Homecoming is upon us here at Northeastern and there is no better weekend to get a good look at this year’s winter teams.

This is the second year that we’ll see a doubleheader of men’s basketball and hockey at Matthews Arena. If you’re a Husky fan, there’s no better way to spend a day than to hit a hoops game in the afternoon, head to Conor Larkin’s for some refreshments, and then get back to the arena to take in a hockey game after the sun sets.

Right now things are looking pretty bleak for the men’s hockey team which sports a record of 1-7-2, and hasn’t won since Oct. 14.

If that last sentence sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve been here before. In fact, last year’s Huskies found themselves in almost the same predicament. Heading into Homecoming weekend 2010, Northeastern’s record was, you guessed it, 1-7-2.

Husky fans were frustrated with the effort put forth to that point; the team lost three straight games to Atlantic Hockey teams (Holy Cross, Bentley, Niagara) who were believed to be lesser opponents.

On its homecoming however, NU blasted Providence, who was also in the cellar of Hockey East, in a convincing 5-0 victory. The season turned around from there, and Northeastern finished in sixth place. Not exactly on top, but good enough to make the playoffs, knock off BU, and advance to the Hockey East semifinals for the second time in three years.

Obviously fans were expecting this team to get off to a better start and no doubt this year’s start was worse because they’ve been losing meaningful conference games, but I’m not writing these guys off just yet.

I’ll admit I wrote them off last year when I wrote a column titled, “Hoops are last hope,” but this time I’m sticking it out.

While some of the games this year have been ugly and others have been downright painful to watch, these games haven’t been blowouts and that’s what makes the losses so frustrating. In fact, the Huskies have had leads in six games this semester and only came out on top once.

Head coach Jim Madigan has the team on the right track, but this team has no idea how to close out a game. Junior goaltender Chris Rawlings might be finally turning the corner and looked very good last weekend in losses to BC and UMass, but the rest of the team has let him down late in the game after he spent so much energy keeping them in it.

Late penalties, blown defensive coverage, and missed opportunities have defined this team in the third period. Those characteristics won’t win you hockey games no matter who you’re playing. It also doesn’t help that the Huskies have been outshot in every game they’ve played.

But this year’s homecoming matchup is with Vermont and like Providence was last season, the Catamounts might be just the team the Huskies need to face as they’ve yet to win a game in Hockey East this season (0-4-1).

That combined with a 2 p.m. tip off against Southern Illinois for a Bill Coen team that has some new exciting players, (I’m falling hard for Quincy Ford) should make for a perfect Saturday.

The Doghouse likes to refer to themselves as the best fan base in college hockey. This is the weekend to show it. In the past, the seats have been empty during long, frustrating losing streaks. This team needs its fans now more than ever. Don’t abandon them just because they’ve lost some bad games early as I did last year.