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If the Northeastern men’s hockey season was to be analogized to the timeline of a VH1 retrospective, the celebrity would have had no time to celebrate their ascension from rags to riches.
The adrenaline and energy the Huskies entered the season with is no longer evident as they struggle to regain their footing and pick up momentum. Only a few weeks ago these same Huskies, who were soundly beaten by St. Lawrence University of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference on Friday, were ranked No. 14 in the nation after defeating Merrimack College and top-ranked Boston College to open the season.
A tough but well-played weekend series against University of New Hampshire kept optimism high but since senior goalie Bryan Mountain’s impressive home shutout of the Wildcats, it has been anything but smooth sailing for Northeastern. In the past 10 games, the Huskies are 2-7-1 overall and 0-6-1 in Hockey East over the stretch, falling to a tie for seventh in the conference.
While it may be tempting for fans to throw in the towel, it is not necessary to hit the panic button yet. Time and history are on Northeastern’s side.
There are still 18 Hockey East games left on NU’s schedule, meaning up to 36 points are still on the board; more than enough to close the gap with teams sitting above them in the standings. Fourth-place Providence College will enter the weekend only three points ahead of the Huskies.
In the past few seasons, Northeastern has started slow and caught fire at some point during the season. Last year, the Huskies opened the season 1-7-2 before hitting a hot streak in mid-November, winning six in a row during an eight-game stretch that featured road wins over University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame and University of Minnesota. One of those wins was a 9-2 handling of an elite Notre Dame squad in South Bend, Ind.
The Huskies’ 2010-11 campaign started with an identical 1-7-2 mark through the first ten games. That season, Northeastern gained steam entering the Beanpot Tournament, giving Boston College all they could handle before falling in a 7-6 OT thriller. The Beanpot heartbreak didn’t stop NU from turning their season around and finishing sixth in Hockey East, earning a first-round playoff bid with cross-town rival Boston University. In three games at Agganis Arena, the Huskies ousted the Terriers from the Hockey East Tournament, setting up a rematch with Boston College in the tournament semifinals.
Northeastern would lose another close match, 5-4, to Boston College in the semifinals but for a team that looked lost at Thanksgiving that year, they regrouped in time to make an impressive playoff run.
These 2012-13 Huskies are facing a similar predicament to the teams of the past two years: an ineffective powerplay and penalty kill. Through 11 games, NU’s powerplay has scored at a rate of just 12.28 percent while the penalty kill has succeeded at an 80.4 percent rate. These rank 47th and 40th in the nation respectively out of 59 division one teams.
Northeastern is also averaging 13.42 penalty minutes a game, third-most in Hockey East and likely a result of continued frustration for the Huskies, who have been unable to find a knack for finishing scoring opportunities. Despite returning four 20-point scorers from a season ago, NU is managing just over two goals per contest.
Perhaps NU’s biggest challenge, which they did not face in either of the past two campaigns, is settling on a goaltender as both Bryan Mountain and Chris Rawlings have seen action this year. Head coach Jim Madigan’s leash was not very long for Rawlings who was pulled during NU’s road bout against New Hampshire earlier this season.
Whatever decision the coaching staff makes, it is in everyone’s best interest that it be made while either goalie still has time to build confidence for the big slate of conference games approaching.
This Northeastern squad does not want to dig itself into the same kind of hole that kept them out of the Hockey East Tournament two of the past three seasons. The eye test suggests that the talent is all there, it just needs to be cohesively put together and players need to be put in a position to use their strengths more effectively.
The Huskies will get their first shot at turning their season around this weekend when they travel to Amherst on Friday to take on the University of Massachusetts before playing the Minutemen the following night at Matthews Arena. A two-win, four-point weekend would go a long way towards changing the complexion of the season.
For those thinking it is no longer worth the short walk over to Matthews on a Saturday evening, hold your horses – the book on this year’s Huskies is far from written.
– Kwabena Stefan can be reached [email protected]
