University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Maine
Hockey Wraps Up Seven-Game Road Swing At Maine Tuesday
January 15, 2018 | Hockey
The Minutemen will face the Black Bears in Orono at 7 p.m. in a Hockey East matchup.
| University of Massachusetts Hockey Game Notes | |
| Game 21 | Massachusetts Minutemen (10-9-1, 4-5-1 HEA) at Maine Black Bears (11-9-2, 5-6-1 HEA) |
| Date | Time | Tuesday, January 16, 2018 |
| Location | Orono Maine, Alfond Arena (5,641) |
| Series History | Maine leads 53-21-9 |
| Live Statistics | Sidearm |
| Watch Live | Maine All-Access |
| Listen (Radio) | WHMP AM 1400/1240 FM 96.9/107.5 |
| Listen (Online) | WHMP Streaming Player | TuneIn App (mobile devices) |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts | Maine |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | Maine |
| @UMassHockey | @UMassAthletics | @MaineIceHockey | |
| UMass Hockey | UMass Athletics | |
| Tickets | Maine Athletics |
| Game Promotions | First Responders Appreciation, UMaine Faculty Staff Appreciation |
Quick Hits: UMass Takes Three Points On The Road At UVM
- UMass hockey went up to Burlington for a two-game Hockey East set at Vermont last weekend and took three of a possible four points from the Catamounts, posting a 2-2 tie on Friday night and defeating UVM on Saturday, 6-3.
- Friday night, freshman Cale Makar opened the scoring with his second of the season and first career power-play goal
- Freshman John Leonard had the other tally for the Minutemen and added an assist for his third multi-point game of the season.
- Matt Murray finished with 33 saves in his start and moved to 3-6-1 on the year.
- On Saturday, UMass scored a program-record three shorthanded goals as the Minutemen defeated UVM, 6-3.
- UMass' first two tallies of the night came on the same Vermont power play, Makar later added another shorthanded goal with an empty net late in the third.
- Sophomore Niko Hildenbrand logged his first career multi-goal game, which included his first career shorthanded goal. The performance extended his point scoring streak to four straight games, a career best, as 60% of his points in this season have come in the 2018 calendar year (3g, 3a).
- Freshman Mario Ferraro was +4 and had a career-high three assists in Saturday night's contest, the best single game performance by a Minuteman this season.
- Makar logged his second career multi-point game on Saturday and was +3.
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier picked up a pair of helpers in the win, his first multi-point game in a UMass uniform and tied his career best from his freshman season at Boston College.
- Junior Brett Boeing registered his first multi-point game in a UMass uniform and third of his career with a pair of assists.
Makar Honored By Hockey East
- Freshman defenseman Cale Makar was selected as the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Week on Monday, marking the first career award for Makar and the fourth time a member of the Minutemen has received a weekly honor this season.
- Makar brought his hot scoring touch back from his gold medal run with Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship, potting goals in each of his first two games back with the Minutemen to help UMass to a three-point weekend (1-0-1) on the road at Vermont.
- The Calgary, Alberta, native logged three points on two goals and an assist over the two games and was +2 with four blocks and a team-high 12 shots on goal.
- Makar opened last Friday night's 2-2 tie with his second tally of the season, which was his first career power-play goal. He followed up with his second career multi-point game on Saturday with two more special teams' points, assisting the game-opening shorthanded goal for the Minutemen and scoring a shorthanded empty net goal to put UMass up by two in the closing minutes of the 6-3 win.
- Makar was tabbed the No. 2 star of the game in Saturday's victory and is currently fourth in scoring for the Minutemen on the season with 12 points (3g, 9a) in 18 games and a +9 rating.
- Dating back to Dec. 29 with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, Makar has five goals in his last seven games.
Special Teams Success
- Over the past five games UMass has scored nine of its 16 goals in special teams situations, including its first three shorthanded goals of the season, which came in last Saturday's 6-3 win at Vermont for a program record.
- The Minutemen are 6-for-17 on the power play (35.3%) over that five-game stretch, scoring nearly half of its season total in power play goals in those games.
- Prior to the December 10 game at Union, which saw UMass go 2-for-4 with the man advantage, the squad was 8-for-68 (11.8%) on the season. The power play percentage has increased nearly five percentage points in that five-game stretch.
Collecting Medals At WJC
- Freshman defenseman Cale Makar became the second Minuteman in program history to win gold at the IIHF World Junior Championship when Team Canada defeated Sweden, 3-1 in the Gold Medal Game on Jan. 5 in Buffalo, New York. The Calgary, Alberta native joins former UMass forward Stephen Werner (2002-06), who won a Gold Medal with Team USA in 2004.
- Makar finished the tournament with three goals and five assists for eight points and was +5 over seven games. He led all defensemen in scoring at the World Junior Championship and was the lone Canadian player to be named to the World Junior Media All-Star team. Following Canada's semifinal win over the Czech Republic, Makar was tabbed one of Team Canada's three Players of the Tournament, as voted by Canada's coaching staff, as well.
- UMass equipment manager Josh Penn also took home a medal from the WJC has he was on staff with Team USA, which earned bronze in the tournament.
Going Streaking
- With a pair of assists on the power play at #19 Union on Dec. 10, freshman Mitchell Chaffee capped a seven-game point streak, the longest streak for a member of the Minutemen since the 2014-15 season.
- During the seven-game stretch, Chaffee posted nine (4g, 3a) of his 14 points on the season and a +8 rating. It also included a three-game goal scoring streak (Nov. 24 to Dec. 1).
- Chaffee is currently second on the team in scoring with 14 points through 18 games on seven goals and seven assists. He ranks tied for seventh in Hockey East in freshman scoring (0.70 points per-game). He is tied for 11th nationally in goals among freshmen and 14th goals per-game (0.35).
Top Of The Class
- As a team, UMass leads the nation in freshmen scoring in goals (37), assists (59), points (96), power-play goals (12), goals per-game (1.85), assists per-game (2.95) and points per-game (4.80).
- The Minutemen are 21 points ahead of Bowling Green (75) and 13 goals ahead of Clarkson (24) for the national lead in those categories with four and two fewer games played on the season, respectively.
Chau Chipping In
- Jump-started by a four-point weekend against Merrimack that earned him Hockey East Rookie of the Week recognition back in October, freshman Oliver Chau currently leads UMass in scoring with 18 points on the season on eight goals and 10 assists. UMass is one of seven teams in college hockey (including AIC, Bentley, Michigan State, Minnesota Duluth, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart), being led by a freshman in scoring this season.
- On Oct. 28 on the road at Merrimack, Chau posted a three-point effort with a goal and two assists for a new season high and third multi-point game of the season. He logged his first career multi-goal game with a pair of tallies in UMass' 6-3 win over Quinnipiac on Nov. 25.
- He currently ranks third in the nation among freshmen in points per-game (0.90), tied for fifth in goals (8), tied for sixth in points (18), fifth in goals per-game (0.50) and tied for sixth in power-play points (9).
- In Hockey East, Chau is the league leader in freshmen scoring at 0.90 points per-game.
Wischow Earns Player Of The Week Honor From Hockey East
- Sophomore goaltender Ryan Wischow was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Nov. 27 after leading UMass to a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac. It marked Wischow's first weekly honor of his career.
- Wischow, who was the first UMass neminder to garner Player of the Week recognition since Jonathan Quick did so in 2007, posted a pair of wins as the Minutemen swept a weekend series against the Bobcats. He logged a 2.00 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage over the two contests, making a total of 79 saves.
- Wischow stopped 47 shots in UMass' 6-3 win over the Bobcats in the Saturday contest after opening the weekend with 32 saves in a 2-1 win on the road at Quinnipiac.
- Wischow's performance against Quinnipiac capped a stellar month of November for the netminder, which saw him go 3-0-0 over four games with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage, making 126 saves.
Stellar Homecoming For Leonard
- After stealing the headlines following a three-point effort in his first game at the Mullins Center, Amherst native John Leonard was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week and the UMass Student-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 16.
- Leonard helped UMass to a 2-0-0 weekend with the first two multi-point games of his career.
- He registered two goals and three assists over the two contests for a five-point week, starting the weekend with a pair of helpers in a 5-4 win at Union. He followed up with a three-point night against AIC, factoring in all three of the Minutemen's goals with two goals and an assist, including his second game winner of the season.
- He currently ranks sixth nationally among freshmen in points-per game (0.88) and has 14 points on five goals and nine assists thus far this season.
A Baker's Dozen
- With 13 freshmen on the roster, UMass has the largest freshman class in all of Division I hockey this season. Air Force and Alaska Anchorage follow, each with 12 freshmen.
- The class is comprised of eight forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders. The group hails from three different countries with five from the United States, seven from Canada and one from Finland. Amherst native John Leonard is the closest to home, while Eetu Torpström, at 3,962 miles from Kuopio, Finland, is the furthest.
League Imports
- Though new to the Minutemen, two additions to the UMass roster for 2017-18 are not only veterans of college hockey, but of Hockey East.\
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier, who sat out last season per NCAA transfer rules, suited up for the Maroon and White for the first time this past fall. As a freshman at Boston College in 2015-16, Couturier saw action in 33 games and contributed six points for the Eagles on two goals and four assists. He passed his freshman year total of six points 14 games into the season and currently has two goals and seven assists on the year through 20 games.
- In the offseason, UMass also added graduate transfer Niko Rufo to its 2017-18 roster, eligible to play immediately. Rufo, a forward from Stoneham, joined the Minutemen from Providence College and is in his final year of collegiate eligibility.
- At Providence, Rufo tallied 10 points on four goals and six assists in 56 games over four seasons, with a career-high 18 games played in both 2015-16 and 2016-17. He appeared in 11 games during the Friars' national championship season in 2014-15.
- Rufo equaled his season career high in a Friars' uniform (2g, 2a in 19 games in 2016-17) in just the third game of the season for the Minutemen. He is sixth on the team in scoring currently with 11 points on six goals and five assists, having surpassed his career points (10) and goals totals (4) from Providence in just 13 games.
Firsts On Firsts On Firsts
- In UMass' season opening weekend at Arizona State all 13 freshmen dressed for at least one of the two contests with 12 seeing their first collegiate action.
- Six freshmen collected their first collegiate points in the season opener at Arizona State: Austin Albrecht (assist), Marco Bozzo (goal), Mitchell Chaffee (goal), Mario Ferraro (assist), John Leonard (assist) and Cale Makar (assist).
- Redshirt sophomore Josh Couturier assisted on the squad's final tally in game one for his first point in a UMass uniform.
- On night two at Arizona State, freshmen provided two of the four goals for the Minutemen, with Jake Gaudet opening the scoring with his first of his career and John Leonard collecting the game-winner for his first career tally.
- Freshman Oliver Chau notched an assist in game two for his first career point and redshirt senior Niko Rufo logged a goal and an assist at Arizona State on Oct. 7 for his first career multi-point game.
- Freshman Matt Murray made his collegiate debut in net at Arizona State on Oct. 7 and earned his first career win. He collected his first collegiate shutout on Oct. 27 vs. Merrimack.
- Chau picked up his first collegiate goal early in the second period at Union on Oct. 13 and George Mika netted his on the power play midway through the third. To date, 37 of 60 UMass goals on the season have been scored by freshmen, including 27 of the last 43 goals.
- Freshman Philip Lagunov's assist on Niko Rufo's goal at Union on Oct. 13 marked his first collegiate point. He scored his first collegiate goal on Jan. 6 at UMass Lowell on the power play.
- In UMass' weekend series against Merrimack on Oct. 27-28, three rookie defensemen, Makar, Eetu Torpström and Ferraro registered their first collegiate goals, while Couturier picked up his first as a member of the Minutemen.
- Albrecht scored the game winner against #8/7 Providence for the Minutemen on Nov. 9 for his first career tally.
- Gaudet picked up his first three assists of his career in back-to-back nights of UMass' sweep of Quinnipiac (11/24-25).
- Junior Brett Boeing scored his first in a UMass uniform on Dec. 5 at UConn.
History Made At The 2017 NHL Draft
- It was a historic weekend for UMass at the 2017 NHL Draft as the Minutemen saw incoming freshmen Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro become the two highest draft picks in program history. Makar was selected No. 4 overall by the Colorado Avalanche and Ferraro was taken 49th overall by the San Jose Sharks.
- Makar became the first Minuteman to be selected in the first round. His No. 4 selection tied for fourth all-time in Hockey East history, as well. Prior to the 2017 NHL Draft, current Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour had been UMass' highest draft pick going in the second round, 55th overall, to the Ducks in 2014.
- Makar amassed 135 career points on 35 goals and 100 assists over 111 regular season contests with the Brooks Bandits over the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) and added 37 points (9g, 28a) in 46 career postseason games with AJHL titles with Brooks in 2016 and 2017. His laundry list of honors includes: 2016-17 AJHL Top Defenceman, 2016-17 AJHL Most Valuable Player, 2016-17 AJHL Playoff MVP, 2016-17 AJHL All-League Team, 2016-17 Western Canada Cup Top Defenceman and All-Tournament Team, 2016-17 RBC Cup Top Defenceman and Most Valuable Player (the first player to ever be named RBC Cup MVP in back-to-back seasons), 2016-17 CJHL Most Valuable Player and 2016-17 RBC National Junior A Player of the Year.
- Ferraro played his final season of junior hockey in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Des Moines Buccaneers and totaled 41 points on eight goals and 33 assists over 60 regular season contests. He garnered USHL First All-Star Team and USHL All-Rookie Team accolades after tying for first among USHL defensemen in goals and ranking second in points and assists.
Minding The Net
- Ryan Wischow is the lone returning goaltender for the Minutemen, but brings a wealth of experience into his sophomore season after seeing nearly 70% of the time in net for UMass in 2016-17.
- As a freshman, Wischow played in 27 games, starting 26 of those, for a total of 1461 minutes and logged 700 saves.
- The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native recorded a 31-save shutout in his collegiate debut against Colorado College on Oct. 7, 2016 to become the first goaltender in UMass' Division I history to post a shutout in his career debut.
- On December 13, 2016, Wischow made a career high 52 saves at Princeton, the most saves for a UMass goaltender in a regulation game since 2001.
