The 2009-10 men's hockey team endured many peaks and valleys this past season, but when all was said and done, the Huskies continued to flourish under head coach Greg Cronin and his vision for the Northeastern program. Despite exclusion from the Hockey East playoffs, the Huskies battled their way through adversity to earn their third-consecutive season with at least 16 victories.

Northeastern finished the season with a 16-16-2 record, marking the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95 the Huskies have finished .500 or better in consecutive years. Cronin became the first coach at NU to capture 16 wins in three successive campaigns since Fern Flaman and Don McKenney combined to rattle off 20, 18 and 16 triumphs, respectively, from 1987-1990.

The Huskies demonstrated their resiliency and ability to shuffle lines after key cogs such as Steve Quailer and Randy Guzior endured season-ending injuries. Quailer, a member of the Hockey East All-Rookie team in 2008-09 and a 25-point scorer, went down in NU's first exhibition contest on Oct. 3. Guzior, a defenseman, was shelved six games into the season while other blue liners in Jim Driscoll, Drew Muench and #J.P. Maley# were hampered by injuriess all year long.

Despite these obstacles, Northeastern rallied around its fallen comrades and allowed the third-least amount of goals in the conference (100). Much of the defensive credit can be attributed to this year's incoming class, primarily goaltender, Chris Rawlings.

Rawlings filled the void in net left behind by Brad Thiessen and rose to the occasion night in and night out. The 6'5 backstopper started 31 contests and became the first NU rookie to win 15 games since Gary Thornton during the 1964-65 season. Rawlings totaled the third-most saves of any freshman in the country (905) and compiled the third-best save percentage in all of Hockey East (.913).

Jake Newton was another significant part of the defensive unit, joining his goaltender as a member of the Hockey East Pro Ambitions All-Rookie team. Newton finished second in the country amongst all freshmen defensemen with 0.65 points per game, totaling seven multi-point performances from the blue line.

On the other side of the ice, Northeastern sported five 20-point scorers as Wade MacLeod led the Huskies for the second-straight season with another 30-point campaign. MacLeod cracked into Northeastern's all-time list of top 50 scorers last season after amassing 14 goals and 16 helpers.

Both Kyle Kraemer and Tyler McNeely added to NU's offensive firepower as each winger posted career-highs of 28 points. Kraemer broke out in his final year on Huntington Ave., leading the Huskies in goal scoring (17) and tying for the 10th most tallies in the league. McNeely, who sported the 'C' as a junior, notched career-bests in goals (12) and assists (16). Newcomer Garrett Vermeersch came onto the season and meshed nicely with Cronin's offense. The Macomb, Mich., native often ran the point on the powerplay, and in turn, led the Huskies in assists (18) and totaled 23 points, overall.

Vermeersch stamped his impression right from the get-go, logging three points in Northeastern's opening weekend at Colorado College. The Huskies managed to split with their formidable foe from the WCHA, while Chris Donovan registered NU's first three-point performance of the season to key the 4-3 victory.

After returning from Colorado Springs, the Huskies were welcomed home to a capacity crowd of 4,666 strong at Matthews Arena. Northeastern put on a powerplay clinic, dispatching Bentley with three extra-man markers for NU's second consecutive non-conference win.

Northeastern skidded through its opening weekend of Hockey East action, losing to New Hampshire and UMass Lowell on the road. Following a weekend off, the Huskies rectified their slow conference start with a 1-0 shutout of archrival Boston University in front of the second straight sellout at Matthews Arena. Rawlings earned his first collegiate shutout via 43 stops, becoming NU's second-ever netminder to deny the Terriers through 60 minutes. Northeastern ended BU's run of not being shutout on the road since March 15, 2004. MacLeod provided the heroics in powerplay fashion over NU's adversary, marking NU's sixth consecutive special teams' goal.

The Huskies powerplay antics were put to rest with a 5-1 loss at Boston College the next night. In the face of a four-goal defeat, Kraemer tallied NU's lone marker, triggering a seven-game point streak that last from Nov. 7 to Dec. 4. Kraemer stockpiled eight points in the midst of his hot streak, stringing together the longest point streak of skater on the roster.

Maine invaded Matthews Arena for a pair as the Black Bears broke NU's four-game winning streak against the Orono inhabitants. Maine won the 100th meeting between the two squads, 6-2, but the Huskies bounced back the next night and dealt Maine a 5-2 loss thanks to another three-goal powerplay explosion. Matt Lipinski highlighted the weekend by potting his first-career goal with the extra skater to seal the victory.

Northeastern opposed Providence in a home-and-home series and extended its unbeaten streak to three games with a win and a tie. The Huskies used power play goals by Alex Tuckerman and McNeely in the 4-1 triumph at Matthews Arena, but a goal late in the third period at Schneider Arena the next evening spoiled the sweep as NU settled for the 3-3 draw.

A post-Thanksgiving affair with Vermont helped lengthen Kraemer's goal-scoring streak to four games, but the Huskies dropped the decision, 3-2. Crossing over into December, NU left Lawler Arena with a bitter taste in its mouth after enduring a 3-1 setback at Merrimack.

Bryan Mountain, classmate of Rawlings and backup goaltender, picked up his first collegiate victory at home on the backend, salvaging the split with Merrimack by a 2-1 final. David Strathman offered up the game-winner in the middle of the third period.

In the final contest before the holiday break, Northeastern ventured to Orono for a rubber match with Maine. Unfortunately, the trip did not bode well for NU as the Black Bears nixed the Huskies with four powerplay goals in a 5-1 loss.

The Huskies concluded the first portion of their schedule with a 6-8-1 mark, 4-7-1 in league play. Northeastern's long layover fueled what turned out to be a gritty performance at the Ledyard National Bank Classic at Dartmouth. In the first round of the tournament, the Huskies matched up with the host as NU pulverized the Big Green, 7-0, marking the largest margin of victory under Cronin's command. Seven different Huskies lit the lamp in the opening round to pave the way for a championship showdown with UMass Lowell. Newton's late rip in the third broke the defensive standoff, 2-1, helping the Huskies capture their first tournament title since winning the Badger Showdown on Dec. 29, 2008. Rawlings surrendered only one goal in both tournament games, bearing Tournament MVP honors, while Tuckerman and Newton were named to the All-Tournament team.

Unfortunately, Northeastern was not able to carry its momentum into the next pair of league games as UMass Lowell exacted revenge in a 6-5 overtime victory while Massachusetts upended NU in a 4-1 decision.

After suffering back-to-back losses, Northeastern dug deep and claimed eight out of its next 10 contests. A split with Vermont in Burlington snowballed into consecutive wins against Providence (3-1) and UMass Lowell (2-1) to close out the month of January. The Huskies had two days to recover before meeting up with Boston University in the 58th annual Beanpot Tournament, but the Terriers edged NU, 2-1, to advance to the finals. The loss to BU did not affect Northeastern's will to claim the season series against Merrimack that Friday. The Warriors owned the top winning percentage in the country at home heading into that game, but the Huskies were not intimidated and throttled Merrimack, 5-1.

The victory in North Andover elicited a five-game winning streak and a six-game unbeaten stretch in league play through February. After taking care of Harvard in the Beanpot consolation match, 4-1, the Huskies went on to sweep Massachusetts by a combined score of 8-3. Northeastern notched its third shutout of the season, 2-0, at the Mullins Center before knocking off the Minutemen at home, 6-3.

A win against visiting Boston College would give the red-hot Huskies control of their own destiny. Northeastern did just that, slaying the Eagles, 3-2, and assuming sole possession of fourth place in Hockey East. In fact, Northeastern was the last team to defeat Boston College before its eventual run to claiming the national title.

Lamentably, the rest of Hockey East caught up to the Huskies after NU went 0-4-1 down the stretch to close out the season. Northeastern lost its final game to BU, 4-3, and after the dust settled, NU fell victim to the tightest race for the Hockey East playoffs in conference history and was left out of the postseason picture.

Northeastern finished ninth in the league with an 11-14-2 mark, but there are many areas the Huskies can look back at for a successful run in the years to come.

Cronin's crop of freshmen proved themselves as a worthy nucleus for the Northeastern program to build around. This season's corps led all four classes in scoring with 90 points (32-58-90) while two of the top five scorers were rookies.

Drew Ellement, one of Northeastern's greenhorns called upon to fill defensive gaps this season, was given the Manager's Award as the team's most improved player at the postseason banquet. Robbie Vrolyk is considered one of the fastest skaters in the league and has the potential for a huge second season on Huntington Ave. while twin brothers Justin and Drew Daniels look to expand upon their successful freshman campaigns.

Skaters like MacLeod and McNeely return their veteran leadership and scoring while other players like Steve Silva, Mike McLaughlin and Tuckerman look to become a threat to score every night.

As Matthews Arena just recently passed the centennial mark this past April, the Northeastern hockey program looks to turn the page this decade and make a lasting impression at its venerable home.