The future of the UNH men's hockey team experienced a couple of setbacks this weekend, in regards to two players who were expected to play big roles in the coming years.
Of course, the news took an appropriate back seat to the Wildcats exciting tenure in this year's NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament.
The first bombshell came on Thursday, March 26 from an online source in U.S. Hockey Report, which stated that highly touted prospect Ray Bourque has decided to forgoe his scholarship offer to play in Durham and head up north to play junior hockey in Quebec.
Bourque, who was expected to take the ice next season for head coach Dick Umile, will instead be lacing up for the Quebec Remparts. Former Colorado Avalanche goalie and NHL Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy is the head coach of the team. Roy also played for two years with Bourque's father, NHL great Ray Bourque, and the pair were both part of the Avalanche's Stanley Cup team in 2001.
Currently, the younger Bourque plays for the U.S. NTDP under-18 team, and has recorded 19 goals and 24 assists in 47 games. The Bourque family is no stranger to UNH, as Ray's older sister Melissa played lacrosse for the Blue and White.
The second hit was felt more immediately by the team, as the university announced on Saturday that sophomore forward Danny Dries was dismissed by the team for violating team rules.
He did not travel with the team to Manchester over the weekend and was left off the team's official roster for both the North Dakota and Boston University games. His name has also been taken off the team's roster on the athletic department's website.
Dries, a sophomore, who skated on the same line as Phil DeSimone and Bobby Butler for much of the year, scored 10 goals and tallied 11 assists this season. He also led the team with 34 penalties, totaling 87 minutes, in 34 games played this year.
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