How does a weekend in which the Huskies tie the candy canes from Comm. Ave. twice come to be one of the best weekends in the history of the men’s hockey program?
It’s all about being in the driver’s seat, baby.
With the pair of ties this weekend, the Huskies keep their one point lead on BU with just two more weekends of play to go before the Hockey East Playoffs begin.
This means that with just four more wins Northeastern can celebrate its first ever Hockey East regular season title. Something the fans of the red and black have been waiting for, for a long time ‘- like since the conference started way back in 1984.
Of course, it’s not quite as easy as all that. NU has home-and-home splits coming up with UMass-Lowell and BC, two teams that are likely going to want to stop NU from gaining that title, especially given that they are both locked in a very tight battle for position, including home ice.
The important thing to remember here is that in the past, Northeastern has had some good, even great teams. They won three Beanpots in the 1980s and were considered among the elite in the world of college hockey.
But none of those squads, even the ’82, ’88 and ’94 teams that made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament managed to grab a title to top off their year.
While it will be an uphill climb, there is every reason to believe it can be done. The Huskies already beat Lowell on their own ice, and of course we all remember what happened to the Eagles the last two times they tangled with the Huskies ‘- they lost their No. 1 ranking, and then got bounced out of the Beanpot with a 6-1 smacking.
As of this moment, Northeastern is four wins from their first title, the top seed in the hockey east playoffs, oh and did I mention that Hockey East will be presenting the trophy for the first time ever ‘- that would be a heck of a way to kick off next season’s festivities.
Not to mention all the fun we could have finding a place of honor to display the banner at Matthews Arena. It even might be something they could build into the renovations . . . but I am getting ahead of myself.
For now, it is the Huskies’ title to grab, and I really look forward to watching them go for it.
Check out 104.9 FM or at www.wrbbradio.org to hear all the action of your Huskies. Basketball coverage is Wednesday at 6:45 p.m at Drexel and Saturday at 5:45 against Old Dominion. Hockey coverage is at 6:45 Friday against UMass Lowell.
‘- Pete Martin can be reached at
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