by Jared Shafran, News Staff
Men’s hockey head coach Greg Cronin released the team’s schedule for the 2010-11 season last week.
For the second time in three years, the team will face cross-town rival Boston College (BC) in the Huskies’ home opener Oct. 9.
The last time this happened, Oct. 18, 2008, BC was the reigning national college hockey champion and ranked No. 1 overall for the new season. The Huskies prevailed in that game, getting the final goal from forward Joe Vitale in the third period to win 4-3. NU went 25-12-4 that season and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.
The Eagles are once again coming off a national championship, and the Huskies will look to repeat history in front of their fans.
“I think that first BC game is always the biggest game,” said senior forward Tyler McNeely. “We get a big crowd in there and it really gets the season started.”
Unlike the past two seasons, there are no planned road trips to the west coast. In the last two years, the Huskies made trips to Alaska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado, but this year head coach Greg Cronin decided against it. Instead, the Huskies will play out-of-conference battles against Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, the College of the Holy Cross, Bentley College, Niagara University, and Harvard University. All will be played at home except for the Niagara game, which will be played Nov. 6 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., a neutral site.
“It’s always good to get a different look at what the other leagues are doing and what the other teams are doing,” McNeely said.
The only other non-conference games on the schedule are the annual Beanpot tournament, customarily taking place on the first two Mondays in February. The first round games will be played Feb. 7 with NU taking on Harvard at 5 p.m. The championship and consolation will be a week later on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
McNeely said the lack of traveling helps prevent fatigue.
“I think over the course of the year it will be good because those trips to the west do take a little bit of a toll on you,” he said.
With less time on the road, the Huskies will spend more time at home and will play 17 games on St. Botolph Street this season.
“Every time we play at Matthews it’s a great atmosphere and we have a lot of fun,” McNeely said. “In years past we would travel around a lot, and maybe this year staying home and being around home we’ll be a lot better rested and be ready to go. And it’ll be a lot of fun playing in front of all those fans a lot more.”
The Huskies will finish their regular season with a home-and-home series against the Boston University Terriers. Last season, the Terriers kept NU out of the playoffs as the Huskies failed to win either game during the final weekend. This year’s series will be held March 4 and 5. But first, the rivalry with BU will be renewed at Agganis Arena Dec. 8. That will serve as the Huskies last game before winter break.
