‘You’ve come a long way, baby.’
The phrase, first coined for Virginia Slims cigarettes in 1968, has taken on a modern context in the form of the Northeastern Huskies men’s hockey team. Veteran DogHouse members can recall Greg Cronin’s first season behind the bench in 2005-06 when the Huskies won just three games
These days Northeastern has another No. 3 next to its name, but rather than standing for the season win total, it signifies Northeastern’s national ranking. The Huntington Hounds currently sit atop Hockey East and are gaining credibility as a national contender in college hockey.
Games at Matthews Arena have historically been well-attended by students, even during the three-win campaign. But with the unprecedented success of this year’s squad, the ticket demand has skyrocketed. Northeastern is averaging 4,537 spectators in the 5,402 seat arena for home games with more than half the crowd made up of students. In response to rising attendance numbers, changes were made to the ticket pickup policy.
The Athletics Department announced Monday that students will be allowed to pick up their tickets at Blackman Auditorium Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon. Athletics Director Peter Roby said the move was made to prevent long lines in front of Matthews on game nights. Tickets will still be available at the arena 90-minutes before the game for those who don’t go to Blackman for pre-sales.
This is exciting news for Husky fans. An overflow of ticket sales has forced the Athletics Department to make changes to keep up with student support.
Roby said he is thrilled with the buzz students have shown about their hockey team.
‘We’ve been having some issues with long lines at games and this needed to be done to ensure students could go to the game without a delay,’ Roby said. ‘ Obviously this is a good problem to have. The students and our fans have enjoyed our success thus far and the team is in demand. Hopefully this new ticket policy will be a long-term staple for our games.’ In response to the interest, Beanpot ticket sales have been affected.
Tickets go on sale Saturday at 9 a.m. at Matthews. Unlike previous years, students can purchase only one ticket per Husky Card.
More fan support is obviously a good thing for the Huskies. Matthews already has a reputation as being a difficult place to play for visiting teams and hopefully the advance ticket sales will allow more students to get to games. The next question is this:
Will this transfer to the other sports?
‘ That’s completely up to the students,’ Roby said. ‘ I certainly hope so. In addition to the men’s hockey team, we have some other teams that are playing very well and are competing for championships and postseason spots. It would be great for students to come support all our teams like hockey.
It sure would. The overwhelming interest for hockey took shape as the team climbed the national polls, which is expected. Yet even before this, the team still drew a lot of fans despite losing seasons.
Can any other teams build such a strong fan base like this? That remains to be seen, but anyone who has seen the men’s basketball team play lately knows the squad is already a favorite in the Colonial Athletic Association and is getting better each game. Hopefully, lines for these games will make it necessary for advance sales.
Doesn’t seem probable to you? Remember, we’ve come a long way.
-Patrick McHugh can be reached at
