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 Class of 2011: How Did They Fare?

The ECHL, AHL and NHL regular seasons have all come to a close, and with the seasons ending, so too are many Hockey East 2011 alums done playing for the season. 

Of all the alums, former Northeastern captain Tyler McNeely impressed the most during a brief stint in the AHL, netting five goals, recording four assists and finishing with a plus-nine rating in ten games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Both Stephane Da Costa (Merrimack) and Matt Campanale  (UNH) donned NHL sweaters, but neither registered a point during their play with Ottawa and the New York Islanders, respectively. 

John Muse impressed in his lone start with the Portland Pirates, stopping 33 of 35 shots in an overtime win. Former teammate Cam Atkinson played in five games for Springfield, scoring three goals and adding two assists. 

Former BU captain Joe Pereira played a single game with the Worcester Sharks before being traded to Bridgeport, where he scored five points in ten games. 

Hockey East player of the year Paul Thompson played in four games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, tallying three points and a plus-four rating. 

ECHL

UMass - F Chase Langeraap (SC) 8 GP, 2-0=2, +2
Merrimack - F Joe Cucci (SC) 2 GP, 0-0=0, Even
Vermont - F Josh Burrows (BKR) 7 GP, 1-0=1, +5

AHL

BC - F Cam Atkinson (SPFLD) 5 GP, 3-2=5, +2
BC - F Jimmy Hayes (RFD) 7 GP, 0-0=0, Even
BC - F Joe Whitney (POR) 1 GP, 0-1=1, +1
BC - G John Muse (POR) 1-0-0, 1.85 GA, .943 Sv %
BU - F Joe Pereira (WOR) 1 GP, 0-0=0, Even; (BPT) 10 GP, 2-3=5, +1
BU - D David Warsofsky (PRV) 10 GP, 0-3=3, +3
Maine - F Tanner House (OKC) 6 GP, 1-4=5, +3
Maine - F Gustav Nyquist (GRP) 8 GP, 1-3=4, +1
Maine - D Jeff Dimmen (POR) 7 GP, 0-1=1, -4
Maine - D Mike Banwell (ALB) 4 GP, 0-1=1, -5
Maine - D Josh Van Dyk (ABB) 1 GP 0-0=0, Even
UMass - G Paul Dainton (SPFLD) 2-2-0, 2.63 GA, .912 Sv %
Merrimack - F Chris Barton (BPT) 1 GP, 0-0=0, Even
Northeastern - F Wade MacLeod (SPFLD) 9 GP, 1-2=3, -5
Northeastern - F Tyler McNeely (BPT)  10 GP, 5-6=11, +9
UNH - D Matt Campanale (BPT) 5 GP, 0-0=0, Even
UNH - F Paul Thompson (WBS) 6 GP, 1-2=3, +4
UNH - F Mike Sislo (ALB) 3 GP, 0-0=0, -5
Vermont - D Kevan Miller (PRV) 6 GP, 0-0=0, +2


NHL

Merrimack - F Stephane Da Costa (OTT) 4 GP, 0-0=0, -1
UNH - D Matt Campanale (NYI) 1 GP, 0-0=0, Even