Over the past few seasons, four Hockey East teams — Boston College, Boston University, Maine and New Hampshire — have been dominant on the national stage.<\/p>\n
Of the 12 NCAA berths earned by the league over the last four years, the Big Four<\/i> have accounted for all of them. Since the most recent decade began in 1990, Hockey East teams have earned 34 berths.\u00a0 All but five of them went to the four perennial powerhouses, the exceptions being Providence (1991, 1996), UMass-Lowell (1994, 1996) and Northeastern (1994).<\/p>\n
It looked that way at the beginning of this season, too.\u00a0 The Big Four<\/i> would be a tough nut to crack.<\/p>\n
Lowell coach Tim Whitehead said, “For anyone that finished in the bottom half last year, something special has to happen to get into that top half of the league.”<\/p>\n
Well, “something special” may be happening at Northeastern.\u00a0 While BU and Maine have gotten off to so-so starts, the 4-1-0 Huskies stand one period removed from a perfect record and a legitimate shot at the number one ranking in the country.\u00a0 Had they not given up five goals on 14 Notre Dame shots two weeks ago, they would have had a better claim after upsetting Wisconsin last weekend than anyone else.<\/p>\n
What if…\u00a0 Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda.\u00a0 If “if ands and buts” were candies and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n
The fact is that they did<\/i> give up those five goals in the second period against Notre Dame.\u00a0 Just like the fact is that they did give up a soft goal against Wisconsin with 15 seconds remaining to let the Badgers back into a game that should have been wrapped up.<\/p>\n
Goaltending remains a concern, as is Northeastern’s ability to export consistently their success at the Dog House to the road. \u00a0 But there are plenty of reasons for Husky fans to assume that the impressive win over Wisconsin — not to mention the season-opener against St. Lawrence — was no fluke.<\/p>\n
And the top one is maturity.\u00a0 The junior-senior leadership rallied the Huskies to an overtime win after the deflating goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.<\/p>\n
“Maturity is one of the things we’re counting on this year,” said coach Bruce Crowder. “We gave up a really weak goal and could have folded the tent, but the kids rebounded and we went after them in the overtime.”<\/p>\n
That maturity is also why they won one night earlier.<\/p>\n
The Friday night contest against UMass-Lowell was exactly the kind that buried Northeastern last year.\u00a0 Keep in mind that the Huskies sported a .500 record against the Big Four<\/i> last year.\u00a0 It was the teams lower in the standings that did them in.<\/p>\n
“These games are the easy ones to coach,” said coach Bruce Crowder after upsetting Wisconsin.\u00a0 “If you can’t get up for a team coming in that’s number one in the country, then you shouldn’t be playing the sport.<\/p>\n
“That’s why [Friday night’s] game was so important. It was a real character builder for us, winning up at Lowell.\u00a0 That’s an area we had to get better at and we did.<\/p>\n
“I told the guys all week that there was only one game this week and that was on Friday night.”<\/p>\n
Crowder then added with a smirk, “[After that win] I surprised them and told them there was a second game this weekend.”<\/p>\n
As expected ,the defense has been strong.\u00a0 Perhaps also as expected, the goaltending has been inconsistent.<\/p>\n
The big surprise has been the scoring.\u00a0 The top line of Graig Mischler at center with sophomore Mike Ryan on one wing and freshman Scott Selig on the other has been just about as effective as any in the league.\u00a0 In five games, they have 11 goals.<\/p>\n
“As a coach, you’re constantly looking for perfection,” said Crowder. “But they’re very offensive and they’re very skilled. There are other parts of their game that we want them to get better at, but [they are scoring] like we’re hoping for.”<\/p>\n
In particular, Ryan appears to have come into his own after struggling as a freshman.\u00a0 Last year he scored four goals total;\u00a0 he now leads Hockey East with seven.<\/p>\n
“I’d like to tell you it’s coaching, but it’s not,” said Crowder.\u00a0 “It’s just that the kid is working hard.”<\/p>\n
The offensive strength of the first line has taken some of the scoring pressure off the second unit.\u00a0 Willie Levesque and Chris Lynch, who have had several different left wings, are grinders who don’t bury the puck consistently.\u00a0 The first unit’s success has covered that up and let the twosome grind away effectively and have strong nights like Lynch’s hat trick against Lowell along with the nights when all their shots find the pipe or the goaltender.<\/p>\n
On a down note, the Huskies have lost Matt Keating to a wrist that was cut by a skate in practice.\u00a0 He will be out until December.<\/p>\n
On the plus side, freshman Trevor Reschny has been effective in the early going, totaling three goals and being a constant breakaway threat.<\/p>\n
“I hope [beating Wisconsin] sets the bar high for us,” said captain Jim Fahey. “We’ve got a great team in there.”<\/p>\n
While it certainly is possible to overstate the importance of games in October and November, the upcoming weekend may tell a lot about Northeastern’s fortunes.\u00a0 The Huskies travel to Boston College on Friday and then host Maine on Saturday.<\/p>\n
“They’ve got to get in their mind that they expect to win every time they go out,” said Crowder. “It’s not going to happen every night, but if you have that mentality, it’s going to carry you a long way.”<\/p>\n
Northeastern’s win over the River Hawks last weekend snapped a regrettable streak for Crowder.\u00a0 Since leaving for Northeastern in 1996, Crowder was winless in seven attempts back at Lowell.<\/p>\n
“I guess that’s why I left,” he said, “because if it took me five years to win here, I’d have been fired anyway.”<\/p>\n
UMass-Amherst got a big victory on Friday, shutting out Merrimack, 3-0.\u00a0 It marked the first time in five years that the Minutemen opened their league schedule on the plus side.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, they followed that with an ugly game on Sunday, losing to Boston College, 9-5.<\/p>\n
“We felt on Friday night that we had organized a little bit for the first time this year,” said coach Don Cahoun.\u00a0 “I was hoping we could carry it over from there, [but] we were a little disheveled again.<\/p>\n
“It was very similar to the game [that opened the season] against Wisconsin when it was 9-6.\u00a0 Hey, they just have more guns than we do right now.<\/p>\n
“But a lot of it is that I’m letting these guys run and play a little bit to show me what they can do and not play very defensive-oriented.\u00a0 That’s going to help the younger kids develop, but it’s going to expose some of our weaknesses against some of the teams that are more prolific than we are.”<\/p>\n
Indeed, Cahoon has a couple freshmen who could develop into significant contributors.\u00a0 Thomas Pock has scored three goals already.\u00a0 Scott Horvath has two and adds a physical dimension to the UMass front line.\u00a0 Horvath is 6-3, 228, and plays every bit of that.<\/p>\n
Cahoon minces no words when asked about how he evaluates the benefits of playing more conservatively for better short-term results as opposed to more offensively to aid in the long-term development of players like Pock and Horvath.<\/p>\n
“[There’s] no fear of failure,” he said.\u00a0“You can’t just sit here and worry about what’s going to happen in the short term.\u00a0You’ve got to look at this thing on a long-term basis.”<\/p>\n
Hockey fans everywhere had to be pleased to see coach Shawn Walsh welcomed back<\/a> behind the Maine bench on Friday night.<\/p>\n However, Walsh wasn’t the only one at Alfond Arena who was recovering from kidney cancer.\u00a0 Anne Britt — mother of Richard Britt, the Maine trainer who died in a tragic accident two years ago — was also in attendance.\u00a0 Like Walsh, she also had a cancerous kidney removed by Dr. Gennaro Carpinito, uncle to Maine forward Niko Dimitrakos.\u00a0 Despite the recent surgery, she was in her regular seat to cheer on Shawn Walsh and her Black Bears.<\/p>\n Reportedly, Anne Britt’s operation was a success and early signs indicate that the cancer was localized and completely removed.<\/p>\n USCHO has been a strong voice in support of Shawn Walsh’s fight.\u00a0 Here’s hoping that Anne Britt and other college hockey fans in similar circumstances across the country will also experience a full recovery.\u00a0 The rinks are better places with them there.<\/p>\n Boston College forward Ben Eaves had a little extra motivation when the Eagles played Wisconsin on Friday.\u00a0 Eaves’s father, Mike, scored 94 goals and assisted on 173 others as a Badger from 1974-78.\u00a0 His 267 points puts him atop the all-time Wisconsin scoring list.<\/p>\n “I guess there was an [extra factor] in the back of my mind, knowing that he was a great player for them,” said Ben with a big grin.\u00a0 “I wanted to give a good showing.”<\/p>\n Eaves the Younger did assist on BC’s second goal and has looked good at one point on the power play.<\/p>\n However, he left Sunday’s game against UMass with back spasms and remains day-to-day.<\/p>\n Last week’s contest involved a player who competed against Hockey East the previous weekend and has a last name beginning with “B”.\u00a0 That last name is close<\/i> to a word found in a Tom Wolfe title.\u00a0 What is the name of the player and<\/i> the book by Wolfe?<\/p>\n The player was Lake Superior State forward Jeremy Bachusz and the book was From Bauhaus to Our House<\/i>.<\/p>\n Michael Fortino answered that one in the wee, wee hours of Friday morning.\u00a0 As a result, he has selected the following cheer:<\/p>\n “We are the Terriers…and we smell your fear.”<\/i><\/p>\n This week’s question concerns four players from outside of the league who competed against Hockey East teams last weekend.\u00a0 They are: two brothers, someone whose last name is also a city in Massachusetts and someone whose last name is a vegetable.<\/p>\nFather and Son<\/h4>\n
Trivia Contest<\/h4>\n