Senior forward Charlie Kelleher and the rest of the UNH men's hockey team finally begin their season tonight at the Whittemore Center vs. UMaine. (Photo courtesy of UNH)

DURHAM – The University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team finally, after two weekend cancellations, will start the 92nd season in program history when it takes on Maine in a two-game series tonight and Saturday at the Whittemore Center at 7 p.m. (NESN+)as part of the Border Battle.

The series was moved from Orono to Durham as announced by Hockey East. This will also be the season opener for the Black Bears. This is the first time UNH will play Maine in the season opener.

The Wildcat women also will face the Black Bears at the Whit today and Saturday, both games at 1 p.m.

The Wildcats return 19 players from the 2019-20 season which includes four of its top five point scorers. Last year, UNH went 15-15-4 (9-12-3 Hockey East). Maine went 18-11-5 (12-9-3 Hockey East) and placed fourth in the regular season standings.

UNH was originally slated to open the season last month vs. Boston College but those games were postponed, as were the games last weekend vs. UMass for COVID concerns.

The Wildcats go into the season with six NHL Draft picks on the roster. Freshman defenseman Luke Reid and junior forward Filip Engarås (Stockholm, Sweden) were each selected in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Reid was drafted in the sixth round by the Nashville Predators and was the 166th overall pick, while Engarås was taken just three picks later in the sixth round by the Edmonton Oilers with the 169th overall pick. Reid and Engarås are joined by teammates senior goalie Mike Robinson (Bed-ford, N.H.), senior defenseman Benton Maass (Elk River, Minn.), junior forward Angus Crookshank and junior goalie Ty Taylor (Richmond, British Columbia) as current Wildcat draftees.

Robinson (86th overall) was taken in the 2015 Draft by the San Jose Sharks, while in 2017 Maass (182nd overall) was selected by the Washington Capitals. Then in 2018 Crookshank (126th overall) was drafted by the Ottawa Senators and Taylor (214th overall) was picked by the Tampa Bay Lighting.

The games this weekend will also be available outside of New England and internationally via College SportsLive.com.

UNH WOMEN PLAY AS WELL

The Wildcats (1-3-0 overall, 0-2-0 0-0 Hockey East) split last weekend’s two-game home series against eighth-ranked Boston University with a 2-1 loss (Dec. 4) and 4-3 victory (Dec. 5). UNH opened the season Nov. 20 with a 6-2 home loss to Boston College in which the Eagles netted two late empty-net goals. BC skated to a 4-1 win at Conte Forum the next day.

The two games vs. UMaine can be seen via CBS SportsLive online or app.

Meanwhile, Wildcat freshman forward Nicole Kelly, a freshman forwardwas named the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week by Hockey East earlier this week.

Kelly tallied three points, all on assists, in UNH’s series split against eighth-ranked Boston University last weekend.

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