UNH’s season-opening football game against Army on Sept. 6 will be shown nationally at 1 p.m. on ESPN Classic. . . . The network and the Army Athletic Association announced the game-time and broadcast plans today. . . . The Black Knights will have already played a game and the Wildcats will have a chance to check it out. Army opens with a home game against Temple on Friday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. That game, too, will be on ESPN Classic. . . . The New York Giants-loving fans among Wildcat Nation who attend the UNH-Army game will be in for a special treat. It will be New York Giants Appreciation Day at Michie Stadium and the first 10,000 fans will receive commemorative helmets in honor of the Super Bowl win over the Patriots. . . . Army was 3-9 last season and lost its last six games. The Black Knights beat Temple 37-21 a year ago.
The Montreal Alouettes open the 2008 season tomorrow night at Hamilton with six quarterbacks on their roster. Half are expected to be active for the game, the other half are in the injured list. Former UNH standout Ricky Santos, who pulled his hamstring last week, is one of those on the sidelines. Santos said this week that being on the injured list should give him a chance to stick around with the team and learn. “I like it up here,” he said. “The head coach (Marc Trestman) does the offense and came from the NFL. We’ve got a pretty good offensive scheme. It’s pretty wide open. I like the game up here. I’m just happy they’re giving me the opportunity to stay around and develop.” . . . Santos is listed on a nine-week injured list, but the way he understands it, the team can re-evaluate his status after four or five weeks. . . . The quarterbacks on the active roster today are longtime starter Anthony Calvillo, Brad Banks and Adrian McPherson, who is in his first year with the team and has played in the NFL. . . . Marcus Brady, Montreal’s backup last year, is on a shorter-term injured list. Chris Leak, the former Florida State QB, is the third quarterback on the injured list.
Wide receiver/defensive back Joey Orlando and quarterback Josh Vick, who are headed to UNH to play football in August, were on opposite sides of the Pennsylvania East/West high school all star game in Altoona over the weekend. . . . Orlando, whose father Bo played in the National Football League, had five catches for 73 yards for the East. . . . The West won 10-0 in a game that was called off with 7:18 left in the third quarter because of a lightning storm. . . . Vick was 0-6 passing for the West. . . . Orlando is 5-10, 175 pounds and caught 32 passes for 525 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior. He had four interceptions. . . . Vick, 6-1 and 215, passed for 2,110 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. He is also a champion javelin thrower.
Former UNH quarterback Ricky Santos is sitting out Thursday night’s exhibition game between Montreal and Winnipeg. Both Santos and Brad Banks, another quarterback trying to make the roster of the Montreal Alouettes, have been placed on the injured list. . . . The team did not specify what their injuries were. . . . The Alouettes play their second and final exhibition game against Winnipeg tomorrow night. . . . Starter Anthony Calvillo and backups Marcus Brady, Chris Leak and Adrian McPherson are expected to dress for the game. Calvillo, Brady and Leak did not play in the first exhibition game last week. . . . Santos was the last of three quarterbacks to play in that one and completed 14 of his 16 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown and rallied Montreal to a 34-34 tie against Toronto. . . . The Alouettes open the regular season against Hamilton next Thursday.
Kristin Cole’s first recruiting class for her UNH women’s basketball team includes a couple of former New Hampshire standouts. Nashua South guard Kelsey Hogan and former Hopkinton standout Kelley Flynn, a 6-5 center, are headed to Durham in the fall. Hogan’s signing had been reported. UNH announced on its website Thursday that Flynn was transferring to UNH from the University of Richmond. . . . Flynn played in 21 of Richmond’s 31 games last season as a freshman and averaged 2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes a game. . . . As a transfer, she will sit out the upcoming season. . . . Cole has also signed Lauren Wells, a 5-7 guard from Archbishop Carroll High School and West Chester, Pa.
Former UNH quarterback Ricky Santos continued his bid for a Canadian Football League job on Thursday night by helping the Montreal Alouettes to a 34-34 tie with the Toronto Argonauts in their pre-season opener. The Alouettes trailed 34-24 entering the fourth quarter and Santos led them on drives that resulted in his 3-yard touchdown pass to Larry Taylor and then a game-tying field goal in the last minute. . . . Santos has been listed as the fifth quarterback on the roster during training camp. . . . He passed for 120 yards against the Argos. . . . Montreal has its second and last exhibition game next Thursday night against Winnipeg. Veteran starter Anthony Calvillo, who sat out the Toronto game, is expected to play in that one. . . . The regular season begins on June 26 against Hamilton. . . . Former Patriots Michael Bishop and Bethel Johnson teamed up for a 77-yard touchdown pass to open the game for Toronto.
Jason Krog broke open a 2-2 game with a couple of third period goals to lead the Chicago Wolves to a 5-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2008 Calder Cup championship last night. Krog finished with three goals and an assist for the night and was named Most Valuable Player of the playoffs. He was also the American Hockey League’s MVP of the regular season. Krog had 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points in the playoffs and Darren Haydar, his former UNH teammate, had 12 goals and 15 assists for the Wolves. It was the first Calder Cup title for Krog, who also went to the finals with Bridgeport in 2002 and played in the Stanley Cup finals with Anaheim in 2003. Haydar helped the Milwaukee Admirals to the Calder Cup championship in 2004. . . . The Wolves, after taking a three games to none lead in the series, won it four games to two. Former Dartmouth defenseman Ben Lovejoy of Canaan and forward Nick Johnson played for Wilkes-Barre.
UNH men’s basketball coach Bill Herrion on the Celtics and their quest for a 17th NBA championship: “From my standpoint as a coach, I love it that they’re proving that a real good defensive team can win a champiosnhip, or have a chance to win a championship, at the highest level of basketball. Theyre getting these great athletes to play defense. Your players here at the college level can look at that and understand why we stress defense, and that it can win for you.” . . . That said, Herrion said he’s more likely to watch baseball. “I’m a big Red Sox fan. I watch them more than the Celtics. I’ve always been a huge baseball fan.”
It may be odd to be discussing ice hockey on television on what could be the hottest weekend of the year so far, but yesterday’s announcement out of UNH that the hockey team will not be a regular on NHPTV next season will likely gather much interest down the road. . . . UNH and the network have partnered to show around a dozen games each season. Last year, the number was 10. . . . “Production costs have gotten prohibitively expensive,” said UNH director of athletics Marty Scarano Friday afternoon. “And we haven’t been able to successfully find underwriters.” . . . UNH will be continue to be part of Hockey East’s broadcast package (three games were on NESN last year) and Scarano figures WMUR-TV will again carry the Dartmouth game at the Verizon Wireless Arena and perhaps the Maine game there was well. . . . . He also said he had a call into Comcast and will be exploring other ways to get games broadcast. . . . UNH’s contract with NHPTV was up at the end of this month, Scarano said.
Former UNH teammates Jason Krog and Darren Haydar moved one step closer to a Calder Cup championship tonight when their Chicago Wolves knocked off the Wilkes-Barre Penguins 6-1 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The Wolves take a three games to none lead in the best-of-seven series. The Wolves get their first shot to clinch the Cup on Thursday night, also in Wilkes-Barre. . . . Krog and Haydar left the scoring to others tonight. Each had an assist in the game. . . . In Chicago’s 4-2 win on Sunday night in Game 2, Haydar had two goals and an assist. The first goal made him the all-time leading goal scorer in the American Hockey League playoffs. The second goal made him the all-time leading point-getter. He now has 53 goals and and 69 assists for 122 points in 92 playoff games.
