By Eoghan Kelly, News Staff
Northeastern has a history of losing both graduating seniors and underclassmen to professional contracts, so as the hockey world awaits the announcement of the Huskies’ departures, here is a survey how some recent Northeastern alumni have managed so far in the professional leagues.
With 1:48 remaining in the first period of the 2011 Beanpot Championship game, forward Tyler McNeely darted across the ice toward forward Brodie Reid.
Reid just gave the men’s hockey team a 2-1 lead over Boston College, and McNeely skated over to embrace Reid in celebration. The pair of forwards, then a senior and freshman respectively, on a Northeastern team that would go on to lose in overtime, 7-6, in one of the most memorable Beanpot title games in tournament’s history. They glided over to the Northeastern bench in tandem and received a flurry of congratulatory high-fives from their teammates.
But a lot can change in a year.
Last Sunday, McNeely again embraced Reid, but this time as a member of the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the minor league affiliate of the NHL’s New York Islanders, more than a year after they collectively celebrated their stellar Beanpot performance. McNeely and Reid, now with the Worcester Sharks, dropped their gloves and exchanged crushing blows in Reid’s first professional fight.
Following Northeastern’s loss to BC in the 2011 Hockey East semifinals, McNeely, Reid and three other Huskies on the 2010-11 roster left and joined the professional ranks.
Even before this season, Northeastern was well-represented in professional hockey at the NHL level, particularly within the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. Two members of the 2008-09 team who led Northeastern to its first NCAA tournament berth since 1994 – forward Joe Vitale and goalie and 2009 All-American Brad Thiessen – are on the Penguins’ roster.
Vitale, who is 50th on Northeastern’s all-time points list, has amassed four goals and nine assists in 63 games on Pittsburgh’s fourth line this season, as well as a 55.6 percent faceoff percentage, second on the team only to third-line center Matt Cooke.
On Feb. 3, Penguins vice president and general manager Ray Shero announced that the 26-year-old Vitale signed a two-year contract extension with the Penguins through the 2013-14 season.
At the other end of the ice, Thiessen is in a battle with Brett Johnson for the Penguins’ back-up goalie job. Thiessen earned a 4-2 win in his first-ever NHL start Feb. 26 against the Blue Jackets, and is 3-2 overall in five starts this season.
Thiessen will become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.
McNeely, one of three seniors to graduate and sign a professional free-agent contract following the 2010-11 season, signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Islanders April 20, 2011, after scoring five goals and adding six assists in a 10-game amateur tryout period with the Sound Tigers. In 61 games played with Bridgeport in 2011-12, McNeely has accumulated seven goals, 12 assists and a plus-8 rating.
Including his tussle with Reid, McNeely has earned five fighting majors this season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who are currently in sixth place in the AHL’s Eastern Conference with 75 points.
McNeely also played on the Islanders’ fourth line in their first preseason game against the Bruins Sept. 23 in Boston.
Wade MacLeod and Steve Silva, McNeely’s linemates while at Northeastern, joined the Burnaby, British Columbia, native in the minor leagues after graduation by signing free-agent contracts with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons (affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets) and East Coast Hockey League’s (ECHL) Trenton Titans.
“We’re blessed to have them because not only are they good players, they’re good people,” former head coach Greg Cronin said in a February 2011 interview with the News. “Those guys are critical [to the team].”
MacLeod scored seven goals and 17 assists in 58 games with the 12th-place Falcons this year, while Silva has tallied eight goals, 25 assists and a minus-9 rating with the Titans, the ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. Silva also has 75 total penalty minutes, including two games with at least 12 penalty minutes.
But the Huskies also lost two freshmen who were integral to their 2010-11 Hockey East playoff push. After being named to the 2011 Pro Ambitions Hockey East All-Rookie Team, Reid signed an entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks April 15, 2011, less than a month after Northeastern’s season-ending loss to BC, and reported to San Jose’s AHL club in Worcester.
“I was really impressed with Brodie Reid,” Boston University head coach Jack Parker said in April 2011. “He can really shoot the puck – he’s a terrific freshman forward for [Northeastern].”
Two months later, defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was drafted by the Dallas Stars with the 14th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft following his stand-out freshman year. Oleksiak, the highest-selected draft choice of any player in Northeastern history, subsequently signed a three-year entry-level contract, the Stars announced Oct. 6.
Oleksiak participated in the team’s summer development camp and training camp, but has split time during the 2011-12 season between the Saginaw Spirit and Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). In 62 total games this season, Oleksiak has scored 12 goals and 20 assists, helping lead the IceDogs to the OHL playoffs after winning the regular season championship.
Reid, meanwhile, has scored just two points in his last 11 games, but has eight goals and 14 assists in his 62 contests this season. The Sharks are currently in 13th place with 67 points in the Eastern Conference, just four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
Cronin did not respond to a request for comments on this story.
