Today, we're looking at Wildcat Hockey: Ice Hockey at the University of New Hampshire, by Elizabeth Slomba and William E. Ross.

The main campus of UNH is located in Durham, New Hampshire, with an additional campus in Manchester.

UNH hockey dates back to the early 1900s, first established in 1914, but didn't last long. Ten years later, Hank Swasey began what would be the official first hockey team at UNH. Hockey was played outdoors, and sometimes the team would go weeks or even months between games because of weather. However, that all changed when UNH alum Harry Batchelder donated equipment for artificial ice. That brought hockey indoors, and the rest is history.

In 1962, A. Bart “Whoop” Snively took over as head coach. He passed away in April of 1964 due to a heart attack; the arena the team played in was renamed in his honor.

Looking at individual players, 4 Olympians have come from UNH:

Bob Miller ('76)

Ralph Cox made the 1980 Lake Placid team that upset the Russians and won Gold

Steve Leach ('88)

Jeff Lazaro ('92)

Oh, by the way, another UNH alum, Michael Ontkean, had a career in Hollywood, and starred in the classic hockey movie, Slap Shot.

...and speaking of success, the 1976-77 UNH team sent an astounding 8 players to the NHL in just that one year. Overall, the UNH men's hockey program has been to 6 Frozen Four tournaments, the equivalent of the basketball Final Four. Unfortunately, the closest to a National Title the team has come was a loss to Maine in 1999.

Now, on the other side of the puck, so to speak... The UNH women's program was established in the fall of 1977, and the team proceeded to post a 15-0 record by March of 1978. The 1991-92 club broke a number of records, and Karen Bye and other two others would eventually win Olympic Gold in 1998. Erin Whitten was part of that 91-92 team, and she would go on to play in the AHL for a few games.

Snively Arena closed at the end of the 1993-94 season, and the team would move into the Whittemore Center, with about double the seating capacity.

Ty Conklin, who would have a somewhat successful NHL career, put up UNH career marks for best goals against average, save percentage, games played and wins.

...and to finish on a fun note, since the early 80s, the Zeta Chi fraternity has started a tradition of throwing a fish onto the ice at every home game!

Special thanks to Arcadia Publishing for making this book available for reviewing purposes.

Link to Arcadia Publishing: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9780738511023/Wildcat-Hockey-Ice-Hockey-at-the-University-of-New-Hampshire

Link to Powell's City of Books: http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780738511023-0

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wildcat-Hockey-Hampshire-Images-Sports/dp/0738511021/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373746940&sr=1-1&keywords=Wildcat+Hockey%3A+Ice+Hockey+at+the+University+of+New+Hampshire

Link to Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wildcat-hockey-elizabeth-slomba/1112766962?ean=9780738511023