It’s about time.
The Massachusetts hockey team (11-7-5, 7-5-2 Hockey East) hasn’t played a game since its 1-0 win over Maine at Alfond Arena on Jan. 17. It hasn’t played at home since being shut out, 1-0 by UMass Lowell on Jan. 4, and it hasn’t played in front of a significant student crowd since the dramatic 2-2 tie with New Hampshire on Dec. 11, its last home game before winter session began.
Tonight, the Minutemen, sitting fourth in the conference, return to the ice, and the homestretch of the Hockey East season begins with a real challenge.
The Northeastern Huskies (7-11-4, 2-9-3 HEA) are one of the hottest teams in Hockey East right now, something that seemed unlikely when NU was mired in an 11-game winless streak to begin the season. However, after notching its first win of the season with a 1-0 win at Vermont on Dec. 6, Northeastern has played completely unlike the team that lost seven of its first eight conference game, with a tie to Providence on Nov. 7.
The biggest sign of change on St. Botolph Street was the Huskies’ stunning 3-0 win over top-ranked Boston College on Jan. 3. Junior Keni Gibson (2.86 goals against, .896 save percentage) made 34 stops in the win, and Jason Guerriero tallied three points, including the Huskies’ first goal, to lead NU past the conference-leading Eagles.
“We’re playing a great team, we’re playing the team that’s played the best since Christmas of any team in our league,” UMass coach Don Cahoon said, “so they’re going to be enthusiastic, hungry to play, and we need to measure up to that.”
Northeastern, though it is still at the bottom of the Hockey East standings, had one of the finest showings in the period since Dec. 25, going 4-2-2. New Hampshire (4-1-1) and BC (6-1-0) were the only teams to achieve better records in that time.
The Huskies have been led by the play of Guerriero, who leads the team in goals (9) and points (23), and his 14 assists gives him a tie for the team-lead with Mike Morris.
They’ve got a decent makeup in terms of their team speed, they’ve got a couple of good scorers, and they’ve put together a good power play,” Cahoon said. “Gibson, when he’s playing well, is a good goaltender, and for the most part, they’re as good a team as most the teams in the league. I think they’ve found the right combinations, they have some confidence in the way they’ve assembled themselves, that’s one factor.
“I think secondly, they’ve stopped worrying about losing games, they’re playing to win now. And the final attribute is that they’re hungry, and they’re probably enjoying the game as much as any team in the league.”
Cahoon hopes the Minutemen will counter with a high student turnout.
“I think the kids are going to be really anxious to get going, get the students out there, get a home game under our belt with a chance of getting people to come out and see us play,” he said. “Every game is going to be really competitive, as they all are, but now the ante has been raised. The league is starting to take shape, and we’re fighting like crazy to keep our heads above water.”
“If we can feed off the energy of our home crowd, enjoy being in our own locker room and own facility, and keep focused, then it plays to a big advantage for us.”
The Minutemen are still fighting some nagging injuries, including the one that has kept junior Greg Mauldin out since a violent collision at Lowell on Jan. 3. Cahoon said that Mauldin might be able to return this weekend, after “a bunch of good days in a row.”
