Joe Vitale, Ryan Ginand and Matti Uusivirta were tired.
As the fatiguing final weeks of preseason came to a close, they needed to play in a game that counted.
Weeks upon weeks of questions aimed at them by their new coach were getting to them.
They needed to respond to the orders of Greg Cronin.
“He’s always preaching,” Vitale said of the fiery Cronin. “He’s always saying, ‘We need kids to make plays’ or harping on who wants to be here. He’ll ask, ‘Who’s going to be good under pressure?'”
You couldn’t blame Cronin for acting so quickly.
In his first year back in the collegiate ranks, he inherited a roster of 15 freshmen. Some were his, but most of the roster wasn’t. He needed to start setting his team up for the future, but also had to worry about a daunting three weeks ahead against many of the nation’s best programs in North Dakota, Boston College and New Hampshire.
“I didn’t really have much of a choice,” Cronin said. “We’ve got four upperclassmen out and that’s a big gap. I don’t have a lot of choices. Some of the freshmen knew they were going to have to play against a top line.”
As the team prepares to play its eighth contest of the season Friday night against Massachusetts, Cronin has found that line.
Vitale, a quick skater and physical forward, was a seventh-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Penguins in this year’s NHL Draft and has played center. Speedy local product Ginand, of Milford, has settled in at left wing. Uusivirta is an imposing presence at 6-feet, 3-inches and has manned the right wing spot.
In a season of questions and injuries, Cronin has found what appears to be a dependable component for his team.
“They’ve unquestionably been our best line,” he said.
The team entered its first game against North Dakota without a clear No. 1 goalie or its No. 1 player, forward Mike Morris, who compiled 39 points last year. Also out were veteran forwards Yale Lewis and Ray Ortiz, which continued to provide glaring depth issues for the team’s four lines.
“It’s kind of an overwhelming thing,” Vitale said of the schedule prepared for Northeastern. “These first seven games, you don’t understand it until you’re in the situation of playing them, day-in and day-out. To play Tuesday and then say Friday against nationally ranked teams as a freshman is so overwhelming.”
The team’s current record of 0-6-1 indicates how overwhelming it has been, but the highlights of Vitale, Ginand and Uusivirta’s play have told a different story.
Take the hat trick of Ginand in Friday night’s 6-4 loss to New Hampshire.
Ginand tallied his three goals in the second period, producing the first hat trick for a Husky since the 2002 Beanpot. Of his three goals, his second, a quick shot off his own rebound near the goal, displayed a quick adjustment to the league and a smart play for a former Boston Jr. Bruin.
Ginand wasn’t prepared to discuss his three goals following the game, raising his current scoring line to 3-2-5.
He was prepared to talk about his line, with Vitale (4-1-5), who added another goal on the night, and Uusivirta (2-4-6).
“When you’re on a first line, you’re expected to produce,” he said. “You have to do something for your team. You’re there and you have to produce. Pretty much everyone’s looking at you to produce or otherwise you’re going to get moved down.”
The trio has heard the message, despite accumulating nearly half (16) of the team’s total points this the year (34).
Uusivirta is aware of where he stands as well as the rest of the team.
“I can make plays to help this team,” he said. “My size is an advantage. Everyone on this team can bring something different to the table.”
Vitale knows that Cronin wants consistency, and that the members of his line could easily lose their roles at the top.
“Any time you’re playing against a team like BC in front of 5,400 people, any time you can be in that kind of environment, it’s definitely some place you want to continually be in,” Vitale said. “It’s definitely a place I want to be in. My linemates and I know that we need to produce, because we know at any minute it can be taken away from us. If you lose your edge, you can come in on Monday morning and see your name on the bottom of that sheet.”
Not only do the three need to produce, but Vitale is aware of what that first shift on the ice means to the team.
“We’re doing a lot of good things out there,” Vitale said. “Our line definitely has good chemistry. There’s a lot of zip to us. If we get a good hit in, or maybe Ryan blows by the defensemen, either way we have to get the team going.”
Cronin had options entering the season and he had to act quickly to fill his remaining roster spots. He was concerned he was gambling too much in taking his new players.
“I gambled on that, I gambled on both of them [Vitale and Uusivirta],” he said. “But I got enough information from people that I felt had quality integrity. To them, they said, Joe was, at worst, going to be a second-line center on a national championship team.”
Cronin pushed further for information on Vitale and his new group.
“I asked everybody, I asked for feedback on these guys on championship teams, not on average Hockey East teams. I think when you ask people in that light, it starts to bring immediate credibility to those person’s projections.”
So far, everyone’s been right.
