UMASS OPENS HOCKEY EAST ACTION AT No. 4 NEW HAMPSHIRE ON FRIDAY NIGHT
• After a 6-0 win and the first career shutout for UMass goalie Dan Meyers, the UMass men's hockey team heads to No. 4 New Hampshire on Friday (7 PM) to open up Hockey East play. The Mass Attack had 10 days off before the game at RPI and showed no signs of rust. Friday's game at New Hampshire will be the first since the Wildcats knocked UMass out of the Hockey East Quarterfinals a season ago. The Wildcats are coming off a 2-1 win over then No. 5 Boston University last Sunday afternoon.
• Tuesday was just the 12th all-time meeting between UMass and Rensselaer with the Minutemen now holding a 7-4-1 edge in the all-time series. The two clubs last met almost six years ago on the day (Oct. 21, 2002) with the Minutemen winning 4-3 at the Mullins Center. At Houston Field House, UMass is now 4-4-1 all-time.
• Conversely, against New Hampshire, this will be the 97th all-time meeting between the two programs. The Wildcats are an impressive 74-17-5 in the series and won four of the five meetings last season.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
• UMass hockey will once again be broadcast live on 100.9 FM WRNX with Brock Hines calling the play-by-play and Jared Sharpe calling the color commentary. The pregame show will begin 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The game will also be live over the internet through www.UMassAthletics.com.
• Additionally, fans can watch the game online through www.UNHwildcats.com. This is a fee-service and works best using a high speed internet connection. Live stats will also be available for the game through each school's website.

STORY LINES
• Dan Meyers has the hot hand in goal so far the season drawing the starts in all three games. He made a career-high 40 saves in the win over No. 5 North Dakota and earned his first career shutout on Tuesday at Rensselaer.
• The UMass special teams are clicking going 3-for-14 on the power play, while the penalty kill has allowed just two goals in 11 chances.
• Twelve different skaters (of 18 dressed) scored at least one point in Tuesday's win at RPI. Through three games, 15 different skaters have earned at least one point with four tied with three points (James Marcou, Alex Berry, Topher Bevis, and Cory Quirk).
• UMass' win over No. 5 North Dakota was a victory over its highest ranked opponent since beating No. 4 Colorado College on Dec. 30, 2007.
• UMass is averaging 3.3 goals per game while allowing just 1.7 per game. UMass ranks 19th nationally, while New Hampshire ranks 32nd (2.67 gpg). Defensively, the Minutemen rank 12th overall in the country.
• The Minutemen are coming off a season of peaks and valleys. In 2007-08, UMass attained its highest-ever national ranking, No. 5, after a strong first half of the season and winning the Tampa College Hockey Classic against Notre Dame and Colorado College. However, the month of January was tough on the Minutemen as UMass went 0-5-1 to start the new year. The Mass Attack was still able to make the Hockey East playoffs, but were swept at New Hampshire in the quarterfinals.
• UMass returns a strong corps of players in 2008-09 led by seven seniors including co-captain Cory Quirk. The Minutemen will also have defenseman John Wessbecker back in the line-up after he missed the second half of last season due to injury. Defenseively, the Minutemen will have to find replacements for Mike Kostka and David Leaderer who were two of the most dependable blueliners in all of Hockey East last season. One area of the ice that is looking strong for UMass is between the pipes with sophomore Paul Dainton and junior Dan Meyers both returning.
• UMass returns seven of its top 10 scorers from last season with sophomore James Marcou (8-24-32) and Cory Quirk (11-18-29) leading the way. Justin Braun is the top scoring defenseman returning after scoring 20 point (4-16) last season.
• Offensively, UMass will have to find replacements for P.J. Fenton who was the third leading scorer a year ago and finished his career with 95 points which ranks ninth all-time at UMass. On the power play, the Minutemen will need to find a replacement for Kostka who led the nation in power play goals by a defenseman.
• Bolstering UMass' depth will be six newcomers (4 forwards, 2 defensemen). Coach Cahoon is very high on this class stating that each will make an impact on the ice this season.

UMASS RECEIVES VOTES IN PRESEASON POLLS
• To begin the 2008-09 season, UMass entered both the USA Today/USA Hockey Top 15 and the USCHO.com/CSTV preseason polls as a team receiving votes. In the Oct. 13 USCHO.com poll, UMass was also the fourth team listed receiving 44 votes.
• At No. 5 in the Dec. 31, 2007 and Jan. 7, 2008 USCHO.com/CSTV.com Top-20 poll, UMass gained its highest ever national ranking in program history. The previous top national ranking was No. 7 back in December 2003.

VS. RANKED TEAMS
• In 2008-09, UMass is 1-1-0 against ranked teams with No. 6 New Hampshire being the second top-10 opponent in the first four games of the season.
• Last season, UMass was 7-10-1 against ranked opponents including a 5-0-1 stretch against ranked teams through the holiday break. It was UMass best record ever against ranked teams.
• All-time, UMass is 41-167-17 against ranked opponents including a 4-7-2 record at neutral sites and a 5-19-4 record against non-conference teams.

MINUTEMEN HOST SKATE AROUND THIS PAST SUNDAY AFTERNOON
• UMass Hockey held its annual Skate with the Minutemen on Sunday, October 19 in the Mullins Center Practice Rink. The event was free to children and fans of all ages. After the hour of skating, there was hot chocolate and light refreshments available followed by an autograph session. 2008-09 UMass Hockey Posters were given out to each skater and were autographed by Coach Cahoon and the players. It was a great time had by all.

Dan Meyers EARNS HOCKEY EAST, NEHJ, UMASS/DINN BROS. WEEKLY HONORS
• For his efforts in getting UMass off to a split weekend at the Ice Breaker Invitational, junior goalie Dan Meyers was named the Hockey East Pure Hockey Defensive Player Of The Week, the UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athlete of the Week and the New England Hockey Journal Player of the Week. Meyers made a career-high 40 saves in the win over No. 5 North Dakota. For the opening weekend, he made 53 saves, while posting a 2.51 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. This is Meyers' first career Hockey East weekly honor.

UMASS ANNOUNCES TV SCHEDULE; TIME CHANGES
• Five games will be televised this season which forced time changes for three games from the original schedule released over the summer. UMass will be televised on COX Sports, CN8, NESN and ESPNU this season.
• The game time for the Nov. 25 meeting between UMass and Vermont in the Mullins Center has been moved to 7:30 p.m. to better accommodate CN8 TV. The game time was originally slated for 7 p.m. UMass will make one more appearance on CN8 on Feb. 28 at Boston University.
• The Minutemen will make a national appearance on Sunday, Feb. 1 at Maine (4 PM) on ESPNU - game originally slated for 2 PM. The Feb. 27 game against Boston University (7:30 PM) at the Mullins Center will be televised by NESN as part of NESN's Friday Night Ice package. That game was also originally slated for a 7 PM start.
• The Minutemen's first television game of the season will be on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Providence and will be carried by COX Sports which can be viewed in Rhode Island.
• All home UMass hockey games that are not televised can be watched online through UMassAthletics.com's All-Access Streaming Video with Donnie Moorhouse and Brock Hines calling the action. Most away games will also be available through All-Access or the B2Networks Streaming Video.

LAST TIME OUT: UMASS 6, RPI 0
• Dan Meyers earned his first career shutout and Chris Davis scored a career-high two goals as UMass routed Rensselaer 6-0 on Tuesday night at Houston Field House. 12 different skaters earned at least a point. Doug Kublin, Danny Hobbs and Casey Wellman each scored their first career goals for UMass, while John Wessbecker and Chase Langeraap returned to the lineup after missing much of the latter part of 2007-08 with injuries.
• UMass tallied two goals in the first period and added another in the second period. The Minutemen continued their hot shooting in the third period with three goals including Wellman's unassisted strike after he stole a pass on an RPI breakout, skated a few strides and then wristed a frozen rope off the pipe.
• The Minutemen outshot the Engineers 20-to-8 in the first period setting the tone of the evening. The power play was 1-for-3, while the penalty kill was a perfect 3-for-3.
• Meyers made 25 saves to improve to 2-1-0 on the season.

UP NEXT: PROVIDENCE
• UMass will host its home opener next Friday, Oct. 31 in a special Halloween tilt against Hockey East rival Providence. The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at Scneider Arena in Providence - a game that will be televised in Rhode Island on COX Sports TV. Both games will drop the opening puck at 7 PM.

UMASS HAS BEST REGULAR-SEASON ATTENDANCE IN PROGRAM HISTORY
• UMass averaged a program-best 5,017 fans this season at home games in 2007-08 which was an all-time best for the program. Attendance has increased in each of the last three seasons. The Minutemen will have 18 home games this season beginning Oct. 31 against Providence.

KEY NUMBERS FROM 2007-08
• UMass put up some good numbers in 2007-08 statistically and ranked among the top teams in Hockey East. With the amount of talent returning to each area of the ice, those numbers should continue to improve in 2008-09. Below are the categories and rank among Hockey East Teams.
Team Offense: 2.72 goals per game, 4th
Team Defense: 2.69 goals against per game, 4th
Power Play: 16.9 percent, T-4th
Penalty Kill: 82.4 percent, 9th

HARD TO BEAT WHEN SCORING 3'S
• UMass is 2-0-0 this season when lighting the lamp three times or more in a game and 0-1-0 when they score fewer than three goals. When UMass scored three or more goals last season, the Mass Attack was nearly undefeated with a 14-3-2 record. When the Minutemen failed to do so, their record was 0-13-4.

FOUR-OR-MORE IS BEST
• Over the last 48 games where UMass scores four-or-more goals, the Minutemen are an amazing 45-2-1. Before the home loss against Vermont (1/25), the Mass Attack had not lost a game when scoring four-or-more goals since March 14, 2003 against New Hampshire in the Hockey East Semifinals (5-4).
• UMass scored a season-high five goals on seven occasions last year: in the wins over Merrimack (11/3; 3/7), Boston University (11/9; 3/1), against Union (11/25), Colorado College (12/29), and Maine (2/2).
• Last season, UMass scored four-or-more goals in 11 games.

LARGEST SHUTOUT WIN IN 12 YEARS
• UMass' 6-0 win over RPI was its largest shutout win since defeating Army 8-0 on Nov. 22, 1996 - nearly 12 years ago. The six goals were the most scored by the Minutemen since beating UMass Lowell 6-3 on Jan. 26, 2007.

MULLINS MAGIC
• The Minutemen lost just three games at home last season going 8-3-4 (.667) at the Mullins Center. The loss to New Hampshire on Jan. 11 broke a 13-game home unbeaten streak which dated back to the 2006-07 season.
• Over the last 43 games at the Mullins Center, UMass is 26-10-7 (.686) including a 14-3-4 mark in 2006-07.
• All-time, UMass is 113-107-26 in the Mullins Center including a 65-93-20 record among Hockey East foes. Under Don Cahoon, UMass sports a 69-53-14 record at home.

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY
• 2008-09 marks the 25th anniversary of the Hockey East Association - regarded as the top collegiate hockey conference in America. To commemorate the anniversary, Hockey East will be debuting a DVD in time for christmas and will announce several anniversary teams and special moments during the season. Fans can vote on these at www.HockeyEastOnline.com.

FACING OFF WITH QUIRK
• Cory Quirk established himself last season as one of UMass' top face-off specialists. In 36 games in 2007-08, he had a 556-364 (.604) face-off record which was the best on the team. He won over 300 more face-offs than any other player on the team.
• This season, he is 40-26 (.606) in three games. Against RPI, he was 13-for-19 in the face-off dot.

QUIRK A TOP SCORING THREAT
• Over the final 25 games of 2007-08, Cory Quirk picked up his scoring to move into second place on the team with 10 goals and 15 assists.
• With three assists in 2008-09, Quirk ranks 22nd all-time at UMass in career points (76), is tied for 22nd in goals (32) and ranks 21st in assists (44).

MARCOU BUILDING ON ROOKIE SEASON
• James Marcou was one of the top offensive rookies in Hockey East last season after leading the Minutemen with 8 goals and 24 assists for 32 points. In 36 games, he had 11 multi-point nights.
• In 2008-09, Marcou leads the Minutemen with two goals, both power play goals, an assist, and one game-winning goal. He enters the weekend tied for third nationally in power play goals per game (0.67).
• Marcou earned Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors and was a member of the Hockey East All-Academic Team. Additionally, he was one of 15 semifinalists for the 56th annual Walter Brown Award.
• Marcou also netted UMass' only hat trick of the season last year with three goals against Vermont (1/25/08).

BRAUN ONE OF HOCKEY EAST'S TOP DEFENSEMEN
• Junior defenseman Justin Braun is not only one of the best defensemen for the Minutemen, but he is one of the best in the entire league. Last season, he finished sixth on the team in points with four goals and 16 assists.
• Braun plays on the top power play and penalty kill lines and is one of the team leaders in minutes played.
• The 2007 member of the Hockey East All-Rookie Team was the 201st pick overall last season in the NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins who traded his rights to the San Jose Sharks.

THE PUCK STOPS HERE
• A relative unknown heading into the 2007-08 season, Paul Dainton was pressed into action early last season after an injury sidelined Dan Meyers. Dainton quickly impressed the coaching staff and became the team's starting goalie last year. He finished his first season in Amherst with nods to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team and the Hockey East All-Academic Team.
• All-time, Dainton has already cracked several of UMass' goalie charts. He ranks second in save percentage (.911), second in goals against average (2.56), and 11th in saves (848). The man above him in terms of save percentage and goals against average is none other than former All-American Jon Quick.
• Dainton's story is a unique one as he actually came to UMass without ever having visited the campus. With the summertime departure of Quick, the coaching staff had heard of and seen Dainton play and spoke to him about joining the team looking for a solid goalie.

THE PUCK ALSO STOPS HERE
• With Dainton suffering an injury in preseason practice, Dan Meyers took over between the pipes and has started each game this season. Meyers has been nothing short of outstanding making 78 saves, posting a 1.67 goals against average, and recording a .940 save percentage.
• In his three outings so far, Meyers has set a new career-high for saves (40 vs. North Dakota) and earned his first career shutout (vs. RPI).
• Meyers was the original starting goalie heading in 2007-08 as the lone returner between the pipes, but suffered an injury following the St. Lawrence game. He backed-up All-American Jon Quick as a freshman in 2006-07.
• Having a strong beginning to the season will pay dividends for UMass down the stretch as Cahoon and the coaching staff know they have a pair of quality goaltenders to use on any given night without having to worry about working one too much.

WELCOME BACK John Wessbecker
• Defenseman John Wessbecker missed much of the second half of last season due to injury playing in just 14 games. The 2005 7th round draft pick of Tampa Bay is one of UMass' top returning blueliners along with Justin Braun and Martin Nolet.
• He made his return to the lineup at Rensselaer where he picked up an assist on the very first goal of the game. He also was critical in UMass' penalty kill which allowed just one shot and held the Engineers scoreless on three RPI power plays. Wessbecker also picked up a penalty and added some additional toughness to the UMass defense - when an RPI skater was crashing in towards Dan Meyers after a whistle, Wessbecker promptly impeded his momentum.
• For his career, Wessbecker has played in 89 career games with one goal and seven assists.

BEVIS HONORS LATE MOTHER WITH FUND TO FIGHT BRAIN CANCER
• Topher Bevis lost his mother Patricia in 1998 when he was 12 to brain cancer. Since that tragic moment, Topher, his father and his two brothers have established The Patty Fund in conjuction with the Massachusetts General Hospital to help fund research for the study and treatment of the disease.
• The fund raised over $50,000 this past summer with its annual Golf Tournament.
• Bevis netted his first goal of the season against North Dakota (10/11) in Agganis Arena. His lone goal of the 2007-08 season was also scored in Agganis - then in the 5-3 win over Boston University (11/9). Through three games in 2008-09, Bevis is tied for the team lead in points with one goal and two assists.

LOOK FOR DAN MEYERS' MOVIE PICKS ON UMASSATHLETICS.COM
• Known to the team as a movie fanatic, Dan Meyers has agreed to share his thoughts and movie critiques with fans with a blog on UMassAthletics.com. Meyers will pick out different movies and share his thoughts on them throughout the season.
• Meyers' movie collection is a big bonus for the team when travelling on long bus trips during the year.

QUIRK, WATSON TO LEAD UMASS
• Cory Quirk and Brett Watson will be the co-captains of the 2008-09 Mass Attack. Quirk is one of UMass' top scoring threats, while Watson is a dependable do-everything type of center.

BERRY, HOBBS SPEND SUMMER TIME IN PROSPECT CAMPS
• Alex Berry and Danny Hobbs each spent part of their summers working out at prospect camps with their respective draft teams. Berry was a 5th round pick in the 2005 entry draft by Toronto, while Hobbs was a 7th round pick in the 2007 draft by the New York Rangers. Berry was featured in a video package by the Maple Leafs on what the experience was like.
• Berry had his best statistical season offensively in 2007-08 scoring 10 goals and adding 7 assists. He was red-hot to finish the year scoring seven goals in the last nine games.
• The work seems to have paid off as Berry netted a career-high three assists in the win over North Dakota (10/11).

ORTIZ GIVES SPEAKS AT CHESTNUT SCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL
• Junior forward Will Ortiz spoke to about 150 middle schoolers and faculty members at the Chestnut School in Springfield last week on the importance of continuing their education and making smart decisions in life. His speech also focused on some decisions he had to make in his life and how he has been able to overcome a tough environment to be able to fulfill his dreams.

CANNIFF ENSHRINED IN UMASS HALL OF FAME
• Former all-time UMass hockey coaching great Jack Canniff was enshrined in the UMass Hall Of Fame on Oct. 3, 2008. Canniff served as the hockey coach from 1967-79, leading UMass to its only conference championship in program history, as the then-Redmen won the ECAC Division II title in 1972.
• A fixture on the bench, Canniff is UMass' all-time leader in career victories with 120. Canniff was named the ECAC Coach of the Year in 1972 as he led the squad to a 19-7-0 overall record. UMass captured the ECAC crown with an 8-1 win over Buffalo on March 11, 1972 in Amherst. Canniff ranks second all-time in career win percentage among all hockey coaches and second among all coaches in career playoff appearances.
• He developed three All-Americans, all from the 1972 team (P.J. Flaherty, Pat Keenan and Brian Sullivan). Canniff graduated from Boston College in 1954.

CAHOON CLOSING IN ON ALL-TIME WINNING RECORD
• Head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon needs just six more wins to become the all-time winning head coach in UMass history. He enters the weekend with 115 career wins, just behind UMass Hall of Famer Jack Canniff who had 120 wins in his career from 1967-79.
• Under Cahoon's tenure, UMass made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance (2007) and played for the Hockey East Championship title in 2003.

David Leaderer BECOMES UMASS IRON MAN
• Last season, defenseman David Leaderer set a new UMass program record for career games played on March 8 at Merrimack when he suited up for his 147th career game. He broke the school record which was previously held by Marvin Degon who played in 146 from 2002-06. Leaderer finished his career playing in 149 career games - every one of his UMass career.

MINUTEMEN IN THE PROS UPDATE
• UMass has one alum who is currently on a NHL roster: Thomas Pock with the New York Islanders. Former UMass All-America Jon Quick lasted through the preseason until the final cut with the L.A. Kings before being reassigned to Manchester.
• All five seniors from the 2007-08 signed contracts to play in various profession hockey leagues including P.J. Fenton who is with the Worcester Sharks in the AHL and Mike Kostka who is with the Portland Pirates (AHL).
• Matt Anderson won the 2008 Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves last season. Mark Matheson and Stephen Werner have once again teamed up as members of the Milwaukee Admirals.

STREAMING VIDEO
• UMass will once again provide streaming video of all home games this season. This service works best with BroadBand or Cable Internet subscribers. Sign-up at UMassAthletics.com by clicking the UMass All-Access link.

PHOTO GALLERIES
• A perfect gift for any die-hard UMass hockey fan are photos from UMass home games which you can purchase online! Photos come in your choice of 4x6, 8x10, or 11x14 and can be ordered from the photo galleries at UMassAthletics.com.

SIGN-UP FOR THE E-MAIL LIST
• If you want to get the lastest UMass hockey news straight to your e-mail account, then sign up for our online e-mail list. You will receive previews, game notes, boxscores, recaps and feature stories delivered right to you. To sign up, e-mail John Sinnett (jsinnett@admin.umass.edu) with the subject line "Sign Up For Hockey Newsletter".