New Hampshire college hockey: UNH goalie Muszelik eyes spot in World Junior Championship
Dec. 7—THROUGH the highs and lows of his freshman season, Tyler Muszelik's willingness to compete and improve and his attention to detail has never wavered, University of New Hampshire men's hockey coach Mike Souza said.
The highest of the true freshman goaltender's highs so far came this week, when he was named to the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster.
The roster of 32 players will attend a training camp next week at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.
"It's been an up-and-down year for him but I think one of the highlights, certainly, for him is being named to the world junior camp," Souza said. "I think he deserves to be there and I'm optimistic that he's going to go and make the team."
Muszelik, 18, Colorado College freshman Kaidan Mbereko, U.S. Under-18 National Team player Trey Augustine and Andrew Oke of the Ontario Hockey League's Saginaw Spirit will fight for the three available goalie spots on Team USA's 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship roster.
The world junior championship will run Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Team USA is led by Quinnipiac University head coach and Bedford native Rand Pecknold. Dartmouth College coach Reid Cashman will serve on Pecknold's staff alongside U.S. Under-18 National Team assistant coach Nick Fohr, goalie coach Jared Waimon, who is a goalie scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and team leader Jessica Thibault.
Muszelik, a sixth-round pick by Florida in this year's NHL draft, owns a 3.93 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage over seven appearances entering UNH's two-game, non-conference homestand against Arizona State University this weekend.
The Wildcats (3-13-1, 0-11-1 Hockey East), who have lost 10 straight games, will play Arizona State (8-9-0), which has lost five of its last six, on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Whittemore Center.
UNH sophomore defenseman Colton Huard said Muszelik always communicates with his defensemen on the ice during games, relaying what he sees and where they can improve.
"He works really hard," Huard said of Muszelik. "He's always there after practice asking the guys if they want shots to get better. ... For being so young, he's so talented and he's got so much potential. I love having him and feel confident with him in net."
Muszelik has appeared in three of UNH's past five games.
The Long Valley, New Jersey, resident allowed three goals each and made a combined 45 saves in his starts against then-No. 10 Harvard and Holy Cross. He made 15 saves and allowed four goals in relief against then-No. 9 Boston University last Friday after senior David Fessenden received a game misconduct for spearing 5:47 into the second period.
Muszelik made a season-high 31 saves in his collegiate debut, a 4-1 UNH win at St. Lawrence University on Oct. 8.
One of Muszelik's saves against the Terriers came late in the second period, when he came way out of the cage to clear a BU breakaway. BU's Jamie Armstrong caught Muszelik's clear attempt but his subsequent shot from the high slot was denied by a Muszelik glove save.
"I think he's got a lot of potential," Souza said.
If Muszelik minds the UNH net this weekend, he will have to contend with a Sun Devils team ranked 27th in the nation in scoring (2.94 goals per game).
Arizona State went 1-4 over the past two weekends against then-No. 2 Minnesota and No. 1 Denver.
The Sun Devils are 3-0-0 all-time against UNH and swept the Wildcats in Arizona last season.
Sophomore forward Josh Doan, son of former Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan, is second on Arizona State in goals (four), assists (10) and points.
Both games will feature a toy drive and Saturday will also include a teddy bear toss as part of UNH's Toys for Tots weekend.
After this weekend, UNH will not play again until its two-game road trip to Union College on Dec. 30-31 following the holiday break.
"Things haven't been going our way lately and this is a huge opportunity for us to get this thing rolling in the right direction before break, reset and then come back and start playing a little better hockey," Huard said.
In-state Div. III showdown on Saturday at Plymouth St.Plymouth State University and New England College, which both received votes in this week's USCHO.com Division II/III men's poll, will meet on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Hanaway Rink in Plymouth.
Three-time defending Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Plymouth State was 7-3-1 and a league-best 6-0-0 mark entering its home non-conference bout against Salve Regina on Wednesday. The Panthers had won five of their past six games entering Wednesday.
New England College (6-5-0 overall, 4-3-0 New England Hockey Conference) has won its past four games, each by a one- or two-goal margin, entering its conference bout at Salem State Thursday night at 7.
Forward Alex LaPlante, a graduate student from Londonderry, has logged five goals and two assists for the Pilgrims. He takes a three-game point streak into Thursday's game, over which he has tallied two goals and two assists.
Plymouth State junior Colin Tracy, a defenseman from Bow, had scored in each of Plymouth State's past two games entering Wednesday.
Plymouth State will host its sixth annual teddy bear toss to benefit patients at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock during the men's and women's hockey home games on Saturday. The Panthers women's team will host SUNY-Canton at 2 p.m.
NH's Harvey assisting No. 2 WisconsinFormer New Hampshire resident and Olympian Caroline Harvey has been a major contributor for the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team in her freshman campaign.
Harvey, a former Pelham and Salem resident, is second on the Badgers (13-2-1, 10-1-1 WCHA) in assists (18) and fourth in points (23). The offensive-minded defenseman has posted four assists in Wisconsin's last three games — all wins — entering its weekend series at Minnesota State (7-9-0, 5-9-0 WCHA) this weekend.
Harvey, 20, helped the United States Women's National Ice Hockey Team take the silver medal at both the Beijing Winter Olympics and IIHF Women's World Championship earlier this year.
