2011-12 Schedule: WEB  |  PDF

The Northeastern men's hockey team unveiled its 2011-12 schedule on Tuesday, June 14, including 27 Hockey East games, a holiday tournament at the University of Minnesota, visits to a pair of Frozen Four participants from last season, the 60th annual Beanpot Tournament and a pair of exhibition bouts.

The Huskies' slate shapes up much differently than last season. This year, Northeastern faces 16 road games with 14 tilts at Matthews Arena and four neutral battles. Unlike in 2010-11, Northeastern will play in a holiday tournament, the Mariucci Classic (Dec. 30-31), at the University of Minnesota for the first time since the 2008-09 season. NU's three non-conference games are scheduled right after Thanksgiving as Northeastern invades Yost Ice Arena to take on the University of Michigan on Friday, Nov. 25. The following weekend, Northeastern will travel to Notre Dame to open the Fighting Irish's new rink, the Compton Family Ice Arena, for a pair on Friday, Dec.2 and Saturday, Dec. 3.

The 60th annual Beanpot Tournament will be played on the first two Mondays of February at the TD Garden on the 6th and 13th. Northeastern gets its shot at redemption against Boston College in the first round after the Eagles spoiled the Huskies' bid for their first Beanpot since 1988 with an overtime goal by Jimmy Hayes in last year's championship bout (7-6). The following Monday, Northeastern will face either Boston University or Harvard in either the consolation game or the Beanpot championship.

Northeastern's schedule runs the Hockey East gauntlet right out of the chute as 12 league games initiate this season's docket. Before conference action starts, the Huskies welcome in St. Francis Xavier (Nova Scotia) on Sunday, Oct. 2 for the first tune-up of the season.

The Huskies open their season against the University of Massachusetts at Matthews Arena on Friday, Oct. 7 as the only contest of the weekend. It marks the first time the Minutemen have ever been the Huskies' opponent in their home opener. In 1999-00, UMass triggered Northeastern's Hockey East schedule at Matthews Arena on Oct. 22, 1999. Northeastern went 2-0-1 against the Minutemen last season. UMass is one of two Hockey East schools the Huskies did not lose to in 2010-11.

Northeastern will take a travel day on Saturday for its first road game of the season at Alfond Arena on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 4 p.m. The last time Northeastern escaped with a victory at Maine was on Oct. 25, 2008 (2-1).

Northeastern stays at home the next Friday (Oct. 14) and looks to defeat New Hampshire for the first time since Nov. 21, 2008. The Huskies drew even twice and lost once against UNH last season.

On Friday, Oct. 21, Northeastern makes its first of two trips to Merrimack. The Huskies bested the Warriors, 2-1, on Dec. 4, 2010 to spoil MC's undefeated record at home.

NU's first Saturday contest of the season falls at home against Boston College on Oct. 22. Northeastern and BC carried out some epic battles last year, including the Beanpot thriller and the 7-7 overtime affair that followed four days later at Conte Forum. The last time the Eagles skated at Matthews Arena, they were ranked No. 1 in the country, but the Huskies punched their ticket to the playoffs through BC with a 2-1 win on Feb. 19, 2011.

The victory over the Eagles marked the first win over the No. 1 ranked team in the country since the Huskies ousted Boston College in the season opener on Oct. 18, 2008 as Joe Vitale scored the game winner, 4-3.

Northeastern caps its October portion of the schedule with a journey to the Whittemore Center on Saturday, Oct. 29 for the second bout of the year with UNH.

NU's regular-season series with Merrimack concludes just five weeks into the season with a home-and-home on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5. The Huskies return to North Andover, Mass., on Friday before welcoming the Warriors on Saturday.

The following weekend, the Huskies trek across town to Chestnut Hill for the first of two tilts at Conte Forum against BC on Friday, Nov. 11. From there, Northeastern pays a visit to Amherst, Mass., for a Saturday, Nov. 12 showdown at Massachusetts.

On Friday, Nov. 18, Providence comes to Matthews Arena for the first time since the Huskies blanked the Friars, 5-0, on Nov. 20, 2010. NU and PC split last year's season series as each team won a game with a tie sandwiched in the middle. Vermont skates in for its only game on Saint Botolph St. the next night, Saturday, Nov. 19. The Northeastern and UVM series from 2010-11 resulted identically to the Providence set.

Hockey East action subsides for three games as the Huskies make their first voyage to Ann Arbor, Mich. for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Northeastern battled hard against Michigan in its last series, enduring an overtime loss (4-3) before beating the Wolverines, 3-2, on Oct. 28, 2006. The Huskies will skate against U of M the Friday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25.

The next weekend, Northeastern will be just the fifth team to skate at Notre Dame's brand new Compton Family Ice Arena. The Huskies and Fighting Irish haven't met on the ice since Oct. 27, 2001. NU and ND drew, 3-3, at Matthews Arena to keep the all-time series even (2-2-1). The last time Northeastern traveled to South Bend, Ind., was on Oct. 20-21, 2000, when the two squads split. Northeastern will play a pair at ND this season on Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3.

Northeastern returns to Matthews Arena to open the regular-season series with UMass Lowell on Saturday, Dec. 10 before the holiday break. The Huskies claimed all three games off the River Hawks last season; the only team in Hockey East that Northeastern beat in every meeting in 2010-11.

After abstaining from a holiday tournament in 2010-11, the Huskies return to the University of Minnesota for the Mariucci Classic (formerly the Dodge Holiday Classic) for the first time since the 2008-09 season on Friday, Dec. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 31. After topping Western Michigan in the opener (3-1), the Huskies suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to the host in the championship contest, 4-3. Northeastern joins Minnesota, Niagara and Princeton as the four teams battle for the mid-season hardware. NU will learn its first-round opponent in the near future.

Before returning to league action, Northeastern ushers in the Under-18 U.S. National Team Development Program out of Ann Arbor, Mich. on Saturday, Jan. 7. Northeastern and the U-18s skated to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 30, 2005 in the two programs only meeting. The Jan. 7 affair will count as a scrimmage.

Northeastern and Boston University will get reacquainted on Friday, Jan. 13 at Matthews Arena after the epic five-consecutive-game stretch, including the Huskies' three-game Hockey East quarterfinal victory. The Huskies' game three victory clinched their first quarterfinals road series win since 1991 and terminated BU's league-record nine-year run to the TD Garden for the Hockey East semifinals. The following night, Northeastern returns to Boston College to end the regular-season set on Saturday, Jan. 14.

A home-and-home with UMass Lowell on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21 concludes the league series. NU makes its way to Tsongas Center on Jan. 20 before hosting the River Hawks on Jan. 21. Northeastern will make its bi-annual two-game trip to Burlington, Vt., to cap the season series with the Catamounts on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28 before hosting Massachusetts on Friday, Feb. 3.

Northeastern and Boston College will meet in the first round of the Beanpot Tournament at the TD Garden on Monday, Feb. 6. NU looks to repeat its first round performance against the Eagles from 2008-09 when the Huskies trounced Boston College, 6-1, to move onto the finals. The Friday game between Beanpot contests will take place at New Hampshire on Feb. 10. On Monday, Feb. 13, Northeastern will face either Boston University or Harvard in the championship bout or consolation game.

Providence comes to Matthews Arena again on Friday, Feb. 17 and will host the Huskies in the lone game at Schneider Arena on Saturday, Feb. 18. The next weekend, Northeastern faces off against Maine in a pair at Matthews Arena on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. As recent tradition has had it, the Huskies and Terriers will square off in a home-and-home to close out the regular season. Northeastern makes its only trip to Agganis Arena on Friday, March 2 before hosting Boston University in the regular-season finale on Saturday, March 3.

The Hockey East quarterfinal rounds are set for Friday, March 9 through Sunday, March 11 with the semifinal and finals consecutively falling on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17. The NCAA Regionals are schedule for March 23-25 while the Frozen Four is set for April 5-7 in Tampa, Fla.

All game times are subject to change pending release of a television schedule.

For ticket information, please call the Northeastern University ticket office at 617-373-4700. Visit GoNU.com for all the latest updates on Huskies hockey.