By Jared Shafran

This season, the Northeastern fan website Diehard Dogs is running a special program to get both alumni and students to donate to the men’s hockey program. The Adopt a Dog program allows fans to pick players and donate money depending on how that individual performs on the ice. Each member of the team was successfully adopted by a member of the group before the season started, sometimes more than once. In every game the team wins this season, fans will donate $5 for every goal scored and $2 for every assist recorded by their respective players. In addition to those amounts, there is a $5 bonus for a game-winning goal scored by an adopted player and for goalies, $20 will be donated for every shutout they record. In losses, no money is donated. The program also has special rules for the bigger games during the season. The amount donated will be doubled if it’s a win in the first round of the Beanpot tournament or in the Hockey East Quarterfinal series. The amount will be tripled if it’s the Beanpot Final, the Hockey East semifinals or finals or in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Finally, the amount will be quadrupled if it is a NCAA Frozen Four Game. For students, it will be a fun way to pick some players who might not score a lot, but still help the program by donating. Fans can adopt as many players as they want and duplicates are allowed with popular players like Huskies captain Joe Vitale and goalie Brad Thiessen who have been adopted multiple times. Jon Bachand, a 2003 Northeastern graduate from the college of engineering, created the program. Bachand said the idea came from a program started on the website with the baseball team a couple years ago. “The year before last, we did something called Diehard Dog K-fund with the baseball team,” Bachand said. “Money was donated for every strikeout that the baseball team had and we pledged over $3,500 to be donated toward the baseball team.” Structuring the program ‘get students involved along with alumni, and Bachand has generated a positive response from both groups. “You only have to donate if the team wins, so students can get involved without breaking the bank,” Bachand said. “I wouldn’t want to give money when they lose.” Bachand said the program could be a good way to get students involved in the donation process early, which would potentially lead to more donations when they become alumni. “It is good for students to see alumni who are active and giving back to the school. They can show passion. And once they are alumni they can give back,” Bachand said. One of the students who is involved in the program is Marcus Moche’, a junior mechanical engineering major. “I thought it was cool,” Moche’ said. “It is kind of a way for me as a student to take ownership of the team in a personal way. Everyone at the school wants to see the hockey team perform.” Moche’ adopted two players, senior center Ryan Ginand and freshman defenseman JP Maley. “I took JP Maley cause I wanted to take a freshman,” Moche’ said. “Ginand is the most exciting player on the team and I took his jersey number when I bought my jersey so I figured that was the way to go.” As for the response from other alumni, Moche’ said he believes the program has gotten a lot of positive responses. “I think the alumni like it a lot,” Moche’ said. “It gives you an opportunity to root for individual players along with the entire team.” Bachand said he has adopted a couple of players. Along with the popular Joe Vitale, Bachand took defenseman Louis Liotti, forward Wade MacLeod and backup goalies Mike Binnington, Mike DeCosta and Ryan Mula. With the Huskies already winning five games this season, the Diehard Dogs have pledged more than $250 toward the hockey program. The wins, at least judging by the sold-out attendance at Matthews opening night against Boston College,