BURLINGTON, VT – When a season ends as painfully as it did for the men’s hockey team, a 4-1 loss at the hands of UVM, it’s hard to find positives. “It stings a little bit right now,” said a dejected and emotional Joe Vitale after the game. “I’m going to have trouble sleeping tonight.” The question for me, and for many Husky faithfuls at the end of the year is, what did this season mean? Was it a success? The answer is a little complicated. The team finished the season 16-18-3 overall and 12-13-2 in Hockey East, a somewhat disappointing mark considering the Huskies went unbeaten in 11 consecutive games from Nov. 3 through Jan. 11. But they faltered down the stretch, with a 4-11-1 record after the streak ended, including losing five of their last six league games. But when you consider recent history, it is an incredible improvement. Just two seasons ago this team won three – count them – three times. Last season the team only managed 13 wins and just nine in the league. The inability to finish the season strong cost the Huskies in national polls – they fell from No. 7 earlier in the season to out of the rankings. In Hockey East, they dropped from second to sixth, missing a chance at home ice on the last day of the season. While this season is not quite the epic collapse of the 1980 team, which won its first 12, were ranked No. 1 in the nation and were featured in Sports Illustrated before losing 12 straight to close the year and missing the ECAC playoffs, it is still a cause for concern. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention here that the 1980 Husky hockey team rebounded from that crushing season to have the most successful season in the history of the program, winning ECAC title and making the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. The other big negative on this past season was the performance of the sophomore class. When Chad Costello and Kyle Kramer led the team in points last year with 22 and 19 respectively, it looked as if head coach Greg Cronin was engineering a youth movement. But this season, Costello came up with just 13 points and Kramer 10, although Costello missed a few weeks due to injury. The other big freshman bright spot last year was the man in net, Brad Thiessen. He posted a 2.48 goals against average and a .921 save percentage, but he slumped as well this season, posting 2.69 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Thiessen also gave up some soft goals especially during the team’s late season skid and the playoffs, including the lone in Friday night’s contest against UVM. On the positive side, Northeastern won at Maine, at UNH (twice), at BC (twice) and at Vermont, all places the team had been winless for a decade. They also had another, larger, youth movement this season headlined by Wade MacLeod, who was third in scoring among Hockey East rookies with 27 points and Tyler McNeely, who was seventh with 22. Many other freshmen played pivotal roles in the success of the team this year, including Drew Muench, who played in 33 of the team’s 37 games and was on the top defensive pairing. Center Steve Silva showed flashes of brilliance, but was hampered by a series of injuries. Newcomers Dan Nycholat and Mike Hewkin showed they can play defense in Hockey East. “We made positive steps, a lot of good things to build from and a lot of good pieces to move on with,” Cronin said after last night’s game. “We now have a good core of players and that is an important part of the rebuilding process.” The other positive for NU is its youth. Jimmy Russo is the team’s only senior and the only player who will not return next year. While he added a great deal of leadership, as well as the ability to score big goals late in games, he was seventh on the team in points with 13, a contribution that can be made up. Barring injuries or transfers, the Huskies will return next year hungrier, older and possibly wiser to make another run at a successful season. In the end, Huskies leader and junior Vitale summed up the season the best. “We didn’t get as far as we wanted to go, so in that regard it isn’t a success,” he said. “I think we had a lot of positives and a lot of improvement, and we definitely surprised a lot of people, so in that regard it was.”
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– Keith Lavon and Pete Martin can be reached at [email protected].
