{"id":90778,"date":"2019-01-31T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=90778"},"modified":"2020-08-24T13:01:18","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T18:01:18","slug":"weekend-new-hampshire-maine-hockey-east-series-as-exciting-as-it-gets-a-great-weekend-of-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2019\/01\/31\/weekend-new-hampshire-maine-hockey-east-series-as-exciting-as-it-gets-a-great-weekend-of-hockey\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend New Hampshire-Maine Hockey East series &#8216;as exciting as it gets&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"ps_captionIns\" aria-describedby=\"caption-ps-captionIns\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"\/img-show\/I00006_oSpNwBh9w\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Photo By: Jess Speechley\/photo: Jessica Speechley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Angus-Crookshank-IMG-8922a-1.jpg\" alt=\"Angus Crookshank (Jess Speechley\/photo: Jessica Speechley)\" width=\"660\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-ps-captionIns\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ottawa prospect Angus Crookshank is second in UNH team scoring with 22 points through 25 games this season (photo: Jessica Speechley).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>New Hampshire coach Michael Souza, who grew up in Wakefield, Mass., is unapologetically a New England Patriots fan.<\/p>\n<p>He admits to quoting legendary Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a little too often.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the guys are a little tired of hearing me talk about the Patriots,\u201d said Souza. \u201cEspecially for the non-New England guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Souza&#8217;s latest Belichick-ism might be one of the most important: Be playing your best come playoff time.<\/p>\n<p>Though still a few weeks short of the postseason, Souza knows that his Wildcats seem to be headed in a good direction. After beginning the year 1-6-4, New Hampshire is 8-2-3 in its last 13, including a mark of 6-1-1 in its last eight home games.<\/p>\n<p>That record at home is important to Souza, a UNH alum who remembers the day when it was a constant sellout at the Whittemore Center, something that was lost in recent years due to the team\u2019s struggles, particularly at home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m biased and I think this is the best home ice,\u201d said Souza. \u201cBut when it\u2019s jumping, there\u2019s no better place to see a college hockey game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lot of the team\u2019s development has been centered around improving as a unit. Watching this team play in October to today, the team looks faster. Souza is clear that isn\u2019t because of any sudden power skating drills, but rather just playing better on the ice as a five-man unit and the ability to move the puck cohesively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re working any harder or doing anything differently than we were early in the year systematically,\u201d said Souza. \u201cThe execution has been better. When the passes are on the tape and you\u2019re playing smart, it appears you\u2019re playing faster and you probably are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Souza\u2019s club has found a nice mix of offense from both the experienced upperclassmen as well as some of his team\u2019s freshmen.<\/p>\n<p>Junior Liam Blackburn has been dominant offensively, leading the team in goals and points. He potted 18 points as a rookie and 21 as a sophomore but already has 24 just past the midway point of his junior campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Second in scoring, though, is a rookie in Angus Crookshank. A native of North Vancouver, B.C., Crookshank has assimilated well to the college game and has put together a string of 15 games in which he has scored points in 13.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Angus] is a guy with a really high motor,\u201d said Souza. \u201cHe just never stops. He\u2019s good as a skater and strong on his edges. He\u2019s got a really high-end work ethic and he loves the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is at the rink all the time. He loves hockey, loves to play. He loves to score goals. We\u2019re really pleased where he\u2019s at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A big part of bringing freshmen like Crookshank and others into the UNH system has been led by Souza\u2019s captain and leaders, something for which the coach is very proud.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Our upperclassmen] have done a great job and for us it dates back to being here this past summer,\u201d said Souza. \u201cThat\u2019s been fun to watch them grow as a team. You\u2019re only as good as your senior class and your leadership group and we\u2019ve got great leadership from [our upperclassmen].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This weekend, New Hampshire will host its rival, Maine, for two games. Souza remembers the days when those two teams were perennial powers in Hockey East and he personally battled in some of the best of the games these teams played, including the 1999 NCAA championship game, which was won by Maine, 3-2 in overtime.<\/p>\n<p>Though neither of the teams has been a national title contender in the most recent years (Maine\u2019s last NCAA appearance was 2012; UNH\u2019s was in 2013), Souza is clear that there is plenty of rivalry left between these two teams and, with Hockey East reverting back to a playoff format where teams are eliminated after the regular season (this year, the top eight teams make the postseason, meaning the bottom three teams won\u2019t), this series carries even more weight.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, New Hampshire stands in seventh place with 15 points and 15 league games played. Maine has played just 14 games and is two points behind the Wildcats.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, if one team can sweep this series, the other will be sitting right on that playoff bubble in Hockey East.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a huge weekend with Maine, a really good team and a physical team,\u201d said Souza. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough weekend ahead of us here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe stakes get higher towards the end of the year. And I\u2019m excited to play a Maine team that needs the wins just as much as we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Souza\u2019s also clear that playing its rival Maine isn\u2019t just another weekend in Hockey East.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUNH and Maine, in our world, our college hockey world, that\u2019s as exciting as it gets,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We\u2019re fortunate to be part of the rivalry. I know our guys are excited and Maine\u2019s excited. It should be a great weekend of hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Hampshire coach Michael Souza, who grew up in Wakefield, Mass., is unapologetically a New England Patriots fan. He admits to quoting legendary Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a little too often (photo: Jessica Speechley).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":90779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[800],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Weekend New Hampshire-Maine Hockey East series &#039;as exciting as it gets&#039; - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New Hampshire coach Michael Souza, who grew up in Wakefield, Mass., is unapologetically a New England Patriots fan. 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