By Alex Faust, News Staff
This week, it’s a struggle to add words to what’s been an incredible ride for the men’s hockey team.
The Huskies’ quarterfinal series victory over Boston University was, in a word, surreal. I wrote back in December that in Greg Cronin’s coaching career at Northeastern, he had only two wins in 22 tries against BU. In my four seasons (including this one) at Northeastern, I had only witnessed one of them. But in the last two weeks alone, I saw not only three wins, but three wins in Agganis Arena – a building that the Huskies have struggled to succeed in for the past six years.
A number of streaks were broken on Sunday: BU had advanced to the Hockey East semifinal round for nine consecutive years. The Terriers hadn’t lost a playoff game to Northeastern in over two decades. Northeastern hadn’t won a road playoff series since 1991. Every one of those intimidating statistics – gone in an instant.
The team’s run to the Hockey East semifinals came with the same backdrop of drama and storylines that have followed the team every step of the way. One win in the first 11 games. Getting swept by Holy Cross, Bentley and Niagara, all at home. Another year (the 23rd) without a Beanpot trophy. Suspected recruiting violations and the suspension of the team’s head coach. The list goes on.
Yet after all this, somehow this team continues to be, as Cronin described over the weekend, “unflappable.” Nothing fazes them. Perhaps just as important, nothing scares them.
If you asked any die-hard Northeastern fan what to expect in a postseason game such as the one coming up on Friday, the answer you’d ordinarily get is “disappointment.” The team will build up your hopes, and find some heart-wrenching way to lose. It happens every time. But for some reason, this team doesn’t seem to be worried about the ghosts of past failures.
This team has been to the Garden before, pushed the best team in the country to the brink, then took three points from them the following weekend. When asked about confidence-boosting events like the victory over BC and the series win over BU, Cronin put it this way: “You know what it does? It takes this team and it connects the dots and says we’ve already done this. … [It gives] you the belief that you can do it again.”
After the stretch of play we’ve seen lately, winning the “big” game doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.
So with all of the drama of the quarterfinal round in the past, we move on to Friday’s dream matchup. For one week in February, these two teams produced three of the most compelling games of hockey I’ve ever seen. It was an incredible week to be a fan of either team, and after it was over, it had fans and the college hockey media alike begging for a rematch. Talk to someone who was in attendance for those games in February, and they’ll agree.
Friday should be one hell of a game.
