Ouch, this is painful. It hurts me to see the Northeastern men’s hockey team working its way through the tough early going of this season. But being a NU hockey devotee, I packed the four kids and my wife in the car and made the trip to Matthews Arena for the UNH game back in November. The game was pretty good, the Huskies played hard and had a chance, but it didn’t work out.

However, I saw a real change at Matthews that is going to help the program. It was a fun place to be. There is finally some decent food. The popcorn is great. The people working the rink are more fan friendly. Even my 11-year-old said how much “nicer everyone is.” We sat with a bunch of folks from Dorchester that were there to watch their children play between periods, and you could see how proud they were to have their kids playing on the Husky’s home ice.

While the team has posted only one win to date, I think the program has recognized the need to involve the community and build a grass root support for our team. Making our home rink a more positive environment makes it better for the fans today and for the program tomorrow. The NU people that have made the effort to improve the environment at Matthews are to be commended. It is a good step toward improving our program. Keep up the good work.

— Greg Porell is a graduate of the class of 1985 with a B.A. in journalism.