A Legacy on Ice: The History of UMass Amherst Hockey

The UMass Minutemen Ice Hockey team represents the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college ice hockey program. As a member of Hockey East, the Minutemen compete fiercely on the ice, playing their home games at the William D. Mullins Center, which has a seating capacity of 8,387.

The Early Years: From Pond Hockey to a Program Interrupted

The roots of UMass hockey stretch back to the early 20th century. The centrally located pond on the UMass campus wasn't just a scenic spot; it served multiple purposes. Students and faculty would cut out blocks of ice for refrigeration during the winter. In the spring, it was the site of annual tug-of-war games between sophomores and freshmen.

In 1909, the first formal ice hockey team began playing on the pond. UMass fielded one of the earliest non-Ivy League programs, playing continually until poor weather conditions and a lack of funding caused the team to cease in 1939. The lack of a home venue caused the team to suffer through a stretch where they won only 2 games over a 7-year period.

After a period of dormancy, the program was rekindled. Eventually the pond became usable again and UMass were able to play home games with new head coach Steve Kosakowski. The Minutemen performed decently in his 13 seasons and were among 28 teams to found ECAC Hockey. In 1964 the ECAC split into two divisions and any program that did not possess a dedicated indoor arena was placed in ECAC 2.

The Mullins Center Era: A New Beginning

The opening of the Mullins Center in 1993 marked a turning point. Designed as a multi-purpose arena, it allowed the university to rekindle its ice hockey program. The men's team started the same year and hit the ice as a Division I independent. With 20 wins in the first season under Joe Mallen, there was hope that the Minutemen could compete in Hockey East. However, once they began a tougher schedule in 1994-95, the team lost a then-school-record 28 games.

Building a Contender: The Cahoon Years and Beyond

Under Cahoon the team began to improve, posting a winning season in 2003 and reaching the conference championship game the following year. His greatest success came after recruiting Jonathan Quick, who helped UMass to reach their first ever NCAA tournament in 2007. John Micheletto was tabbed as Cahoon's successor and after a decent first season the team slid down the standing and bottomed out for two consecutive seasons. After the second last-place finish Micheletto was fired and replaced by St.

The Carvel Era: Reaching New Heights

Ryan Bamford, athletic director of UMass, announced in March 2016 that Greg Carvel had been hired to become the 14th ice hockey head coach in UMass history. In Carvel's first season the team reached a nadir; the Minutemen set a new program record for futility, losing 29 games. Carvel led the team to a much-improved finish in his second season and then team took off in year three. The Minutemen reached their first ever Frozen Four and a berth in the 2019 NCAA Division I National Championship in which the Minutemen ultimately lost to Minnesota-Duluth 3-0.

National Champions: A Defining Moment

On April 10, 2021, the Minutemen won their first-ever NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament, beating the St. PITTSBURGH - University of Massachusetts hockey controlled play from start to finish and rolled to a 5-0 shutout of St. Cloud State to capture the 2021 Division I Men's Hockey NCAA Championship on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena, the first in program history.

"When you win your first National Championship, you really want to think about the people that laid the foundation and yesterday I was a bit emotional because Red Gendron was one of those people," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "And I loved Red. And he was a big part. He worked with Toot (Cahoon) when UMass had some really good teams. When I lifted that trophy, I thought of people like that and former players. And I also think about how important it is for our University to have a championship like this. And it's just people like that that this trickles down to a lot of people. When I got hired, my vision was never to win a national championship.

Freshman Aaron Bohlinger opened the scoring for the Minutemen at the 7:26 mark of the first period as an outlet pass from junior Ty Farmer sprung Bohlinger and freshman Ryan Sullivan on a 2-on-0. UMass then doubled its advantage 18:56 into the opening frame. Senior Philip Lagunov later expanded the lead to 3-0 with a highlight reel shorthanded goal 5:10 into the second period, toe dragging around a St. The Minutemen added their second special teams' goal of the period on the power play at the 13:45 mark. With traffic in font, senior Jake Gaudet corralled the puck and tapped it to classmate Oliver Chau. Filip Lindberg totaled 25 saves to collect his fourth career NCAA Tournament shutout, an NCAA record.

Read also: History of the Block 'M'

A Thrilling Tournament Game: UMass vs. Notre Dame

On March 6, 2015, UMass faced Notre Dame in Game 1 of the Opening Round of the 2015 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, played at Compton Family Ice Arena at Notre Dame. Early into the game, Sam Herr gave Notre Dame the lead on a rebounded shot. Vince Hinostroza made it 2-0 midway through the second period. But the Minutmen responded two minutes later with a power play goal by Steven Iacobellis. Notre Dame responded three minutes later with a Steven Fogarty goal to make it 3-1. UMass made it 3-2 a minute later with a goal by Shane Walsh. With two seconds remaining in the period, Troy Power tipped a power play goal to tie the game as the second period (a period that had five goals in total) ended. The third period ended with no goals, as the two teams went into overtime. The two teams repeatedly failed to score, with UMass shooting a record 91 times and Notre Dame shooting 78 times. Steve Mastalerz finished the night with 75 saves for UMass while Cal Petersen of Notre Dame made 87 saves, setting a new NCAA record.

Head-to-Head Records

The UMass Minutemen have a rich history of competition against various universities and colleges. Here's a summary of their overall records against some of their opponents:

vs Amherst College: 7-3
- Home: 5-0
- Away: 2-3
vs Anna Maria College: 1-4
- Conf: 1-1
- Home: 0-3
- Away: 1-1
vs Assumption University: 33-12-4
- Conf: 20-2-1
- Home: 18-4-4
- Away: 14-8
- Neutral: 1-0
vs Babson College: 6-9-2
- Conf: 0-2
- Home: 2-4
- Away: 4-5-2
vs Becker College: 6-0
- Conf: 2-0
- Home: 3-0
- Away: 3-0
vs Bentley University: 20-3
- Conf: 7-3
- Home: 8-2
- Away: 12-1
vs Connecticut College: 9-6-1
- Home: 3-2-1
- Away: 5-2
- Neutral: 1-2
vs Curry College: 20-12-1
- Conf: 10-3
- Home: 12-7
- Away: 8-5-1
vs Fairfield University: 5-1
- Home: 2-1
- Away: 3-0
vs Fitchburg State University: 54-41-10
- Conf: 26-23-9
- Home: 33-16-3
- Away: 20-24-7
- Neutral: 1-1
vs Framingham State University: 63-10-3
- Conf: 46-8-2
- Home: 31-6-1
- Away: 32-4-2
vs Franklin Pierce University: 11-1
- Conf: 7-0
- Home: 5-1
- Away: 6-0
vs Iona University: 5-0
- Home: 3-0
- Away: 2-0
vs Johnson & Wales University: 13-8-1
- Conf: 7-3-1
- Home: 8-4
- Away: 4-3-1
- Neutral: 1-1
vs Keene State: 4-0
- Conf: 2-0
- Home: 2-0
- Away: 2-0
vs Lebanon Valley College: 7-6
- Conf: 2-4
- Home: 5-2
- Away: 2-4
vs Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts: 6-2
- Conf: 3-2
- Home: 3-1
- Away: 3-1
vs Neumann University: 1-1
- Away: 1-0
- Neutral: 0-1
vs New England College: 6-5
- Conf: 1-1
- Home: 2-1
- Away: 3-2
- Neutral: 1-2
vs Nichols College: 24-2
- Conf: 11-1
- Home: 14-2
- Away: 10-0
vs Norwich University: 0-5
- Conf: 0-2
- Home: 0-2
- Away: 0-3
vs Plymouth State University: 22-42-6
- Conf: 12-41-5
- Home: 11-19-5
- Away: 10-23-1
- Neutral: 1-0
vs Quinnipiac University: 12-1
- Home: 7-1
- Away: 5-0
vs Rivier University: 3-2
- Conf: 1-1
- Home: 2-0
- Away: 1-2
vs Roger Williams University: 17-2
- Home: 9-1
- Away: 8-1
vs Saint Michael's College: 16-1-2
- Conf: 9-1-2
- Home: 8-0-1
- Away: 8-1-1
vs Salem State University: 18-37-3
- Conf: 15-26-3
- Home: 10-16-1
- Away: 8-20-2
- Neutral: 0-1
vs Salve Regina: 19-5-1
- Conf: 8-4
- Home: 11-4
- Away: 8-1-1
vs Skidmore College: 2-0
- Home: 1-0
- Away: 1-0
vs Southern New Hampshire University: 39-6-2
- Conf: 19-2
- Home: 21-2
- Away: 17-4-2
- Neutral: 1-0

Coaching History

The UMass Minutemen have had a number of head coaches throughout their history, each contributing to the program's development:

Elton J. Mansell (1917-1922)
Herbert Collins (1922-1923)
Howard R.

Notable Alumni

Jonathan Quick - Two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Los Angeles Kings winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012.

Read also: Legacy of Fordham University

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