Greg Cronin wants to make something clear as his college coaching career on Huntington Avenue kicks off.
There will be no moral victories for the Northeastern men’s hockey team this year.
“One of the things that has been a backhanded slap around here in the past is that [the Huskies] played hard every night,” Cronin said Monday. “Well, geez, you’re supposed to play hard. There’s no moral victories. If you lose the game, you lose the game. I’m not into that. I don’t care who you’re playing. North Dakota, Toronto, if you lose, you lose. There’s no ‘we played hard and gave it a fight.’ I mean, give me a break.”
Sound like the right mantra for the new team? As the team prepares to leave for Grand Forks, N.D. tomorrow to begin a two-game set against the perennial champion contending Fighting Sioux, Cronin is hoping months of intense workout and newly-instilled philosophies pay off for a changed squad.
Gone is captain Jason Guerriero, the 2004-05 Hockey East scoring champion and locker room leader. So is Keni Gibson, who was the runner-up for Hockey East Player of the Year. Tim Judy and Donny Grover, two savvy defensemen, left behind a young group of blueliners for this year’s team.
The real issue for Cronin? With 15 new faces, it will be finding out who’s who on this team.
“I’ve seen one exhibition game for this team [a 5-3 defeat of Toronto on Saturday],” Cronin said. “When you recruit guys, they come in the fall and you ask them what they are as players. They’ll tell you what they represent but I don’t know because I haven’t seen them. I don’t know [freshman forward] Ryan Ginand from Peter Pan. He comes in and plays one game against Toronto. It wasn’t against North Dakota.”
Cronin assumes he can rely on the play of his veterans, including newly-named captain Chuck Tomes, a senior defenseman. Brian Swiniarski, a senior forward who tied for third in goals last season for the Huskies with 10, will also be important. A return for Mike Morris, the team’s second leading scorer last year (19-20-39) and second-team All-Hockey East player, remains uncertain.
“You hopefully want to fall back on your veterans,” Cronin said. “Chucky Tomes could lead that parade. There’s not a lot of them on this team, though. The veterans should respect the momentum and know when to keep it going. When it does get ugly, they’ll know how to calm the rest down.”
Guerriero and Morris formed one of the most talented offensive combinations in the Hockey East last year. The two compiled 87 points. However, an unnerving drop in production followed the first-line mates, as two defensemen (Judy and junior Steve Birnstill) were next in line in scoring.
The highest returning scorers for the Huskies? Swiniarski (10-6-16), Ray Ortiz (5-8-13) and Bryan Esner (4-8-12). Ortiz will be out until late November/early December with an injury Cronin would not specify. For Northeastern, a similar rate of scoring from its leading offensive players will not cut it in the Hockey East this year.
“I’ve heard the knock on NU, that they had two or three good scorers, that the next six or seven were pretty competitive and then it dropped off,” Cronin said. “Well, you can say that about any team. The challenge is to create a competitive environment where guys are scrapping and clawing to get into the lineup. Ultimately, you can play with a lot of style and substance and play as hard as you want, but somebody has to score some goals.”
Lee, who scored twice and assisted against Toronto, appeared rejuvenated on the ice after a dissapointing freshman campaign. Vitale, a seventh-round draft choice (195th overall) of the Pittsburgh Penguins this year, had an impressive debut at first-line center, tallying one goal and two assists. Ginand, with two assists, added to the offense.
A smooth skater with a relaxed, flowing approach to his game, Birnstill will lead the defense along with Tomes and junior Brian Deeth. Freshmen Jacques Perreault, Louis Liotti and Denis Chisolm all appeared on defense against Toronto as well as they prepare to fill the void left by seniors Judy and Grover.
The Huskies currently have four goalies on the roster. Junior Adam Geragosian and senior Tim Heneroty backed up Gibson last year. Added to the team this year were Doug Jewer and Jake Thaler. After playing Geragosian and Jewer against Toronto, Cronin still has many worries about this group.
“I don’t know,” Cronin said of who will play against North Dakota. “I don’t know yet. I don’t have a good feel for it right now, which isn’t good. I was hoping somebody would emerge with a little bit more of a leadership role right now.”
For now, the road begins against North Dakota followed by the team’s first Matthews Arena game of the season a week from Saturday against Boston College. How a team with so many questions will pan out remains uncertain. But one thing is certain and it’s that Cronin is ready for the ride.
“I think it’s great that we’re facing North Dakota and BC so early,” Cronin said. “Not knowing college hockey at all, from a penthouse view, it’s great. If we’re banged up and not that talented, it can be a painful experience. But with pain, there is an opportunitiy to explore. And that exploration will tell us exactly who we are.”
