Richard Boyd: UNH Career Highlights

Richard Boyd
UNH Senior Defenseman

This article is the fourth in a series featuring the seniors on the 2018-19 UNH men's hockey team. Richard Boyd, a senior defenseman on the Wildcats' squad, verbally committed to the University of New Hampshire in August, 2013 at Age 18 years, 2 months. He was about to begin his senior year at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. As a junior, Boyd was a captain of the Cushing Penguins, the winner of the New England Prep Large School Championship.

In an interview included in "UNH Recruit Profile: Rich Boyd", he explained his reasons for choosing to play hockey and pursue his education at UNH:

"I chose UNH because that's the school I have always wanted to go to. They are my favorite college team. I have been to a couple of games at the Witt and the atmosphere there was incredible, not like any other college game I had been to."

The 18-year-old Boyd provided this description of his hockey strengths and areas he was working to improve:

"I can read the ice very well and I am a shutdown defenseman. Something I am trying to work on is retrieving the puck off the boards to make it easier for the first pass."

Over his three seasons at Cushing Academy, Boyd played in 95 games and scored 21 goals and 54 assists.

Richard Boyd enrolled at UNH as a "true freshman" in the Fall of 2014. The tall, smooth-skating defenseman played both left and right defense throughout his UNH career. He even played left wing and scored a goal in a game against Merrimack in his sophomore year. Over his first two seasons, Boyd lived up to his reputation as a shutdown defenseman compiling an overall plus-minus rating of +4. He also contributed 2 goals and 3 assists.

Richard grew up playing hockey in Florida. At age 14, he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. His ongoing battle against the disease was chronicled in a video production by his UNH teammate Dylan Chanter. Beginning in the late summer before his junior season at UNH, Richey experienced a serious relapse and only played in 11 games.

Fortunately, a newer medicine for Crohn's was effective and Boyd returned for a strong season in 2017-18. He scored 3 goals, including a game-winning goal, distributed 3 assists, and accumulated a +4 rating. At the end of the season, Boyd was awarded the Most Improved Player on the UNH squad. His steady performance continued throughout the 2018-19 regular season. In addition to playing a regular shift on defense, Boyd logged substantial minutes on the penalty kill and also earned playing time on the power play. Boyd tallied a goal and 6 assists and his plus/minus rating of +8 was the best on the team.

Richard Boyd UNH Jersey #15 Defenseman, 6'3", 209 lbs. Shoots Left Hometown: Delray Beach, Florida DOB: 6-7-1995 Turns 24 in June

UNH Career Statistics

Player	Season	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	GWGoals	PIM
Richard Boyd  (D)	2014-15	23	0	3	3	0	12
	Hockey East Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0	0
	2015-16	16	2	0	2	0	16
	Hockey East Playoffs	3	0	2	2	0	0
	2016-17	11	0	0	0	0	8
	2017-18	34	3	3	6	1	24
	Hockey East Playoffs	2	0	0	0	0	0
	2018-19	32	1	6	7	0	12
	Hockey East Playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals	122	6	14	20	1	72

HIGHLIGHTS

First 2 NCAA Points, 10-25-14, Freshman Year



First NCAA Goal, 10-24-15, Sophomore Season



Second NCAA Goal, Playing Left Wing, 10-31-15



Game-Winning Goal, 1st Goal at the Whittemore Center, 12-2-2017, Junior Season



Power Play Goal vs Maine, 1-20-18, Junior Season



Senior Year Highlights, 2018-19