By Jared Shafran, News Staff
My introduction to the Northeastern men’s hockey team came on Friday, Oct. 19, 2007. In the first game of the 2007-2008 season, Providence came to Matthews Arena and the two teams produced a thrilling game. Ryan Ginand instantly became my favorite Husky after scoring two goals, including one with about five minutes to go. Chris Donovan drove to the net and scored the game winner 44 seconds into overtime. The Huskies were 1-0 and I was hooked.
When No. 1 ranked North Dakota came to Boston the following night, I just had to be there. I told all my friends to join me at the game and even though the Huskies didn’t score a goal, losing 3-0, I told everyone around me about how the game was much closer than the score had indicated.
Simply put, my time at Northeastern has been spent at the hockey rink. I’ve seen a lot during my time here. Wins, losses, blowouts, upsets and plenty of heart-breakers. Through it all, I’ve been lucky as far as NU history goes. The team has had a birth in the NCAAs, advanced to the TD Garden for the Hockey East semifinals two times in the last three seasons and in my first four years has amassed more wins than in any other four year span in the history of the program.
I’m not done yet, as I’ll see three more games before I graduate and even then, I’m sure I’ll be around in some capacity, but I am certain I’ll never see anything like what I witnessed these past two weekends.
First, a 3-7-2 Northeastern team that struggled mightily to close out games went on the road and claimed a routine 4-1 victory over the No. 11 University of Michigan Wolverines, who were national finalists in the NCAA Tournament last season. Although it was a great win for the team and the program, Michigan didn’t play as well as advertised. Since the loss, the Wolverines are 1-2-0 and have dropped out of the top 20 in the USCHO poll. Still, it was a big step in the right direction for NU.
After the trip to Ann Arbor, the Huskies managed to schedule another flight out to the Midwest, this time to South Bend, Ind., for two games against the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish. The Irish not only made the Frozen Four last spring, but also came in ranked at No. 2, and were undefeated in their brand new home arena.
NU scored its most goals in a single game since 2002, winning 9-2. Notre Dame’s captain, Sean Lorenz, called it “a disgrace to the jersey.”
After such a lopsided win, NU knew the Irish would be out for some payback the following night. That’s why it was even sweeter when they Huskies showed they could win the close ones too, pulling out a 2-1 win.
For Northeastern to even have scheduled these games was surprising, since its out of conference schedule last season included the likes of Niagara, Holy Cross and Bentley. But to win the first three of them, against the class of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association was unthinkable.
As I said earlier, when it comes to Northeastern athletics, there’s no shortage of excitement. However, I’d advise you not to live and die with each game, because the reality is you’ll spend plenty of nights upset about results where you had penciled in a win, which turned into a crushing loss.
That said, if you stick around long enough, you might be rewarded and when this team finally does something special, it makes everything you’ve sacrificed worthwhile.
