Can someone please explain to me how 450 students ran around campus in their underwear Saturday night but none of them thought to make a stop at the men’s hockey exhibition game that was going on at the same time?
The runners can spew all they want about school spirit and chant “Let’s Go Huskies!” as they run down Huntington Avenue, but nothing says school spirit like actually supporting the team. Plus, I would have loved to see the look on the Matthews Arena event staff members’ faces when 450 kids showed up in their skivvies.
Had the scantily clad troops joined the 541 students who did show up at the exhibition against Prince Edward Isle, they would have seen a very promising start to the 2007-08 season. In the 5-1 win, freshman forward Tyler McNeely proved he was worth the hype, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Junior forward Dennis McCauley scored two goals as well, and continued to walk the line between effective goal scorer and president of the penalty box with three offenses, including a second period call for contact to the head. He may not always make the best choices on the ice, but he continues to entertain, and as long as he manages to score he can play the role of enforcer as long as he wants.
Junior forward Joe Vitale scored the other NU goal and sported the captain’s C on his jersey. While a permanent captain hasn’t yet been announced, it is clear Vitale is the leader of the team. He was paired with McNeely and freshman forward Wade MacLeod on the first line, and they combined for three goals and four assists in the game. More importantly, Vitale was doing all the little things. He was passing well, didn’t take any stupid penalties and had the fire and jump that seemed to be missing for parts of last season. Seems to me like that C should be permanent.
Sophomore goalie Brad Thiessen posted 29 saves and allowed one late-game goal. Thiessen is a key to the success of the Huskies this season. Since last year’s back-up Jake Thaler is no longer with the team, freshman Mike Binnington is Thiessen’s only relief. One muscle pull for Thiessen and Binnington, goes from third string to starting goalie and the Huskies defense goes from shaky to scary.
The Huskies’ season opens tomorrow against Providence at 7 p.m. This is a should-win game and a must-win if we want any momentum going into Saturday’s match-up with No. 1 North Dakota. My great hope is that No. 4 Boston College will actually help us out by taking North Dakota into overtime and really wearing them out Friday before they head over here for some Matthews Magic.
If everything clicks for this Northeastern team they could really shatter some of the low expectations people always seem to have for the Huskies. All the pieces seem to be there: veterans like Vitale, McCauley and the lone senior Jimmy Russo, Thiessen in goal and some rookie fire power.
Elsewhere in Hockey East action, No. 8 Boston University lost 3-2 to Robert Morris. I can only hope that means Terriers’ goalie Karson Gillespie is the sieve the Dog House has been waiting to jeer now that John Curry has thankfully graduated. BU also tied Anchorage Alaska 4-4 last weekend. Hopefully this slow start lasts until Nov. 10 when they visit Matthews.
I am mildly excited for the 2007-08 hockey season. (I know better than to be really excited; the 2007 football season is a perfect example of what happens when I get my hopes up. Sorry, guys, but Saturday’s game against No. 4 Massachusetts will probably not be pretty). I just wish other students were as excited about this weekend’s hockey games as they were to run around in the underwear last weekend. All I ask is don’t let the Dog House combine Benny Hill and the Underwear Run. For those of you who just pictured that, I’m sorry. It is not a pretty image.
– Erika Carrubba can be reached at [email protected].
