The Beanpot

As I sit here waiting for my liquid exhaust gaskets to dry, my mind wanders, again, to Monday. The Huskies will be playing #1 Boston College for the Beanpot trophy, a prize which has not seen Huntington Avenue since 1988.

It seems only natural that Northeastern should make the championship game for only the second time in the last six years, with my graduation taking me from Boston back to Los Angeles and away from the noise and competition at the Garden. Regardless, Northeastern seems dedicated to maintaining alumni relations through the Beanpot, allowing me to throw a Beanpot viewing party in Santa Monica with funding from the school for food and a box of NU swag. While watching the game, here are some things to keep in mind:

• The last championship game which featured Northeastern was a close game until, trailing 3-2, the Huskies gave up consecutive shorthanded goals on the same power play to the Terriers of Boston University, cementing another year of Beanpot frustration and failure. Perhaps one of the most predictable and saddening losses of my time at NU, the game reinforced Brad Thiessen's disturbing tendency to implode in critical games.
  
• Northeastern has beaten a #1 ranked Boston College team recently, opening their stellar 2008-2009 season with a 4-3 victory over BC.
  
• The Huskies have improved their record almost entirely on the back of sophomore goalie Chris Rawlings. Despite nearly always looking like he has no idea what he's doing, Rawlings is only one shutout short of the Northeastern record and is drawing attention from NHL scouts.
  
• Current BC forward Chris Kreider scored one of the most impressive college goals I have ever seen.
• BC goalie John Muse is nicknamed "Moose." In addition to the Moose script across the bottom of his mask, he also has a moose silhouette on his backplate. I have a hard time thinking of a less athletic animal than a moose.
• The Boston Garden, replaced by the Fleetcenter (now TD Garden) in 1996, has never seen a Beanpot victory by Harvard or Northeastern. The last Harvard championship came 3 years before the Garden was closed. The likelihood of Harvard breaking this streak this year is 0. Same for next year.
  
• Northeastern lost in the title game in my senior year of high school, 3-2 in overtime to BU. The player who scored for BU was subsequently dismissed from the school for not going to class. It is unlikely he attended class before the Beanpot, either.
  
• The consolation game of the Beanpot is a meaningless game which should not be played. I have watched 4 of these consolation games. Northeastern has played in 45 of these, possibly more, as counting that high is outside my math capabilities these days.

Go Huskies.

Stream of Consciousness Hockey

Photo taken by Mark, liberally damaged in Photoshop by me.

I realize that nobody who reads this blog ever bothers to read my hockey posts. Unfortunately, they're also the most fun to write. Just another Blogger's Dilemma, I suppose.

The Kings opened their season in Vancouver while I was in Florida. Being on the east coast meant the game didn't start until 10 PM, I would have to watch the game over a Slingbox through a terrible free WiFi connection on a 12" laptop, and I'd have to leave the sound off to avoid disturbing a sleeping girlfriend.

Please don't sue me for fair use of your photo.

The game was mediocre, but the Kings looked resplendent. Jon Quick was wearing faux-vintage brown pads and a Rogie Vahon tribute mask, the team was wearing purple and gold as they had in the pre-Gretzky years, and Bob Miller was undoubtedly calming a hyperactive Jim Fox on commentary. Anze Kopitar took an inadvertent stick to the mouth and needed 15 stitches halfway through the first, then returned to play the entire second, third, and overtime periods before scoring a goal in the shootout. There's no sport quite like hockey.

With the end of my unemployment rapidly approaching but the promise of a paycheck beckoning me to the ice, I set out in search of new pads to replace that which I had left at Northeastern. Faith in your equipment is one of the pillars of goaltending, so I set out to find reaonably priced upgrades to my old pads.


Craigslist yielded a brand new Reebok Premier Series 2 glove and a freakishly light stick for hundreds below retail, while a visit to the local hockey shop netted some Bauer Reflex RX6 pads and CCM skates. The pads are fairly entry level in the grand scheme of hockey, but 20 years more advanced than the ol' Reactors, offering things like knee padding and five-hole closure.

One of the most inexplicable and frustrating things about living in the city of Boston was a complete lack of in-city hockey shops and rinks. This limited my ice time to my intramural games and my purchases to secondhand vendors. Oddly enough, the greater Los Angeles area offers substantially more value to a hockey player than the metropolitan Boston area, with all three major online hockey retailers calling Southern California their home and two rinks within 7 miles of Venice. This, of course, allowed me to break in my new pads within a day of their purchase at the Toyota Sports Center.

Stepping onto the ice for the first time in months was less difficult than expected. Unfortunately, goaltending after avoiding the gym for months is an intensely painful activity, making conditioning my greatest obstacle. Regardless, I stopped some pucks and made it out to two days of stick time, seeing lots of pucks and doing incalculable damage to my knees and groin.

Making a predictable rookie mistake, I removed the thigh boards from the new pads thinking that they'd be more trouble than they were worth.

This is how it looked yesterday. It now looks like one of those blue potato chips they give you on JetBlue.

Wrong. It's incredible how a puck seeks the least protected areas of your body and finds them within five minutes of stepping into the net. Thighs, collar bones, arms, and necks all make saves you'd rather make with your forehead. Ken Dryden wrote in "The Game" that despite all the protection, goalie was still a fundamentally painful position, and despite decades of equipment improvements, I still manage to block a shot with nothing but bone at least once every game. I find it silly that shooters always apologize for hitting me in the mask. Shots to the mask don't hurt. Shots to the thigh do.

Somehow, after barely managing to drive my heavy-clutched car home, staring at bruises and cuts, and struggling to stand up, something drives me, and presumably all real athletes, to get up and do the same thing the next day. Maybe that's why Northeastern hockey has season ticket holders from the '50s. The team is rarely good, but the game is more important than the results.

On the topic of Northeastern hockey, I am confused by optimism. A team which drastically underperformed last year and has neither gained nor lost anyone truly critical is likely to drastically underperform this year. A loss in an exhibition match to a miserable Canadian team, a loss to miserable Providence, a loss to excellent Boston College, a tie with bad RPI, and a tie with a mediocre UNH squad spells "BAD TEAM" in bold letters. Perhaps not as bad as the 3-24-7 team of my freshman year, but likely worse than last year's 16-16-2. Let's remember that this team has yet to win a game despite having played an exhibition, an out of conference game, a game against Providence, and two home games against Hockey East Opponents. The team that made the NCAA tournament started 5-0-1 against better competition.

Thank goodness for the Kings, because the Huskies are beginning what will amount to one very long season. I do miss them, though. Every day.

Oh yeah, I have a blog

I've discovered that I have substantially less to blog about when the teams I follow are playing well. If the Angels win the Series, the Kings win the Cup, and the Huskies win anything, I'll probably spend months away from here.

Regardless, after watching the US demolish Norway 6-1 despite playing about 20 minutes of good hockey and 40 minutes of crap, I figured I'd talk about sports.

Angels

I promise to have a season preview up before the season actually begins. With most projections showing the Angels to be an 85-win team, I'm fairly confident they can win 90, but it's going to take repeat or better performances from Morales and Kendrick, along with some degree of recovery from Kazmir and Santana. Santana is probably the most important player on the Angels. If he can return to his 2008 performance, he becomes a cheaper, younger, and better John Lackey. Kazmir as well, although I expect less from him, largely because he hasn't showed the solid peripherals he maintained during his first couple seasons for the last three seasons.

Joel Piniero was a waste of money. But that will become clear shortly enough. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Tony Reagins is not a top-tier GM.


Huskies

This is a big weekend for Northeastern. The hockey team opens at Matthews against BC tomorrow in a surprisingly crucial game. I say "surprisingly" because the Huskies were clinging to the final playoff spot three weeks ago, giving games in hand to powerhouses like Merrimack, and with the distinct possibility of missing the playoffs for the second time during Cronin's tenure. However, they've since won 6 of 7, with the lone loss coming in the Beanpot, and sit a single point out of fourth place. Fourth is where the home ice is, and that would be wonderful. I'm missing the final home hockey game of the season, so if I want to see more than two hockey games at Matthews before I graduate, the Huskies will have to make a valiant run to 4th.

Saturday brings Louisiana Tech to Matthews for a Bracket Buster battle between* NCAA tournament hopefuls. The Huskies can and should win this game, in front of what will likely be the largest home basketball crowd since Reggie Lewis called Huntington Avenue home. If Northeastern can win its final two CAA games, it wins the CAA regular season title and guarantees itself a spot in the NIT. Win three more in Richmond, and the Huskies dance, forcing me to scramble to find tickets to the regionals on short notice, ensuring the flight will cost more than my annual hockey budget.

Sunday, the hockey team plays BC at BC in a weird 3:00 game, a game I'd like to go to but probably can't make. Later, the US plays Canada in the closest thing we'll have to an NHL All Star game this season.


Marcus

So I updated the Ice Sports Schedules on the right side of the page. My hockey team is an expected 0-3, although my idiot teammates (and I say that in the most loving way possible) decided not to show up to a game on the 14th, so we lost by forfeit, instead of the usual "give up way more goals than you score" method. My next game comes, thankfully, after an Aerodynamics test, and we'll be playing Jeff's team, so our first W might be in sight.

My broomball team, on the other hand, has no losses and two wins, something that's never happened before. I've allowed a single goal on the season, and have posted consecutive shutouts for the first time in my career. It's a weak league this year, but if we can win our next two games we'll make the playoffs for the first time.

Coming up later this semester: floor hockey.

Jack Parker must tip the refs quite well

Facebook users, there's a video here. Click on "View Original Post" to check it out.



This is a five minute major and a game misconduct if anyone on Northeastern tries it. Against BU, the refs make the call that's less likely to result in Jack Parker losing it. This is gross, gross favoritism in Hockey East.

Aside from that, the game was pretty good. I'll recap it tomorrow, most likely.

Beanpot Preview

Ah yes, the Beanpot. It's the time of year when it's so cold that it almost seems like a good idea to stay indoors and watch college hockey despite knowing the tremendous odds against any non-BU team. The only pair of games that matter to BU's fans, and the only opportunity for BC fans to really rub it in. The only chance Harvard has at regional exposure.

These are boring, boring times.

Let's start with Harvard vs BC.


Harvard Crimson - 5-11-3 (5-6-3 ECAC, 7th place)

Remember that time Harvard beat Northeastern in the opening round of the Beanpot, and almost beat BU in the final? Not going to happen this year. Harvard opens against Boston College, the only good team in this tournament this year, and is looking to get shellacked in the way that only a bunch of nerds on skates can. The Crimson have fallen victim to untimely combinations of weak goaltending from Ryan Carroll or nonexistent offense. They managed three wins in a row against Yale, Dartmouth, and Union before tying RPI and losing to Princeton. That was the only time this season they strung together wins, and was the only 2+ game non-losing streak they put together. They avoided winning from November 6th through December 28th, notching a win (just their second of the season) over Qunnipiac on the 29th.

This team is bad. Their peripheral stats aren't awful (18% PP, 79% PK), but they aren't great, and they're getting hurt in 1 goal games at 1-5. Their best player is Louis LeBlanc, with 16 points in 16 games, and their goaltending tandem has become a one-horse race with Carroll putting up substantially better numbers than Richter.

Their mascot is also a color.


Boston College Eagles - 12-8-2 (10-6-2 Hockey East, 2nd place)

BC is the only team in the tournament that has bigger fish to fry than the Beanpot this season. They've cooled down from their torrid pace to start the season, but they've got a resurgent John Muse and the power of Jesus. Actually, Muse has been fairly mediocre, but the Eagles know how to score goals. They're got the second best goals for/against ratio behind UMass Lowell, and they've scored more goals than anyone but Maine.

Their best player is Ryan Gibbons, who's posted 28 points in 23 games, but Cam Atkinson is their best scorer, with 16 goals on the season thus far. 9 of the 22 non-goalies on the roster are NHL draft picks, and they're coached by the lovable Jerry York, the perfect foil to Jack Parker's general air of asshole.

Prediction: BC wins 5-2, and it's not that close.

Boston University - 9-11-3 (7-9-2 Hockey East, 6th place)

BU was having a terrible season coming into the holiday break. Jack Paker, in his annual address to the Friends of BU Hockey, called out several of his players, including the goalie Kieran Millan, and literally mentioned "the Red Sox signed John Lackey" as one of the positives of the season. The man knows how to grind my gears. They've picked it up recently though, winning 5 of their last 7, including the most boring college hockey game ever played outdoors (a 3-2 win over BC). They're getting production from Nick Bonino (21 points in 18 games) and a cluster of players with 17-19 points in a similar number of games. Millan has a season save percentage of .881, which is Dan Cloutier territory. Even recently, the games they've been winning have been 6-4, not 2-2.

BU has time to salvage their season courtesy of some games in hand and the general partiy between teams 2-6 in Hockey East. Of course, if they win the Beanpot, which they likely will, the fans on Comm Ave will see the season as a victory overall.


Northeastern Huskies - 11-11-1 (7-10-1 Hockey East, 7th place)

If you ask me the #1 reason why the Huskies are in danger of missing the playoffs, my answer won't be goaltending. Chris Rawlings has been solid, with a SV% of .907 despite a borderline-bad 2.87 GAA. In fact, the team has allowed the third-fewest goals in Hockey East.

The problem is the offense. With the loss of IPNO favorites Ryan Ginand and Joe Vitale, the offense has produced a meager 59 goals this season, second worst in Hockey East, and has gotten obscenely lucky in one goal games, going 6-2. They've gotten mauled at Vermont 9-2* and lost a winnable game versus Lowell in Matthews Arena 6-5 in overtime. You'll notice only the single tie, something rather uncommon for Northeastern, so some points have been lost there as well.

The Huskies, when they do score goals, are doing it by committee. Kyle Kraemer and Wade MacLeod lead the team with 17 points apiece, but 7 players have 5-9 goals each. Interestingly, the Huskies have allowed only a single empty net goal this season, despite pulling the goalie in 13 games.

The last time expectations were this low for a Beanpot title on Huntington Avenue was my freshman year '05-'06 season when the Huskies entered the first Monday night with a single win to their names. They entered the second Monday having doubled their season win total, only to get shut out 5-0 by Harvard. This is Northeastern's enduring legacy in this godforsaken tournament. Winning this tournament would do a couple things: it would make this season something other than a total loss, it would get my aerodynamics class canceled on Tuesday, and it would lead to substantial amounts of Bud Light finding its way to the stomachs of several hockey players by way of my wallet.

*This was a weird game, because Rawlings got pulled for the second period, and then Mountain got pulled for the third, so Rawlings came back to sleep in the bed he made and Mountain subsequently crapped in.

Prediction: BU wins 4-1, the game is closer than the score indicates.

The championship game results in a 3-2 OT victory for the Eagles, and the Northeastern Invitational ends in an embarrassing 4-2 loss for the host team.


Other possibly Beanpot-related miscellany:

• Puck Daddy Beanpot Preview - "And it is the single worst tournament in sports. [...] So what, exactly, is so awful about it? BU wins it half the time."
• Puck Prospectus - Shot Quality - I just think these plots are cool. Lots of neat shit on that site. You'd be surprised at how closely baseball and hockey mirror each other, statistically speaking.
• The Hockey News - Lecavalier a King? Looking likely, but if they get rid of Wayne Simmonds, I'm going to have to punch someone in the stomach.

Northeastern 74, Old Dominion 64

I could talk about the game, but that's not that interesting. So instead, we're going to talk about Joel Hines.
This is Joel Hines. He is the Director of Basketball Operations for Old Dominion. He is in his second season as the DBO, and he was hired because ""He will bring good work ethic, ambition and knowledge of our setting."

All I know about Joel Hines is that he is a class act. When I was yelling at their bench with lame comments about how they were fat and losing by 15 points, some players laughed. Some ignored me. When I called their head coach Ron Jeremy, some players laughed, some ignored me. But not Joel. Joel decided I needed to be taught a lesson. That I needed to be taught the rules of fan-player interaction.

So he told me to "shut the fuck up, bitch." A few times. He pointed and yelled at me when ODU scored to get within 10. I was flattered, frankly, that I was able to help his team to a closer game by providing the motivation they so clearly needed. I advised him that perhaps they should invite me to all their games, so perhaps I could improve their record. He told me to "keep talking, bitch." His players laughed, smiled at me, and I waved back. These players were clearly out of line. They were supporting a rambunctious fan without informing him that he was being rude and/or inappropriate. They weren't defusing the situation. And all those other players, just ignoring me? Well, that's not very proactive, is it?

The world would be a terrible place without people like Joel Hines, people who understand that you should always break the fan/team barrier. People like Ron Artest. People like Glen Davis. These people understand that their interaction with fans is an important part of encouraging responsible fan behavior.

Good on Joel Hines. Even if his language is a bit rough around the edges.

In other news, the Huskies are unbeatable when they make threes, and Paws appropriately awarded Mark the fan of the game bumper sticker for putting up with my yelling and a possible Atest situation with Mr. Hines.

Hi everybody!

I'll start with this picture.

I don't typically take out my iPhone in bathrooms, but hey.

That reads, in case you can't see, "Shea Hillenbrand once stole a laptop from Snell Library." This is probably the strangest thing ever written on the wall at Conor Larkin's pub on Northeastern's campus. Although I doubt the veracity of this particular claim, there is no doubt that Hillenbrand stole millions from the Angels in 2006.

Second,

Northeastern 5, University of Massachusetts - Lowell 6 (OT)
Northeastern 1, University of Massachusetts 4

Northeastern used to be a fun team. I'm not talking about last year, when they were actually good, but the three years before that, when the team was mediocre to godawful. The games were usually pretty close, but the physicality and passion sometimes made up for the losing. The real fights at the end of games, the running of goalies, the jawing at opposing coaches...those were the things that the Huskies were good at, even as they were losing hockey games.

That's gone. It's been replaced with boring, predictable hockey and a complete lack of team cohesion. I don't place much stock in "leadership," because winning teams never have leadership problems despite (sometimes) obviously poor leadership. Intangibles are intangible because they have negligible impact as compared to injuries or player skill, so blaming a collapse on lack of leadership or lack of identity or any of that crap is poor analysis.

Teams lose because of poor execution. Whether that manifests as awful passing, stupid penalties, fanned shots, or a combination of the above and more, is irrelevant. Northeastern is not executing their game plan, and they are losing to good and bad opponents alike.

The game against UML was nearly an inspiring win, with the Huskies coming from three down to tie the game at 5-5 and send it into overtime. But a goal from former Husky recruit Mike Scheu iced the game for the Riverhawks with just over 25 seconds remaining. Chris Rawlings looked awful, but wasn't helped by a porous defense and a steady stream of turnovers directly in front of him. The team played poorly, but at least they showed up.

Tonight, of course, was a different story. With former Kings coach and current ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose* doing the color for ESPNU, the Huskies decided that they weren't even going to bother playing hockey. Let's look at shot totals:

1st period: 3
2nd period: 4
3rd period: 6
Number of players with more than one shot: 1 (Vermeersch, 3)
Number of forwards with zero shots: 4 (J. Daniels, D. Daniels, Costa, Tuckerman)

A game total of 13 shots means something has gone hideously wrong. I've been relatively easy on Cronin after his yearly improvements from my freshman year 3-win season, but if there's one thing to point to as a fault, it's his lack of ability to properly generate offense. He has admitted to being, primarily, a defensive coach, but shot totals of 13 reinforce the need to come up with a consistent offensive strategy. Every power play results in the loss of the puck before a shot, forwards routinely carry the puck into the zone only to pass it to an opponent behind the net, and Northeastern seems incapable of running the same backdoor play which so frequently nets goals for the opposition.

Something has to change.

*A Doghouse member shouted "Hey Barry, see you never!" at the end of the game. That game must have been torturous for his mullet.

Melrose (R) thinks to himself, "There is no god-damned way I do another Northeastern game."

Confidence

For those of you reading this on Facebook, there's a video. You can watch it by clicking "View Original Post" at the bottom of this note.

Northeastern 1, Rat Dogs 0


The book on Chris Rawlings so far this season has started with 6'5" and ended with "nervous." Well, he's got no reason to be nervous again.

Rawlings made 43 (!) saves in a 1-0 shutout of national champions Boston University*. This is unprecedented territory for a Northeastern goalie...Brad Thiessen made 43 saves against UNH last season and only managed a 2-2 tie. I'm not saying Rawlings is Thiessen, but this was the single most incredible goaltending display I've seen in college hockey. I've never seen the BU backdoor play get shut down, much less the 3-5 times I saw Rawls stuff a pad into the post today to deny a Terrier.

The game was also unbelievably loud, with the entire upper bowl filled past capacity. The lower bowl never looks full anymore because no students are willing to sit down there. Instead, there's 3,000 screaming kids wearing black in a balcony designed for half that number. It's awe-inspiring, and the noise after MacLeod slapped home a rebound for the game's only goal was ear-splitting and fantastic.

This is the second consecutive game in which the Huskies have had to play a man down during the last few minutes of the game. Mike Hewkin, who was injured in the first, returned in the second, and assisted on the goal in the third, took a terrible penalty for hitting from behind and forced the Huskies to kill off a penalty plus an extra attacker. This needs to stop.

All in all, a game Northeastern had no business winning. And those are always the best.


*Having to say "national champions" and BU in the same sentence makes me immediately ill.

Oh yeah, the ALCS (and some Husky hockey)

Yes, I realize I haven't talked about the ALCS at all. And there's actually a good reason for that. My goals for any team before the season are pretty clear, and generally all I ask for is improvement. When I started watching in earnest at the beginning of '06, I wanted to learn about baseball, and results were mostly unimportant. In '07, I wanted to see them reach the playoffs. In '08, I wanted them to reach the ALCS. Following that schedule, this would have been the year I wanted them to win the World Series*.

But after the Angels lost last season, they fell off schedule, and all I wanted to see this season was a trip to the ALCS. Beating the Red Sox was a relatively major footnote after the complex the Angels developed over the last four playoff series, but getting to the Championship series was a big step, both from a baseball perspective and a mental perspective.

But Marcus, shouldn't you want your team to win the title every year, and don't you think settling for anything less is a sign of poor fandom?

Well, yes and no. I'd love to see the Angels bring home that trophy every season, but I'm not greedy and I'm not an idiot. Some fans will never see a World Series title in their lifetime, and I've been fortunate enough to see one of my teams win a title in my first few years of avid sports interest. I would absolutely love to crush the Yankees and roll through the NL champions in 4 games to bring a parade back to Disneyland. I would love to see Vlad's hall of fame status secured, John Lackey decide to give a hometown discount to a team that brought him two titles, and force Red Sox fans to acknowledge that the Angels are the decided team of the decade.

But I don't think that's the only way to measure success. Every time I watch the Royals, I feel for those fans. And frankly, there's no shame in a playoff system in which the best team wins, and that team is the Yankees.

With all that said, the Angels can beat the Yankees. AJ Burnett has been two pitchers this season, and if Bad AJ shows up, the Yankees are vulnerable. Andy Pettite has been solid this season, but the Angels have seen him more than they've seen Sabathia or Burnett, so that experience might play into their favor. The biggest problem might come down to weather, because the rain is likely going to cancel the game tonight, and New York is trying to run a three-man rotation. That's easy when you have 15 off days during a 7 game series.

No more off days in the playoffs. Imagine how much more relevant it is to have to pitch your guys on 3 days rest or use a real rotation, the rotation that got you to the playoffs in the first place.

Finally, it's been said many times before, but the Angels have played the Yankees twice before, beaten them twice before, and lost the first game in each of those series' both times.

*Frankly, once any team from the AL makes it out of the AL, they really should be beating whoever comes out of the NL. Obviously it hasn't worked that way in recent years ('06, '08), but with the AL's huge edge in interleague play and, by most accounts, overall talent, the Angels need to win the World Series should they get there. All apologies to Cardinals and Phillies fans, of course.


Northeastern 3, Bentley 2

First of all, Matthews Arena has never had as many students in attendance as it did last night. Although the game was pretty boring and the crowd noise died out a little towards the end of the game, the first five minutes were the loudest I've ever heard the place. I got to the Arena an hour early and still had to sit on the opposite side of the rink because the entire balcony was full an hour before game time.

The game itself was relatively morning, but it included some things never before seen at Matthews: Disallowed goals courtesy of instant replay.

It was weird, actually, and terrible luck for the Falcons, who had two goals waved off and a third also under review which stood. Supposedly, both disallowed goals were kicked into the net, but the replays they show on the video board don't include the above-net camera which typically shows the best information. The goal they allowed to stand looked like it was scored on a deflection off a high stick, but the Bentley parents in attendance looked like they were about ready to jump over the glass already anyway.

Northeastern pretty much dominated play, but it wasn't a pretty win by any means. Chris Rawlings still looks so nervous in the crease, and I think that's where Husky fans have been spoiled by Brad Thiessen. The first time any of us saw Thiessen in Matthews, we were all shocked to see a goalie who wasn't in a state of constant emotional flux. He was calm, in control, and while he wouldn't make the extraordinary saves he became known for in his last season, he exuded an air of confidence that calmed the defense and the fans. I was telling Mark that in every game of hockey, I cringe a little bit on every shot taken. Thiessen was the only goalie who I could watch without getting that little cringe on every shot, and that's the part of his game I miss most.

Of course, Rawlings and Thiessen put up nearly identical numbers in the BCHL, so you'd think they'd have similar numbers in Hockey East. His only real hurdle is the mental side of the game, but I'm hoping he gets that squared away as he gets a few more games under his belt.

Husky miscellany:

• The ice crew at Matthews is awful. At the start of the second and third periods, there were large amounts of standing water on the ice because they didn't finish their Zamboni runs until less than two minutes remained before the start of the period. Use cold water, or clean the ice sooner, because goalies are going to start getting stuck to the crease and pucks will start hitting puddles and stopping.
  
• I don't really understand why the instant replays have to be so crappy. We have cameras in the goals and above the goals, but the only angle they show is some feed with Mr. Shaky Hands at the camera and angled obliquely from behind the glass. You can't ever see the puck.
• The building has major echo issues, and that's good for fans. It's not good for long discussions and interviews on the video board. Add subtitles or put speakers directly above the fans.
• Steve Quailer is done for the season, and possibly his NU career, after having ACL surgery earlier this week.
• Brad Thiessen may get his first professional start of his career tonight with the WBS Penguins. John Curry made 38 saves in a 6-3 win last night, so they might want to get Brad in there tonight. Joe Vitale is still with the team, of course, and Louis Liotti and Dennis McCauley both made their starts for the Worcester Sharks, with both picking up some time in the box.
  

Hockey

Huskies 7, St. Thomas 5

You know, I expected something sorta like this game. Probably not 7-5, but maybe, like, 4-3? Close, but with terrible goaltending...it was the first real game situation for many Huskies, particularly on the defensive end.

At the same time, I was really hoping to see something like 6-0, with good defense and solid netminding. Of course, when Binnington skated out onto the ice to start, I had the distinct feeling that I was going to be seeing a lot of pucks making their way through the five-hole to the back of the net.

You can get a game recap over at GoNU, so I'll just provide some observations:

• Mike Hewkin, someone whose job I was convinced was in danger of being lost, looked terrible out there. He had some really, really bad defensive zone turnovers that led directly to St. Thomas goals. He can't run the power play. I don't know why he skated over Strathman or Maley, but I have to imagine he won't during Hockey East play.
• I thought Jake Newton did a great job on the power play. He saved a couple of errant passes from heading into the neutral zone and had a couple nifty passes to the side boards to open up some space in the middle.
• Robbie Vrolyk looked great, as did Drew Daniels and Spellcheck. All three of these guys look like they're ready to contribute to the offense now, and that's huge, particularly considering the doubt surrounding the goalies.
• It wasn't until I watched Student, wearing #12, skate towards a player without obliterating him into the boards that I truly missed McCauley, Vitale, and Ginand, among the other graduates.
  
• Mike Binnington is not a Division 1 goalie. Nor has he ever been. He looked shaky, and all of his movements were twitchy and insecure. He allowed 3 goals on 7 shots, two of which were so unbelievably soft that I wasn't even looking at the goal, figuring there was no way the puck was i nthe back of the net. I'd be shocked if he plays again. He's just too nervous.
• Chris Rawlings is huge. I mean really, really big. He does look quite a bit like Ben Bishop out there, and someone in front of me claimed he looked over the players "like Zeus," which I thought was a pretty apt description. His size lets him look over, not around, a lot of players, and that makes him an interesting prospect. Unfortunately, his lateral movement last night was awful. Modern goalies have this thing where they like to drop into the butterfly on every shot, and that's okay, but only if you get up quickly after a shot misses. Rawls kept going into the half butterfly at the post when play was behind him, but apparently couldn't see the puck, because he wouldn't get up and move to the other post anywhere near quickly enough. He gave up two goals on nine shots, although the first goal wasn't his fault. A defenseman was literally standing in the slot, on the wrong side of the forward he was defending, and watched as a pass from the corner met his stick and got banged home behind a helpless goalie. The second goal was soft, coming in short side along the post while Rawlings was cinched up. Despite the nifty instant replay Matthews now offers, I couldn't really tell how the puck got in. He did improve as the game went along, though, so I'm going to chalk up the performance to nerves and coming in mid-period.
  
• St. Thomas, for those of you who don't know, is a Canadian school. As such, the players aren't bound by NCAA rules, so they don't have to wear cages on their helmets. They also don't have fighting restrictions. So they spent the entire third period gooning it up, starting fights they knew the Huskies couldn't fight back. A damn disgrace, and it's the last time St. Thomas plays in Matthews Arena. I'm sorta surprised Cronin didn't punch the opposing coach in the face during the customary post-game handshake.
  
• Quailer got hit in the act of shooting near the end of the third and injured his knee. He was on the ice for a few minutes before being helped up and skating off the ice. If he's hurt, I will personally find the St. Thomas goon who did it and end his playing career by forcing him to watch D3: The Mighty Ducks until he gouges out his eyes.

It was what it was, and I'll feel better if Rawlings or Mountain starts next weekend against Colorado College and plays well enough to earn a win.

I'll cover the Kings in a few minutes. I've gotta head home to catch some football first.

Ice Sports and Baseball

Angels

I've missed the last few games, but what I haven't missed is a disturbing downward trend from Kendry Morales. Kendry, who at one point led the team in batting average at over .310, is now batting .298. OPSing a Superman-like .930+, he's now down to .895.

Yeah, those numbers are still pretty good.

But at the same time, Kendry's been racking up strikeouts and seems to be having more 0-4 and 0-5 nights than at any other point in the season. Last night, he managed to go 1-5 with a double and 4 K's, Brandon Wood territory. Supposedly, he'll be getting some time off, and that might not be a bad thing, although I don't think young players benefit from benching quite as much as veterans. Much like Mike Napoli's whole season was derailed by lack of playing time, I'm nervous when Morales is on the bench.

The playoffs cometh. We'll see.


Northeastern Huskies Ice Hockey

Read the preview, if you haven't yet. The roster has been posted over at GoNU with surprise addition Steve Morra. Morra will be wearing #12, and thus needs to routinely hit opposing forwards with sufficient force as to break the glass.

Again, we'll see.


Marcus's Ice Sports

So I'll be suiting up for two sports this winter, broomball and ice hockey. As far as broomball, it'll be the usual suspects, with Jeff centering the top line and Mark providing energy and a scoring touch. Ill be in net, except this year I'll have played a reasonable amount of hockey before my first game, so I expect very few mistakes and a playoff run. Anything less is unacceptable.

Hockey, on the other hand, is a different story. Here are my goals for each game this semester:

• One glove save.
• One blocker save.
• One save on a closed five-hole.
• One stick save.
• One pad save.

And, at some point over the five game schedule:

• One breakaway save.
• One poke check.
• One outlet pass.
• One complete game. (games get mercy-ruled with a 10-goal deficit at any point in the third)
  

My team consists of Jeff and a bunch of people I don't know. I have skated with one of the others, the appropriately named Cam, and beyond that, it'll be an experience. Winning a game is probably out of the question unless Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson are playing the blue line in front of me, but the team has the potential to score lots of goals.

Schedules are on the right side of the blog...all games are at Matthews Arena, and I'd really like it if you guys could make it out to one.

Northeastern Men's Ice Hockey Season Preview

No, I have not gotten over the blown calls last night. And I won't until I get everyone who thinks that pitch to Green wasn't a strike to agree that it was, indeed, a strike.

Moving on...

In Play, No Outs 2009/2010 Northeastern University Men's Ice Hockey Season Preview

Returning Players

As always, the basis for the success of any collegiate team is the improvement from year to year of players. Since hiring Greg Cronin for the '05/'06 season, all the remnants of Bruce Crowder's regime have been wiped away and replaced, generally to great positive effect. As this is the first true year of Cronin-only players, this will be the defining moment of Cronin's Northeastern career to this point. While I, and many others, already recognize his worth and believe the school needs to offer him a contract extension immediately, this will be his opportunity to show why he might be the Jack Parker of NU.

Goalies

As far as goalies, you can wipe the slate clean. Brad Thiessen won a Stanley Cup and will be playing in the AHL. Mike Binnington has no cartilage left in his hips, and I'd be surprised if he dressed for another game during his stay at NU. Ryan Mula has left Northeastern. We'll talk about Husky goalie recruits shortly.

Offense

The offense brings back some useful players. Gone are top goal-scorer Ryan Ginand, captain Joe Vitale, surprise season Rob Rassey, and goon/awesome guy Dennis McCauley. The Huskies will rely on '08 points leader Wade MacLeod, now a junior, and new captain Tyler McNeeely, also a junior, for top-tier scoring. Both players have shown remarkably upside and didn't have the expected enormous sophomore slump.

Greg Costa and new captain Chris Donovan need to replicate and advance their last-season stats, particularly with respect to goal scoring, and I suspect one or both will see time both on the penalty kill and the power play. Neither player has the physical characteristics of a dominant college player, but both have exhibited the most hustle of anyone on the team, particularly in late-game situations. Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning.

Randy Guzior moves into Dennis McCauley's slot as the team's most physical presence. If he can provide some offense while staying out of the box, he is a 10-goal potential player. We saw it in '07/'08, and we'll see it again if he proves his worth in the preseason and stays out of the box. Steve Silva, also a physical presence, might want to be a little less physical. A great center, by all accounts, but spent far too much time in the training room last season with a variety of ailments. And unlike badass McNeely, he is unlikely to play games at full speed with a broken hand.

Kyle Kraemer, Matt Lipinski, Matt Quigley, and Dylan Wiwchar are unknowns. I wouldn't be shocked if Kraemer didn't see the ice, and I'd be shocked if Wiwchar did. The others are sophomores with between 0 and 5 games played.

Sophomores Mike McLaughlin, Steve Quailer, and Alex Tuckerman are probably the most important returning players on offense. They are also the biggest question marks. All three had stellar freshman seasons, Quailer in particular, and all need to avoid the sophomore slump so typically seen in the NCAA. Quailer has the potential to have a good enough season where he's able to play professionally immediately afterward. If he has a 40 point season, which is not out of the question, it is possible he will have played his last season for the Huskies.

Defense

The defense will be an interesting case study in freshmen. Gone are the Huskies' best defensemen in Louis Liotti and Denis Chisolm. Nonfactors Jacques Perrault, and Andrew Linard have also exhausted their NCAA eligibility. Dan Nycholat has left Northeastern, an expected move for someone whose ice time decreased dramatically following an embarrassing performance at the Beanpot against Boston University.

That leaves a gaping hole for returning players and recruits, with the total number of remaining d-men being 5. This means we will see at least one freshman, likely 2 or 3, playing at the blue line this season.

David Strathman and Jim Driscoll enter as the grizzled veterans of the defensive corps, with Strathman being the biggest power play threat for the Huskies, and Driscoll being the stalwart on defense. Both will have jobs, and both will likely play on the top line, with Driscoll seeing plenty of time on the PK and Strathman quarterbacking the power play.

With any luck, we'll see Drew Muench for the first time since the '07/'08 season. Out with chronic back ailments, he was spotted playing golf at the Friends of NU Hockey golf tournament. If you can swing a club, you damn well better be able to play defense for 20 minutes a night. As far as I'm concerned, Muench was the best defenseman on the ice during his freshman year, but who knows if he'll be back, and at what level of effectiveness.

That leaves Mike Hewkin and IPNO-sponsored JP Maley. Hewkin is not my ideal defenseman, as he lacks both a scoring touch and strong defensive instincts. He's on my "most-likely-to-get-cut" list, but Cronin seems to like him, so it's possible he'll beat out the freshmen to keep his roster spot. Maley brings speed back to the #8 jersey (Esner, anyone?), and seemed to improve dramatically after earning his spot last season. If he keeps up his late season play, he's likely to move to the second line.


Incoming Recruits

Goalies

Two goalie recruits enter Matthews Arena this year, and both of them have great goalie names: Chris Rawlings and Bryan Mountain. Rawlings put up numbers remarkably similar to a previous BCHL-turned-Husky, Brad Thiessen. He is the likely #1 goaltender, and despite the many other areas of doubt for the Huskies, none will have the impact of Rawlings' play. If he can put together a Thiessen/Millan/Muse freshman season, he has the potential to lead the Huskies back to home-ice in the playoffs. Less, and it seems unlikely that Northeastern places top-4 in Hockey East. Oh yeah, he's 6'5".

Mountain brings solid stats as well, albeit from the weaker MJHL. The backup sport is likely his barring some sort of miraculous play from a third, unknown goalie, but he has the chance to take the starting spot away from Rawlings. The ice was laid in Matthews two days ago...hey Bryan, the Time is Now.

Offense

If you're looking for in-depth analysis on these guys, I can't provide it. I can tell you that the Huskies will have the Daniels brothers, Drew and Justin, both NHL draft picks. Justin, like Quailer, was a third round pick, and his brother went in the seventh. That's a pretty good example of their relative talents, although I believe drew is a touch better defensively. Playing them on different lines would be criminal...and likely also convenient for the broadcasting crew.

The other two recruits on offense are Robbie Vrolyk and Garrett "Spellcheck!" Vermeersch. Again, imagine putting them on the same line. Vermeersch is a beast on the power play, while Vrolyk put up more consistent numbers. Vrolyk's also going to be wearing #91, which should be a nice compliment to McNeely's 94. There's no superstition like jersey number superstition.

Defense

The latest addition to the recruit list was Drew Ellement, a power play specialist from the MJHL. He was a relatively unheralded prospect until he parlayed a ridiculous 17G 5A stat line playoffs. For reference, his line was 13G 28A over 63 regular season games. That, sir, is Clutch City, or possible Gary Matthews Junior Career Year City. We'll know soon.

Chris Student will adopt Ryan Ginand's #3 while providing a stay-at-home look for the defense. He's by far the best defensive prospect with a +28 in his last season in the USHL. I think a good comp is Louis Liotti, which frankly would be fantastic. Finally, we've got Jake Newton, all the way from San Jacinto, California, as the final freshman d-man. He had a nice +/- and reasonable offensive numbers.

There is nothing preventing any of these freshmen from playing right away. I'd suspect many of them will sit and learn through most of the season, but I fully expect to see several of them hit the ice on October 3rd, opening night at Matthews.

I'll talk about scheduling and the rest of Hockey East sometime this week.

Dennis McCauley

Please make the team, Dennis.

Inside Matthews Arena

I grabbed a few seconds of video, for those of you eagerly anticipating Husky hockey and basketball in a couple months.



You'll notice that the DogHouse is now black bench seating. The red plastic seats are "standard" season tickets, and the red/black seats are "premium." My section, 49, falls into this premium section, but damned if I'm sitting anywhere else.

The center-ice video scoreboard looks beautiful. Just beautiful.

I'll be writing about hockey soon.

Pens (and Thiessen) win the Cup

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and congrats to former Husky goalie Brad Thiessen for getting the chance to lift the Cup during his first taste of the NHL. He got the Cup from Crosby...look at the jersey in the background. Weird seeing him out of red and black.

Nolan Silva

Angels 2, Seattle 3 (10 innings)

Say what you will about the late-inning theatrics of Scot Shields, the game should never have made it to extras: The one-pitch swinging out has returned.

I've illustrated that making an out on the first pitch you see is a very stupid idea. However, making two outs on the first pitch you see by grounding into a double play, particularly late in the game, should get you benched. The Angels decided to stop trying to play offense and instead wilted under the blazing 89 mph fastball of Carlos Silva. They are batting well below .100 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs on the season, particularly frightening when their organizational philosophy stresses RISP2 hitting.

Last night's goats? Howie Kendrick (0-3, 5 LOB), Kendry Morales (0-4, 3 LOB), and Mike Napoli (0-5). You'll see this result from Mike as a consequence of his swing, a swing that sometimes provides multi-homer games. But Kendrick and Morales both need to produce, particularly as they're not at the bottom of the lineup. But my personal choice for the "needs to sort out his approach at the plate" award goes to Vlad Guerrero, who managed to go 0-4 from the cleanup spot, including a pivtoal GIDP in the 10th inning.

The Angels will go through portions of the season with the offense looking a lot like this. If they can hover around .500 through these cold stretches, they'll be fine.


Miscellaneous:

• Beckett gets a 6-game suspension and umpire Joe "Dumbass" West pretty much gets called out. This is "right." Josh Beckett whines like the little bitch he is. This is "wrong." Josh, here's what you should've done. You should have stayed on the mound, said "Sorry, buddy," to Abreu, finished the inning, and complained to the umpire after getting three outs. The second you started walking towards the batters box, you gave up any right to be pissed off with a suspension. It's a good thing character doesn't count in the Red Sox organization or you'd be pitching for Pawtucket.
  
• By the way, it's hard to tell the difference between the Red Sox and Yankees away uniforms. Well done, Theo. You've given the Red Sox navy socks.
  
• The Lakers mauled the Jazz last night, and will have the opportunity to do so again as Uah gets the #8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The first game is at Staples on Sunday, unless the NBA screws with the playoff schedule.
  
• Joe Vitale's got a pair of goals and a pair of assists to his professional name already. Thiessen suited up as the backup goalie for the baby Pens earlier this week, as well.
  

Opening Day and #39

Series Preview: Angels vs. Oakland, 4/6-4/9

After a seemingly endless offseason and an interminably long spring training, the Angels start playing games that count tonight at 6:05 Pacific. With the rotation in shambles, Joe Saunders gets the opening night start versus Oakland's Dallas Braden. If you though the Angels had rotation issues, just look at the A's.

The first couple weeks of the season will hinge on two things: The ability of the Loux/Adenhart/Moseley complex to somehow pitch reliably, and the offense's ability to pretend it's still spring training.

I'm curious as to who earns catching duties for this game, as Napoli provides all sorts of upside, but Mathis hasn't just come off the DL. If Napoli can stay in the lineup consistently, we might see 30+ homers from the catching platoon, an infrequent (if not unheard-of) occurrence in Angels history.

We'll see Moseley and Loux before Weaver gets the final game of the series on Thursday. The Angels will be playing the Red Sox next, a hell of a team for 22 year-old Adenhart to make his first start of the season.

More analysis pending the outcome of tonight's game, as I'm enormously bored with preseason prognostication.


Northeastern Huskies

We'll miss you, buddy.

Brad Thiessen, junior journalism major and owner of most of Northeastern's goalie records, has signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the next two seasons, as previously reported. He'll be playing with Joe Vitale with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, lovingly known as the "Baby Pens."

Thiessen, now wearing #1, will look for playing time behind former BU sieve John Curry and former Denver sieve Adam Berkhoel. Berkhoel's something of an AHL journeyman and Curry is likely to be backing up Marc-Andre Fleury with the Big Pens next season, so Thiessen will likely see substantial ice time in the AHL, with a possible call-up next season. It seems more likely we'll see him wearing a backwards cap on the bench in Pittsburgh two seasons from now. Vitale (now wearing #18) should make it up there right around the same time, as he has a real shot at being a 3rd or 4th line center with scoring touch and a physical presence. If one or both make the team, I'm going to have to buy another stupid jersey, this time for a team I don't even really like. Too bad they didn't sign with the Kings.

Thiessen leaves as, arguably, Northeastern greatest goalie, and the primary reason this team rose to national prominence after a truly awful 3-win season in 2005/2006. Without Thiessen, Greg Cronin doesn't win HEA coach of the year and we never see players like McNeely, MacLeod, Quailer, and Tuckerman. It's difficult to understate the immense impact he's had on the program, but suggestions that the team will return to utter futility are overblown. With that said, Thiessen makes Northeastern a definite national title contender next year, while they will probably be fighting for home-ice instead. A shame, but hey, the kid probably got a signing bonus approaching $100,000 and earns a minimum of $825,000/year if he manages to make it into the NHL.

Not bad for a farm boy from western Canada. Best of luck, Thiess.

God Dammit

Fuck. Let's hope this Rawlings kid is good.

Northeastern Report Card

As a little of the sting from the Cornell/Lowell games wears off, it's time to look at the players' performances. Seniors are at the top, then the rest of the players. If a player logged few to no minutes this season, or if I don't remember his play, he's listed in the incomplete section at the bottom.

Seniors:

#3 Ryan Ginand - 20-12-32 - [A-] Ginand has been a productive player throughout his tenure at Northeastern. His willingness to shoot was unmatched, and this enthusiasm for goal-scoring was particularly apparent this season, as he led the team in goals with 20. Something of a liability defensively, Ginand was nevertheless an extremely important player for the Huskies this season, picking up a lot of the scoring lost from Russo and helping recover points Vitale had provided in the past. Ginand picks up an A- only because he faded down the stretch, with most of his scoring coming earlier in the season. He finishes his career as a second-team All-Star.

#5 - A - Louis Liotti - 4-9-13 - +11 - [A] Liotti, often called the ironman of the Huskies, played 146 games in red and black. His career plus/minus rating is +16, indicative of his stalwart presence on the Husky blue line and capable play on the offensive end. Although never an offensive weapon, he did score the first NCAA tournament goal for the Huskies since 1994 and generally improved the play of the defensemen he played with. Liotti's production on the defensive end will be difficult to replace. He was named Hockey East's best defensive defenseman.

#12 - A - Dennis McCauley - 6-5-11 - [C+] Dennis never really reached his potential, and it's hard to tell why. He owns an incredibly heavy slapshot, but never developed the extra speed gear of his fellow classmates, and his offensive production suffered as a result. However, his energy and defense of his teammates on the ice was respected around the league, but not by the officials, who had McCauley in the box 103 times for 266 minutes in his career. McCauley realized his role as a senior and had his best season since his freshman year while putting up the fewest PIM's (49) of his career.

#24 - A - Denis Chisholm - 1-4-5 - +2 - [B+] Denis scored only 4 goals in his career as a Husky, but 3 of those goals were game-winners. Decidedly a stay-at-home defenseman, Chisholm provided stability on the blue line while contributing his share of clutch goals. His name is clearly spelled wrong, but he's Canadian, so there's not a lot you can do. Also gets extra credit for majoring in mechanical engineering.

#26 - C - Joe Vitale - 7-20-27 - [A-] Joe had a monster junior year, throwing his very good senior stats into a little doubt. However, it's important to note that Vitale has been Northeastern's best player since his freshman year and typically earned the strongest defensive player from the opponents. While his scoring was down this year, he managed to become a defensive wizard, particularly on the penalty kill, posting a +7 plus/minus, the highest of his career. He earned Hockey East Best Defensive Forward honors, but still chipped in 27 points, good for third on the team. Vitale's speed, puckhandling, and leadership will be sorely missed, but he is likely to spend some time with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in the near future.

#37 Rob Rassey - 8-4-12 - [A] Frankly, nobody expected Rassey to do much of anything this season. He responded by scoring more goals (8) than he had in his previous three years combined (5). He made the most of his shot attempts with a .276 shooting percentage, easily the highest of his career, and provided critical offense to help lost production while scoring two gamewinning goals.


Underclassmen:

#4 Jim Driscoll - 1-5-6 - +14 - [B] The most stay-at-home of the many stay-at-home Husky defensemen, Driscoll earned a plus/minus rating of +14, easily eclipsing his career high of +2. His frank inability to hit an open net turned a likely win into a tie at UNH, but his steady defensive presence typically made up for his lack of offensive prowess. He makes good decisions when moving the puck out of the zone and is a good penalty killer. His true test comes next season as the most seasoned defenseman on the team...he must be able to provide stability and leadership.

#6 David Strathman - 2-17-19 - +7 - [B+] Easily the most effective offensive weapon on the Husky blue line, Strathman racked up assists by willingly shooting the puck on the power play, one of the few Huskies to buy into the "assists via rebound are still assists" philosophy. More prone to defensive lapses than the other d-men, Strathman's puck movement on the power play was typically the best of the defensemen, somewhat covering up his moderate liability on the defensive end. He picked up his first positive plus/minus of his career with a +7 this season.

#8 JP Maley - 1-3-4 - +4 - [B] Maley played in only 20 games, but was far more visible than Dan Nycholat, the player he seemingly replaced in the lineup. Much like the last player to wear #8 in Bryan Esner, Maley is a fast, small player. He, like most freshmen, is prone to errors in the defensive zone and will need to improve his puckhandling and decision making to maintain his status in the starting lineup. However, he improved throughout the season, posting a respectable +4 rating. His lack of size must be mitigated by an extremely effective forecheck or, perhaps, a touch of offense.

#10 Steve Quailer - 10-15-25 - [A] Quailer is the most exciting player to take the ice since Joe Vitale, and stands a real chance at becoming a dominant offensive force in Hockey East. His speed, puckhandling, and quick, accurate shot place him in the upper echelon of HEA forwards. When he uses his extra gear, something he struggled with early on, he has lethal offensive weapons and his size makes him particularly useful along the boards and in front of the net. I won't be surprised when he gets called to the pros before his senior year concludes. The only things separating Quailer from guaranteed dominance is about 15 pounds and the proper mindset.

#13 Randy Guzior - 2-3-5 - [C-] A disappointing junior season for Guzior, who lost playing time thanks to poor production. After scoring 16 points as a sophomore, his junior year netted only 5 points and 14 fewer games. With Dennis McCauley graduating, he'll likely become a fourth-line forward to bring energy and a scoring touch, even if that scoring touch seems to have escaped his skillset this season. His game-tying goal with 25.8 seconds remaining against Boston College in the penultimate Hockey East game saved his season.

#16 Kyle Kraemer - 2-6-8 - [C+] After an awful sophomore year followed an exellent freshman year, Kraemer chose the middle ground during his junior campaign. His scoring reflected his greatly reduced playing time, but his late-season heroics (both goals were playoff goals) seems to prove his worthiness to the coaching staff. He will have to fight for playing time next year, but has the talent to make the starting lineup with some offseason work.

#17 Steve Silva - 4-16-20 - [B-] Silva brings a lot of value to the team, but his injury frequency has moved from irritating to alarming. When on the ice, he is a skilled passer and provides scoring and stability from the center position. However, he seemed less visible on the ice this season for reasons I can't really explain, and he needs to learn discipline on the ice to keep his team off the penalty kill. If this season was his peak, it will be extremely disappointing, but he has the talent to jump to the next level.

#18 Mike McLaughlin - 6-5-11 - [B+] I'm pretty excited about seeing McLaughlin for an entire season. He's got offensive skills and a hard, accurate shot. He's a poor forechecker, but if he can improve defensively, will be one of the better two-way players on the team.

#19 Wade MacLeod - 14-21-35 - [A] If this was Wade's sophomore slump, his junior year should be epic. MacLeod is highly effective on the power play and capable of taking over a game offensively. His injury during the Cornell game did nothing but hurt the Huskies. The team's leading scorer with 35 points, MacLeod produces regardless of his linemates, and will be the team's top forward next season. If only he would wear his equipment properly.

#22 Greg Costa - 8-8-16 - [B+] Costa is one of those pesky short guys who somehow outhustles everybody else on the ice, earning his points in the most blue-collar of ways. Paired with Donovan, Costa provides a serious spark on the third line, often energizing the team with surprisingly big hits and a surprisingly accurate shot. He scored more goals this season (8) than in his first two years combined (6).

#23 Chris Donovan - 8-11-19 - [A-] Call me crazy, but I think one of the biggest reasons for this team's marked improvement over last year was Chris Donovan. Much like Costa, he's too small to be good, and yet, there he is with 19 points, more than his first two years combined (14). Donovan is not a sniper, and he sometimes fools himself into believing he is, but when he plays hard along the boards, makes some big hits, and scrambles for rebounds, he can be Northeastern's best player.

#27 Alex Tuckerman - 8-14-22 - [A] There's a reason Tuckerman played 40 games as a freshman: He's really good. Probably the most effective physical presence the Huskies have, he provided a great, accurate shot with power play prowess (alliteration!) and countless highlight-reel hits. Likely due to regress a bit his sophomore season, he has the talent to avoid serious decline and become another huge offensive weapon for the Huskies. His defense leaves something to be desired.

#28 Mike Hewkin - 1-6-7 - 0 - [C] Hewkin never looks as confident behind his own net as you would really want. He has a hard shot, but never seems to get the puck on net. He's an average defensive d-man and a below-average offensive threat. He must be doing something right, though, as he played 37 games this season. Very average, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

#39 Brad Thiessen - .931 - 2.12 - [A-] I know what you're saying. A minus? For a guy whose number is already in the rafters at Matthews? For a guy who probably stole 5 games for the Huskies this season? For Northeastern's first legitimate Hobey Baker prospect in years? Well, yes, and I've detailed why before. Thiessen is quickly turning into the best goalie Northeastern has ever had, and his fundamentally sound play and frequent brilliant stops on breakaways and scrums is nothing short of pro-worthy. But until he carries the team to a major victory (Beanpot final, HE final, NCAA tourney), he will not have earned the plus next to his grade that he probably deserves. It's not really fair, but hey, neither is life. I'll be extremely annoyed if he leaves before he wins one of those big games, but he's got the talent to succeed at the next level.

#94 - A - Tyler McNeely - 8-12-20 - [B+] Slowed by injuries this year, Tyler played through most of them and still made a significant contribution on both ends of the ice. He brings physicality and scoring touch to any line, and this versatility is likely what earned him the A on his jersey. He combines with MacLeod to form one of the most dynamic pairs of forwards in the league. If he avoids injury next season, he will be one of NU's best players.


Incomplete:

#2 Andrew Linard

#7 Dan Nycholat - Played in more games than Maley without me remembering him. That can't be good.

#9 Jacques Perreault - Big, but never really learned how to use his size. Didn't play this season.

#15 Matt Quigley

#29 Matt Lipinski

#30 Mike Binnington - Probably hopes Thiessen leaves.

#31 Ryan Mula - Still has solid red pads and a white mask. Probably hopes Binnington leaves.

#32 Dylan Wiwchar

#33 Mike Decosta - Probably hopes Mula leaves.

Class average: 3.22 (B+)