UNH men's hockey coach Mike Souza named to staff for Spengler Cup Collegiate Selects squad
Gadowsky has led the Nittany Lions for the last 14 seasons, making four NCAA Tournament appearances,
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Held annually in Davos, Switzerland, the six-team invitational tournament traditionally features club and national teams from Europe and North America. It is hosted by the Swiss professional team HC Davos each year from Dec. 26-31 at Eisstadion Davos. The University of North Dakota competed in the 1982 Spengler Cup, and the University of Minnesota participated in 1981.
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The 2025 tournament will mark the first time a select team representing college hockey will compete. The team will be comprised of active NCAA Division 1 players of any nationality representing all six conferences and Division 1 independent programs.
The roster is expected to be announced in November and will likely be mostly older players, as most of the top younger players will be competing in the World Junior Championship that same week in Minnesota.
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'There's a lot of excellent college hockey players that are in the NHL now that did not peak at 19 years old,' said Gadowsky. 'You see it all the time, and I think that this is great exposure for those players that maybe didn't play in the World Juniors that are doing extremely well in college hockey. This is a great opportunity for them to get exposure. [Scouts from] every NHL team will be there. All the best teams in Europe will be there.
'So I feel really strong that we can put a very strong college lineup together and college hockey has always been a great pathway for players that maybe take a little while to bloom. There's always been great free agents that come out, and they're extremely successful in the NHL, and those are the type of guys we're looking for.'
Legend of the game
Dick Umile
, Souza's predecessor at UNH, received the 2025 Legend of College Hockey honor at the Hobey Baker Awards Banquet last week in Lake Elmo, Minn.
Umile coached UNH for 28 seasons, guiding the Wildcats to 596 victories, two national championship games, four Frozen Fours, 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Hockey East regular-season championships, and two Hockey East tournament titles. The Wildcats won 20 or more games 20 times during his tenure.
Souza played four seasons under Umile, posting a 23-42—65 line for the 1998-99 squad that the reached the national championship game before falling to Maine in overtime, and serving as captain for the 1999-2000 season. Souza returned to Durham in 2015 to serve as associate head coach, before taking over when Umile resigned following the 2017-18 season.
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'I did not know much about UNH until Coach Umile walked into my living room in 1995,' said Souza. 'He sat down, looked at me, and said, 'If you play for me, I will treat you like you are my own kid.' And that was the truth. And I saw that over and over again over the years. He meant what he said and lived it every day. I am blessed to have played for him and worked with him.'
Umile received 11 Coach of the Year honors in his career, including the Spencer Penrose Award winner as National Coach of the Year in 1999. He was named the top coach in New England four times and Hockey East Coach of the Year a record six times.
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