Northeastern Releases 2011-12 schedule

With the good news piling up of late for Northeastern - Jamie Oleksiak confirming that he plans to return to Boston next year, regardless of where he's drafted later this month, Greg Cronin not leaving, Vinny Saponari coming on board and bringing former Dubuque Fighting Saints teammate John Gaudreau with him, providing the offensive spark an already defensively-sound team desperately needs to compete in Hockey East - the Huskies have released their 2011-12 schedule, which features a Black Friday date at Michigan and two at Notre Dame the following weekend.

The Huskies start their conference schedule much the way that they ended it last year - with a challenge. Seven of their first 10 conference games are against fellow Hockey East quarterfinalists in, as the Huskies will face off  with UMass, UNH, Maine, Merrimack and Boston College to begin their season.

For the complete Northeastern schedule, please see below. It can also be viewed online here.

DATE	OPPONENT	LOCATION	TIMES/RESULTS
10/2/2011	ST. FRANCIS XAVIER (scrimmage)	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
10/7/2011	MASSACHUSETTS	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
10/14/2011	NEW HAMPSHIRE	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
10/16/2011	at Maine	Orono, Maine	7 p.m.
10/21/2011	at Merrimack	North Andover, Mass.	7 p.m.
10/22/2011	BOSTON COLLEGE	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
10/29/2011	at New Hampshire	Durham, N.H.	7 p.m.
11/4/2011	at Merrimack	North Andover, Mass.	7 p.m.
11/5/2011	MERRIMACK	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
11/11/2011	at Boston College	Chestnut Hill, Mass.	7 p.m.
11/12/2011	at Massachusetts	Amherst, Mass.	7 p.m.
11/18/2011	PROVIDENCE	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
11/19/2011	VERMONT	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
11/25/2011	at Michigan	Ann Arbor, Mich.	7 p.m.
12/2/2011	at Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	7 p.m.
12/3/2011	at Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	7 p.m.
12/10/2011	UMASS LOWELL	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
12/30/2011	vs Minnesota / Princeton / Niagara	Minneapolis, Minn.	TBA
12/31/2011	vs Minnesota / Princeton / Niagara	Minneapolis, Minn.	TBA
1/7/2012	UNDER-18 U.S. NATIONAL TEAM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (scrimmage)	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
1/13/2012	BOSTON UNIVERSITY	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
1/14/2012	at Boston College	Chestnut Hill, Mass.	7 p.m.
1/20/2012	at UMass Lowell	Lowell, Mass.	7 p.m.
1/21/2012	UMASS LOWELL	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
1/27/2012	at Vermont	Burlington, Vt.	7 p.m.
1/28/2012	at Vermont	Burlington, Vt.	7 p.m.
2/3/2012	MASSACHUSETTS	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
2/6/2012	vs Boston College	TD Garden	TBA
2/10/2012	at New Hampshire	Durham, N.H.	7 p.m.
2/13/2012	vs Boston University / Harvard	TD Garden	TBA
2/17/2012	PROVIDENCE	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
2/18/2012	at Providence	Providence, R.I.	7 p.m.
2/24/2012	MAINE	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
2/25/2012	MAINE	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.
3/2/2012	at Boston University	Boston, Mass.	7 p.m.
3/3/2012	BOSTON UNIVERSITY	Matthews Arena	7 p.m.

Comings and Goings: Northeastern rumored to add Saponari, lose Cronin

In a surprisingly busy off-season evening, Northeastern has added Atlanta Thrashers' prospect and former BU forward Vinny Saponari to its roster, but is also losing head coach Greg Cronin to the professional ranks, according to a report in the Fargo-Moorhead (ND) Forum.

It's been an interesting few months for Cronin, who was suspended by the school for recruiting violations involving text messaging for the final three weeks of the regular season, but was reinstated in time for the Huskies' run to the Hockey East semi-finals.

Cronin - perhaps bolstered by a possible deal elsewhere - was very vocal about his thoughts on first-year player Brodie Reid's leaving school early to sign a two-way deal with the San Jose Sharks earlier this week.

Cronin, who took over as coach at Northeastern in 2005, is 73-88-21 at Northeastern, and 93-101-23 as a collegiate head coach, going 20-13-2 as interim head coach at Maine from 1995-7. He spent two years as head coach of the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers from 2003-5, going 88-61-16-5.

Hockey East Playoffs: Quarterfinals Picks

Boston College over UMass in two games

You don’t need to know much about this series. Simply look at the history; BC swept UMass this year. BC’s won two of the last three national titles. BC swept UNH last weekend. Boston College has won eight of its last ten games, 11 of its last 13 and 18 of 22. UMass, meanwhile, hasn’t won in twelve games. They’ve earned three out of a possible 24 points.
Sure, two of BC’s wins over UMass this year were by two goals, but that’s not nearly encouragement enough to think that the Minutemen could steal a game in this series. BC has their eyes on bigger prizes, for sure. But as long as they focus on this one, there isn’t much that can stop them.

UNH over UVM in three games

UNH went 2-0-1 against Vermont this year. When they won, they won handily; 5-1 and 6-1. When they tied, they didn’t bother showing up. Which sounds a lot like what UNH normally does in March. There are no ties this time of year, so the Wildcats would be well-served to show up early and often and put an anemic Vermont offense in a position where it can’t catch up.
Vermont’s defense isn’t stellar. Rob Madore’s going to need to have the weekend of his career for the Cats to advance. Vermont’s D will have to have a spotlight on Paul Thompson, who has 5-11=16 totals against the Cats in his career. But if they can keep the games low-scoring, doubt will creep into the minds of the home team and it could be their undoing.
At the end of the day, this UNH team is too experienced and too hungry to lose this series, but they’ve experience enough heartbreaks to get shaken if they go down early in a game or lose Friday night. Whoever scores first will play a huge role in who wins these games.

Northeastern over Boston University in three games

Yes, they’ve played seven straight one-goal games. Yes, BU’s won five of them. Yes, BU’s 5-2 all-time against Northeastern in the Hockey East playoffs. Yes, BU was the hottest team in the conference before falling to the Huskies on Saturday night at Agganis. Yes, they’re 15-3-4 against Northeastern in the last five seasons.
But the emotional boost that Northeastern gets from the return of Greg Cronin will help. A lot. Enough, probably, to earn them game one of the series. BU’s been lackadaisical with a lead, but hasn’t shown much urgency when trailing, either. The Terriers have relied on their freshmen and junior Alex Chiasson to get the job done this year, while the Huskies rely on their senior leadership to light the lamp and their young guys to keep the other team off the board. Kieran Millan has been suspect in big games. Chris Rawlings has risen to the occasion whenever called upon.
If Northeastern takes Thursday’s game one, expect BU to look a little like deer in headlights. And don’t expect them to respond well.

Maine over Merrimack in three games

Only one team in this series is playing for an NCAA tournament berth. It’s also the team that peaked at the right time of year. Maine proved that they can beat Merrimack by getting behind the forecheck, and don’t expect them not to do so again. Sure, Merrimack’s solid at home - 12-2-2 on the season. Sure, they get Stephane Da Costa back, and they’re 19-5-4 with him in the lineup.
But this comes down to goaltending, just like everything else at this time of year does. Joe Cannata’s been a shell of himself the past few weeks, and Dan Sullivan has been hulking up for the playoffs. That, of course, can change. And change quickly and easily. And if it does, this is easily Merrimack’s series.
But you can’t predict that. And until you can, this is Maine’s series to lose. They have more post-season experience on the ice and on the bench than does Merrimack, and they have the ability to let Merrimack beat themselves, which is an upper hand that the Warriors don’t hold over Maine.