UNH Commits Update 3-24-20: Final 2019-20 Statistics

The UNH Men's Hockey Blog

Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic

At the time of this writing, Johns Hopkins University reports 600 people in the United States have died from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. The death toll worldwide is 18,227 people. The number of confirmed cases in the USA (currently 49,768) and throughout the world (398,107) is rapidly increasing every day. Given the devastation the coronavirus is causing to the physical and emotional health of so many, to say nothing of the associated financial crisis, I have been reluctant to report on the University of New Hampshire hockey program and the young players committed to join it in the coming years. I hope this "UNH Commits Update" provides a welcome diversion for UNH fans.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Hockey East cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season on March 12th, the day before the Quarterfinal Playoff Series was set to begin. On the final day of the regular season, the UNH squad had not qualified for the playoffs so were spared the disappointment endured by the top 8 Hockey East teams and their fans.

9 UNH Commits - Finished 2019-20 Season

The table below shows the final 2019-20 statistics for the 22 recruits committed to pursue a college education at UNH and play hockey for the Wildcats. Nine of the UNH Commits were able to finish their season before Covid-19 forced a cancellation of youth and junior hockey leagues. These players have a green "F" next to their name.

The 5 UNH commits playing high school hockey - Carsen Richels (Blaine, MN HS) and New England Prep School players David Sacco (Lawrence Academy), JP Turner (Avon Old Farms), Damien Carfagna (Lawrence Academy), and Morgan Winters (Tabor Academy) - completed the season.

Nicolas Ardanaz (West Kelowna Warriors) and Nicholas Cafarelli (Wenatchee Wild) played on teams eliminated in the first round of British Columbia Hockey League Playoffs. Jack Ring and the South Shore Kings did not qualify for the National Collegiate Development Conference Playoffs while his younger brother Nick Ring (Boston Advantage U18) completed his season.

13 UNH Commits - End of 2019-20 Season Cancelled

On March 12th, the junior hockey leagues in North America suspended play, until further notice, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 2019-20 season ended prematurely for thirteen UNH Commits. These players have a purple "X" next to their name on the statistics table.

On March 18th, the United States Hockey League officially cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season. The USHL teams still had 10-13 remaining games in the regular season. The season ended for UNH Commits Luke Reid (Chicago Steel), Alex Gagne (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders), Nikolai Jenson (Youngstown Phantoms), Timo Bakos (Sioux Falls Stampede), Robert Cronin (Dubuque Fighting Saints), and Liam Devlin. Reid and Devlin's team, the Chicago Steel, had the best record in the USHL (41-7-1) and was the only team to have clinched a playoff berth.

The North American Hockey League was in a similar situation when they cancelled the season on March 17th. Their regular season had 6-10 games remaining. No doubt, this was disappointing news for three of UNH's newest commits. Cam Gendron, Joe Nagle, and Cade Penney were playing for the New Jersey Titans (31-13-1), the NAHL's top team.

The British Columbia Hockey League had just completed the first round of their playoffs when they cancelled the remainder of the season on March 13th. Will Margel was one UNH Commit still playing. His team, the Coquitlam Express (37-17-4), had the third best regular season record in the BCHL and had just swept the Langley Rivermen in the quarterfinal series. Connor Sweeney and the Trail Smoke Eaters (36-17-2) were also still playing. They swept the Prince George Spruce Kings in the quarterfinals.

The National Collegiate Development Conference cancelled their season on March 13th, the day before the NCDC Playoffs were set to begin. Cy LeClerc and the Islanders Hockey Club (29-17-4) and Aidan Curran and the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs had qualified for the NCDC Playoffs.

2019-20 Final Statistics

Player	NZ Stars**	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM	+/-
2020 Commits
Luke Reid X 9/26/01 (D)	4.75	Chicago Steel	USHL	60	2	17	19	36	+15
		Team USA	WJAC	6	0	1	1	0
Carsen Richels* F 10/3/01 (F)	4.0	Blaine High School	Minn HS	25	27	25	52	12
			Playoffs	3	0	1	1	0
		MPLS ST PAUL	UMidwest HSELH	13	6	9	15	8
			Playoffs	3	2	0	2	0
		Elite League All-Star Team	Internat	3	0	2	2	0
Cam Gendron X 2/5/99 (F)	3.75	New Jersey Titans	NAHL	50	16	18	34	48	+11
			Prospects	2	1	0	1	0	-1
Joe Nagle X 5/17/99 (D)	3.75	New Jersey Titans	NAHL	13	0	2	2	6	-2
		Northeast Generals	NAHL	38	3	19	22	22	-2
			Prospects	2	0	1	1	0	+3
Will Margel* X 3/16/01 (F)	3.75	Coquitlam Express	BCHL	30	6	17	23	8
			Playoffs	4	2	5	7	2
		Madison Capitols	USHL	12	1	0	1	2	-10
2020 or '21 Commits
Alex Gagne* X 8/12/02 (D)	4.25	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	38	2	6	8	26	-8
Nicolas Ardanaz F 5/30/02 (D)	3.75	West Kelowna Warriors	BCHL	58	4	28	32	14
			Playoffs	5	0	1	1	0
Nikolai Jenson X 7/28/00 (D)	3.75	Youngstown Phantoms	USHL	39	3	2	5	36	-14
Nicholas Cafarelli F 12/31/01 (F)	3.75	Wenatchee Wild	BCHL	42	17	23	40	27
			Playoffs	5	2	0	2	2
Connor Sweeney X 5/5/00 (F)	3.5	Trail Smoke Eaters	BCHL	58	2	12	14	37
			Playoffs	4	0	1	1	2
2021 Commits
Timo Bakos X 7/28/00 (F)	4.0	Sioux Falls Stampede	USHL	41	7	8	15	8	-1
Cade Penney X 3/23/01 (D)	4.0	New Jersey Titans	NAHL	51	6	24	30	24	+30
			Prospects	2	0	0	0	0	-2
David Sacco F 1/3/02 (F)	3.75	Lawrence Academy	NE Prep	23	17	23	40	-
			Playoffs	1	0	0	0	-
		Cape Cod Whalers U18	EHF Selects	9	5	2	7	18
			Mass Regionals	2	0	2	2	0
Cy LeClerc X 8/17/02 (F)	3.75	Islanders Hockey Club	NCDC	50	22	33	55	8
Robert Cronin X 8/15/00 (F)	3.75	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL	44	2	6	8	20	+4
Liam Devlin X 1/7/01 (F)	3.75	Chicago Steel	USHL	36	6	2	8	22	+5
Aidan Curran X 1/22/01 (F)	3.5	NH Jr Monarchs	NCDC	22	4	21	25	2
		Bonnyville Pontiacs	AJHL	13	0	4	4	4
		Salmon Arm Silverbacks	BCHL	11	1	4	5	0
Jack Ring F 12/18/00 (F)	3.5	South Shore Kings	NCDC	15	3	4	7	4
		Northeast Generals	NAHL	35	3	12	15	8	+1
2021 or '22 Commits
JP Turner F 1/31/03 (F)	4.25	Avon Old Farms	NE Prep	25	14	14	28	-
			Playoffs	2	4	2	6	-
		NV River Rats 16U	Beast Series	7	3	7	10	34
			Playoffs	1	0	1	1	2
			Mass Regionals	3	1	2	3	0
Damien Carfagna F 12/12/02 (D)	3.75	Lawrence Academy	NE Prep	26	7	22	29	-
			Playoffs	1	0	0	0	-
		NV River Rats 18U	Beast Series	8	2	1	3	2
			Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0
			Mass Regionals	2	0	0	0	0
Morgan Winters F 12/8/01 (F)	3.75	Tabor Academy	NE Prep	23	8	20	28	-
		NV River Rats 18U	Beast Series	7	1	1	2	6
			Playoffs	1	0	1	1	2
2022 or '23 Commits
Nick Ring F 10/26/03 (F)	3.75	Boston Advantage U18	ECEL	11	4	3	7	-
			Playoffs	4	0	3	3	-
			Mass Regionals	2	1	0	1	0
* = Signed National Letter of Intent
** = Neutral Zone 5-Star Rating
F = Finished the season
X = End of season Cancelled

NOTE
The statistics for the commits, presented in the above table, are categorized by the projected year they will enroll in UNH. For example, the "2020 Commits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2020. I have based these projections on the following factors:
~ If a National Letter of Intent has been signed.
~ The year the commit and UNH coaches originally targeted for enrollment in UNH.
~ How old the commit would be upon admission.
~ Number of years in junior hockey prior to admission.
~ The commit's performance in recent seasons as well as injuries.
~ Anticipated date of high school graduation.
~ Number of UNH players leaving the team at the end of the previous season and the position they played.