By Eoghan Kelly, News Staff
The men’s hockey team isn’t wasting any time preparing for next season. Head coach Jim Madigan announced the Huskies’ three captains for the 2012-13 campaign at the team’s annual awards banquet April 12.
Junior forward Vinny Saponari will captain the Huskies for his senior season, while junior forward Robbie Vrolyk and freshman forward Ludwig Karlsson will serve as assistant captains.
Neither Madigan nor the players could be reached for comment on this story.
Saponari’s journey to being named Northeastern’s captain was tumultuous. After scoring 47 points in two seasons and winning a Beanpot title, Hockey East title and national championship at cross-town rival Boston University from 2008-2010, Saponari was dismissed from the team for a team rules violation in May 2010.
Saponari spent the 2010-11 season playing junior hockey for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League before committing to Northeastern and returning to Boston.
In his first season with the Huskies, Saponari was fourth on the team in scoring with 23 points, including 16 assists, tied for the team lead with Karlsson. Saponari also scored three power play goals and two overtime goals, including the game-winner in a 5-4 win over BU in Northeastern’s final game of the season March 3.
He has one remaining year of NCAA eligibility.
A native of Powder Springs, Ga., Saponari will replace current captain and graduating senior forward Mike McLaughlin, who was a consistent forechecking and defensive presence for Northeastern and the Huskies’ most reliable penalty killer for the past two seasons. In his four-year collegiate career, McLaughlin, a native of Seaforth, Ontario, scored 13 goals and 46 points in 120 total games and earned just 42 total penalty minutes.
Many of McLaughlin’s achievements happened off the ice, as he was also named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team three times and was awarded the 2012 Herbert Gallagher Award as Northeastern’s top male scholar-athlete.
One of the Huskies’ current assistant captains, sophomore defenseman Anthony Bitetto, will not be returning to Northeastern next season. Bitetto signed a two-year contract with the Nashville Predators in March, the team announced in a press release March 29.
Left to fill his shoes are Vrolyk and Karlsson. Vrolyk has battled injury problems during his career at Northeastern, most recently missing Northeastern’s final five games of the 2012 season with an ankle injury. When healthy, Vrolyk was frequently paired with McLaughlin on the penalty kill and skated on a full-strength line with McLaughlin and redshirt junior Alex Tuckerman. The three combined for 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 2011-12.
In 25 games for the Huskies this season, Vrolyk earned just eight points on five goals and three assists. However, each of his five goals were scored in a six-game stretch from Jan. 28 to Feb. 13.
Karlsson is coming off of a decorated freshman season during which he led Northeastern in scoring (10-16-26) and earned one of three unanimous selections to the 2011-12 Pro Ambitions Hockey East All-Rookie Team. Karlsson, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, was the first freshman to lead Northeastern in scoring since Chad Costello in 2006-07.
Karlsson was also awarded the Ed Arrington Rookie of the Year award for Northeastern’s top freshman.
