps he thought he was the missing piece to get Penn State over the top, and he would lead them to a title in one year and go down as one of the best skaters ever at Penn State, almost akin to what Carmelo Anthony did for hoops in his one year at Syracuse.

It did not come to pass. We will see what kind of impact he has at the NHL level beginning in a couple of months…
 
elbojpb said:
I drove down from NY's So Tier to see PSU play Clarkson early last season simply to get a look at this "generational talent" but then again, I drove to the Meadowlands once to see Pele and Beckenbauer play for the Cosmos.

I sincerely doubt that PSU made the $700k back in ticket sales alone, but if the way soccer in the States grew after Pele and Beckenbauer made their cameos, I believe that McKenna will have a similar impact on Central Pa hockey interest.
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Love the super rare Pele/Beckenbauer/Cosmos mention, kudos for thinking outside the box. However ... although soccer got a nice temporary bump in the late 1970's from the Cosmos era NASL, that was pretty centralized to New Jersey, which already had a latent soccer market in place, and the sheer numbers and the publicity of its proximity to NYC. NASL successes outside of the Meadowlands were sparse and scattered (Pacific NW, parts of CA, and FL), and once the NASL bubble burst when the Cosmos' novelty faded, the NASL went away shortly thereafter, and the only "major league" soccer the US and Canada enjoyed for ten years in between the crash of the NASL and the founding of MLS after the 1994 World Cup was MISL ... as in, Major Indoor Soccer League, which for you boys and girls may have forgotten, was soccer played on an enclosed hockey rink-sized "pitch". So I don't think the Pele/Beckenbauer/Cosmos thing did more than pick US Soccer up from virtually non-existent to a temporary fad/blip.

US Soccer learned its lesson at last after the 1994 World Cup when instead of the "top down" approaches being taken beforehand, MLS and US Soccer took a ground up approach, plowing money into the game at the grass roots level, and keeping the nascent MLS teams tied to a strict salary cap and revenue sharing arrangement that kept the league afloat while the game grew at club levels below the MLS clubs, and further down into an existing and finally growing base of millions of kids actually playing the game. The US Women took the lead there, only because the Women's game worldwide was ignored in many major soccer countries, so instead of like the Men's side where there was literally a 100 year head start everywhere else - think the reverse of hoops born in America before it spread in quality elsewhere almost 100 years after Doctor Naismith and Springfield YMCA - the Women had that head start then.

Pennsylvania is hardly a newbie to the sport of hockey, but yeah, at D-1 college level, and stranded in the middle of the state, PSU is definitely isolated. But it seems to me Gadowsky had already built a thriving program, and if McKenna was either supposed to be a "loss leader" for the future and/or a cherry on top of a Frozen Four team the prior year, who knows? Long term, PSU's future rests on how far further GG can push things, and otherwise who he will eventually be succeed by IMHO.
 
2013hockeyfan said:
Ryan Colton hiring is official. Keeping an open mind and hopeful he can right the ship.
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I wish him all the best. It seems he has solid experience with developing NIL initiatives, which in the ever changing world of college sports is only gonna get bigger and more important for program success.

Not sure how quickly his impact will be felt, but let’s hope to see some positive momentum across UNH athletics this year.

Hockey is just a bit over 2 months away. Hoping everyone’s summer is going well!
 
FlagUp17 said:
I wish him all the best. It seems he has solid experience with developing NIL initiatives, which in the ever changing world of college sports is only gonna get bigger and more important for program success.

Not sure how quickly his impact will be felt, but let’s hope to see some positive momentum across UNH athletics this year.

Hockey is just a bit over 2 months away. Hoping everyone’s summer is going well!
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Notice how the presser made sure to include his '2 HE' stints? 😁 Good enough for me! Ha!

Welcome Ryan...best wishes going forward...
 
Note from Mike McMahon's newsletter:

New Hampshire officially hired Ryan Colton as its new athletic director.

I get the sense that those around the hockey program view the hire as a welcome change in direction. Colton previously worked at Providence and received strong reviews from people who worked with him there.
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Of course, most on this board won't care much what the regime leading the program thinks of the guy, but hopefully this indicates he has said the right things in the early days.
 
Colton is an interesting hire. He practiced law privately in Massachusetts from 2008-2013, was a senate staffer at the Mass State House and a city councilor in Taunton, Massachusetts. He clearly recognizes the importance of politics. He will not accomplish anything in a state school without political moxie. He worked at Holy Cross and Providence and therefore was exposed to D1 hockey during his employment.

Colton was a college QB at Bucknell and is coming to UNH from Richmond so he has a very strong football background. Bet the search committed valued that a great deal. The football crowd at UNH is fairly small but fierce. One major concern is he has no background with state schools. The people at Bucknell, Holy Cross and Richmond are MUCH different than New Hamsphire residents and UNH personnel. Small liberal arts schools tend to be rigorous and forward thinking. UNH is, well, far from forward thinking and less rigorous than those institutions.

Colton's potential success will be reliant primarily on further development of his political skills. I really hope he did his homework before accepting the job. Rich clearly didn't. I can understand why UNH likes him.
 
boblav1 said:
x.com

Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) on X

UNH's Mike Souza named head coach of U.S. Collegiate Selects at Spengler Cup in Switzerland from Dec. 26-31 He was an assistant coach on last season's team This year's assistants will be Duluth's Scott Sandelin and Cornell's Casey Jones
x.com x.com
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A great step for Souza, great exposure for the Wildcats, and another sign that UNH Hockey continues to gain momentum. 🏒🐾 Don't be surprised if Lavins and another teammate make the final roster.
 
JB said:
How is Sandlin an assistant to Souza?

Souza - 105-135-28, won nothing ever

Sandelin - 493-423-105 and 3 NCAA Titles, 12 tournament appearances
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I’m not necessarily a proponent of this train of thought - but perhaps his friends in high places in the hockey community see his job is (potentially) on the line, and this represents a nice accolade to persuade the new AD that Souza is worth retaining beyond this year.

If that fails, this is at least a nice feather in the old resume cap for potentially landing Souza a job after his last year at UNH.

Again… I’d like to believe this is not the case, but I’m not wholly convinced this kind of thing doesn’t happen behind the scenes.

I also hope it doesn’t cause too much of a distraction for Souza - taking away from the necessary work required to win games for UNH this year.

I’ll remain optimistic this is great for Souza and UNH. But if the team comes out it’s usual flat self in the new year… people may look to this as a distraction that led to mediocre results.
 
Potluck said:
Colton is an interesting hire. He practiced law privately in Massachusetts from 2008-2013, was a senate staffer at the Mass State House and a city councilor in Taunton, Massachusetts. He clearly recognizes the importance of politics. He will not accomplish anything in a state school without political moxie. He worked at Holy Cross and Providence and therefore was exposed to D1 hockey during his employment.

Colton was a college QB at Bucknell and is coming to UNH from Richmond so he has a very strong football background. Bet the search committed valued that a great deal. The football crowd at UNH is fairly small but fierce. One major concern is he has no background with state schools. The people at Bucknell, Holy Cross and Richmond are MUCH different than New Hamsphire residents and UNH personnel. Small liberal arts schools tend to be rigorous and forward thinking. UNH is, well, far from forward thinking and less rigorous than those institutions.

Colton's potential success will be reliant primarily on further development of his political skills. I really hope he did his homework before accepting the job. Rich clearly didn't. I can understand why UNH likes him.
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I think you the committee made a wise pick. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Any concerns he might be a flight risk if he's successful in Titletown?

I mean, that's a small "problem" if it's based on at least medium-term success, hopefully his varied background for a relatively young guy will pay dividends ...
 
FlagUp17 said:
I’m not necessarily a proponent of this train of thought - but perhaps his friends in high places in the hockey community see his job is (potentially) on the line, and this represents a nice accolade to persuade the new AD that Souza is worth retaining beyond this year.

If that fails, this is at least a nice feather in the old resume cap for potentially landing Souza a job after his last year at UNH.

Again… I’d like to believe this is not the case, but I’m not wholly convinced this kind of thing doesn’t happen behind the scenes.

I also hope it doesn’t cause too much of a distraction for Souza - taking away from the necessary work required to win games for UNH this year.

I’ll remain optimistic this is great for Souza and UNH. But if the team comes out it’s usual flat self in the new year… people may look to this as a distraction that led to mediocre results.
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Actually, I think you nailed it. I was discussing this earlier today (off board) with another regular poster, and we called it the "Save MS7's Job" project lol 😂

FWIW ... I doubt the new AD will be as gullible as his predecessor was, so like you said, at the very least, it's a nice boost to his CV for his next stop.
 
Chuck Murray said:
Actually, I think you nailed it. I was discussing this earlier today (off board) with another regular poster, and we called it the "Save MS7's Job" project lol 😂

FWIW ... I doubt the new AD will be as gullible as his predecessor was, so like you said, at the very least, it's a nice boost to his CV for his next stop.
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On a related note - it will be interesting to track MS7’s media appearances as we get closer to the season / once it begins. We have generally observed “radio silence” with MS7 during the majority of his tenure, but I recall a slight bump in his previous contract year. At the least, I imagine this coaching opportunity will involve more media involvement forMS7 than we are typically accustomed to.

What impact this may have on UNHs performance is yet to be seen.

Again, I’m all for Souza getting a contract extension should he earn it, which should involve (at the least) a solid regular season HEA record and a trip to the garden (finals, not just semis)… perhaps even more if I’m being greedy.

That’s a tall order in my book, and it’s probably not something he can just “luck” into… it will be a sign of significant growth in building a winning team.

Let’s see if Souza can do it.
 
Chuck Murray said:
Any concerns he might be a flight risk if he's successful in Titletown?
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The greatest compliment any institution can receive is to have employees and students that are valued and desired by other institutions. I subscribe to the Shawn Walsh recruiting philosophy; he said he'd rather have had a NHL player at Maine for 2 years then a lesser recruit for 4.
 
HockeyRef said:
Another season tix bbq in the books! Sooo many new players, most were there. Coach says this is a 'big (meaning size) team' one that will be physical. Canada well represented as well as a few 'locals' as close as Newfields.

The new lobby and other renovations were presented with the Delta Dental CEO speaking about the impact DD would be making on the project. Kind of long winded...but whatever. They unveiled pics of the lobby and had a slide show of the new team rooms, etc. which look pretty cool.

President of the U spoke, saying she had 'big expectations ' on the team and spoke to the renovations. There was the usual 'game show' with the veterans to round things out. Good to see the returning players.

106 days to puck drop!
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I only pop in here occasionally over the summer, so apologies in advance re: these comments on what some of you might view as "old news" ...

I didn't attend the BBQ in person, but chatted up a few people who did. Several friends recounted how they had a fun conversation with incoming freshmen Parker von Richter (PvR) and Mason Zebeski, both of whom were excited to meet some long-time fans who had seen their former Juniors coach play at UNH. And who was that? Why James Richmond, currently serving as HC of the OHL Brampton Steelheads where PvR and Zebeski both played in the early months of the 2025-2026 season before moving on to the Barrie Colts to round out their CHL careers ...

I'm always intrigued to learn what becomes of former Wildcat players, so mention of Richmond's name prompted me to do a deep dive on his time at/after UNH. I recognized his name, of course, but had only vague memories of his time in Durham. Per Hockeydb, he played four years at UNH, 1983-1987, and rang up an impressive 56-104-160 stat line on some truly terrible Wildcat squads at the tail end of the Holt era. I only got to see him play as a freshman, as I moved away from the Seacoast in late summer 1984, coincidentally after the only winning season he'd experience in blue/white. Two seasons later he bottomed out skating on the worst UNH team in the modern era (post 1960), a team that won only 5 games (none against the WCHA iron in the interlocking schedule), and then only 8 games as a senior in Bob Kullen's first season as HC. I can only imagine how dispiriting playing on those teams must have been, when "Lively Snively" was nothing but a distant memory ...

Following his time in Durham he bounced around between various European hockey leagues and several domestic roller hockey, yes roller hockey, teams before hanging up his pro blades/wheels to join the coaching ranks in 2012, 6 years after his last skating gig in Germany. Since then he's had a modestly successful coaching career, all in Ontario, leading his several teams to a cumulative record of 371-284 (0.567 winning percentage) with just 2 losing seasons. Ironically, his worst season by far was the one just concluded, 19-39, when future 'Cats PvR and Zebeski had already moved on before the Steelheads sank out of the play-off picture ...

I wonder what Richmond told them about his time in the Seacoast? What memories does he have that could possibly be relevant in today's NiL/Portal environment? At least he's got the losing part down cold :-( They knew him only as their 62 yo coach, so far removed from his Durham Days that both his college head coaches have passed away and the rink he skated in now hosts half-court hoop/floor hockey games. When Stewart and/or Giuliano showed up in Brampton scouting his team/players, was he surprised/thrilled? Did either/both of PvR and Zebeski have other DivI offers, but Richmond's plug for his old alma mater tipped the scales? If I make it up to Durham this season and have an opportunity to talk to either/both of them, I'm gonna ask 'em ...

................................

Posters here have remarked upon Delta Dental's new financial commitment to the program, but given NH's perilous financial plight and its notorious parsimonious support for higher education (and $0 by statute for athletics), every dollar helps. And it's certainly admirable that a successful UNH alum chose to give back to his school this way. But I wonder who pitched the idea that Whitt lobby renovations was the best way to spend his donated money? We need better players; wouldn't sweetening the NiL pot better address that need than a shinier new spot to display our All-American player portraits? Which, not incidentally, hasn't been added to since, when? But you can't hang a thank-you plaque (pun intended :-) on PvR's bank account, so edifice complex thinking evidentally won out ...
 
jeteye1717 said:
Following his time in Durham he bounced around between various European hockey leagues and several domestic roller hockey, yes roller hockey, teams before hanging up his pro blades/wheels to join the coaching ranks in 2012, 6 years after his last skating gig in Germany. Since then he's had a modestly successful coaching career, all in Ontario, leading his several teams to a cumulative record of 371-284 (0.567 winning percentage) with just 2 losing seasons. Ironically, his worst season by far was the one just concluded, 19-39, when future 'Cats PvR and Zebeski had already moved on before the Steelheads sank out of the play-off picture ...
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Roller hockey at the professional level was briefly a thing around the turn of the century, especially in the mid-1990's. And James Richmond wasn't even close to the best UNH alum to strap on a pair of in-line skates and give it a shot in RHI. One of our illustrious associate head coaches was the scourge of low-level minor league hockey (see link below, note the photo of him from back in the day), and was simultaneously the Paul Kariya of RHI. Unfortunately, in what has since become a trait of far too many former UNH players turning pro, establishing himself at the AHL level proved to be a step too far - but not for the want of trying ...

www.madisonrechockey.com

News: The Rise and Fall of Roller Hockey International: Why Pro Roller Hockey Struggles to Survive - Madison Rec Hockey

www.madisonrechockey.com www.madisonrechockey.com

Glenn Stewart Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics and Records of Glenn Stewart, a hockey player and coach from Scarborough, ONT born Jul 30 1970 who was active from 1990 to 2003.
www.hockeydb.com www.hockeydb.com

jeteye1717 said:
Posters here have remarked upon Delta Dental's new financial commitment to the program, but given NH's perilous financial plight and its notorious parsimonious support for higher education (and $0 by statute for athletics), every dollar helps. And it's certainly admirable that a successful UNH alum chose to give back to his school this way. But I wonder who pitched the idea that Whitt lobby renovations was the best way to spend his donated money? We need better players; wouldn't sweetening the NiL pot better address that need than a shinier new spot to display our All-American player portraits? Which, not incidentally, hasn't been added to since, when? But you can't hang a thank-you plaque (pun intended :-) on PvR's bank account, so edifice complex thinking evidentally won out ...
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Just because most of the publicity for Key Auto Group (Tony DiLorenzo) and Delta Dental (Tom Raffio) has been attributed to bricks and mortar type things, doesn't necessarily mean they aren't also funding other things that are more closely associated to advancing UNH's on-ice efforts. TDL's situation is further complicated by his candidacy for the GOP nomination in the current 2026 CD-1 race to replace sitting Congressman Chris Pappas - whose family owns and operates the Puritan Backroom Restaurant in ManchVegas - where Pappas is vying to replace retiring Senator Jeanne Shaheen this November. Shaheen's daughter Stefany is shaping up as TDL's most likely challenger for the CD-1 seat, while Pappas' main challenger will likely be former US Senator John Sununu Jr.

TDL is looking very much like a man on a mission, advancing into the legacy stage of his long and successful business career. If he has decided to be a significant benefactor to UNH Athletics in general, and UNH Hockey specifically, that's a very good sign. Raffio also now in the mix is a good sign that UNH is attracting outside funding support, and who knows who else might be getting in line with or behind these guys? We spent the afternoon kicking around in Downtown Portsmouth, which has been radically transformed in the last generation from a small coastal city to one that has benefitted from a huge influx of capital and talent, expanded and modernized its downtown while maintaining most of its charm ... and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Pease's transformation during this same 30+ years from an air force base to a booming host of a wide array of businesses, and with UNH maybe ten minutes away from this, with close to a half-dozen 9-figure projects either underway or in planning approval processes across Southern NH, this should all be a right time/right place proposition for UNH to capitalize on. With the new AD hire sorted, and with opportunities to upgrade coaching appointments on the horizon, the next decade (hopefully beyond) is bursting with potential in Titletown. :)
 
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