By Jonathan Raymond

When the Huskies take the ice for their exhibition opener against Prince Edward Isle Oct. 13, they’ll be accompanied by lofty expectations for the 2007-08 season.

Not since the 2001-02 season has Northeastern finished above .500, but a midseason turnaround and a strong second half of last season have set the bar high for this year’s team.

“We have pretty high expectations for all the guys this year,” said junior forward Joe Vitale. “Everybody’s coming into the season thinking we’re going to have a pretty good season. We’re looking forward to it.”

Last December, the Huskies’ season bottomed out with 7-1 loss to Maine followed by a 5-2 loss to Colgate. They rebounded, however, the next night against Holy Cross with a lopsided 7-2 victory.

That victory sparked a second half run that saw the team go 9-6-3 to finish the season before losing to Boston College in the Hockey East playoffs. Players like Vitale, sophomore goaltender Brad Thiessen, sophomore forward Chad Costello and sophomore forward Kyle Kraemer emerged as vital players during the stretch.

“I think after last year, as a team, and personally, we were able to accomplish some things some people didn’t think we’d be able to do,” Thiessen said. “So I think the bar is set that much higher and we just have to go out and keep what we had going during the last half of last year.”

The team will be a younger squad this year due to the loss of senior contributors, like Mike Morris, Ray Ortiz, Steve Birnstill, Yale Lewis and Bryan Esner.

“We lost a lot of seniors. We only have one senior that’s returning that’s played, so our first goal was to try and get the freshmen acclimated,” said head coach Greg Cronin. “We wanted to make them feel comfortable so they have the confidence to contribute immediately. I think our early season success is going to hinge on their development, being able to come in and make an impact.”

The freshman recruiting class will be anchored by a trio of forwards – Tyler McNeeley, Wade MacLeod and Steve Silva – who Cronin said he expects to be able to contribute quickly.

“The guys that come out with the most credibility, Steve Silva and Tyler McNeeley and Wade MacLeod,” Cronin said. “That’s two of the top five leading scorers in the British Columbia league. Those three guys should come out and be able to help us immediately.”

On the defensive side, Cronin said there are a number of players who can step into the starting role.

“Defensively, we got Drew Muench and Daniel Nycholat, both 18-year-old freshmen, and an older kid by the name of Mike Hewkin who is going to surprise some people,” he said.

Much of the Huskies’ success will also rely on Thiessen, who played nearly every minute last season while setting the single season save percentage record for Northeastern at .921.

“Personally, I just worked [over the offseason] on getting stronger, working on quickness and rebound control, rounding my game out to try to be one of the top goalies in Hockey East,” Thiessen said.

One area the Huskies will have to work on for the upcoming season is the power play. The team ranked eighth of 10 in the conference in the category last year, converting on just 22 of 202 opportunities for a 10.9 percent success rate. Conversely, they also have to pick up the penalty kill unit, one of NU’s strong points last season, after the loss of Ortiz and Birnstill.

“The power play is a reflection of talent, and coaches like to get their hands on it and put wrinkles into it and that’s fine and dandy, but ultimately it’s a manifestation of talent,” Cronin said. “If you really want to boil it out, we’ve got some lefties on our roster, which we didn’t have last year and they’re talented players, so I’m confident the lefties will be able to add a little more dimension on the other side of the ice and make us less predictable.”

The Huskies improved by 10 wins from the 2005 to the 2006 season, and look to continue that improvement this year.

“I think the sky’s the limit for this team, I really do,” said senior forward Jimmy Russo. “I think this program’s on its upswing. It’s only going to get better and better, there’s no doubt in my mind that we can be one of the top teams in this league and one of the top teams in the country.”