BOSTON --Â It's back to business for the No. 16 Northeastern men's ice hockey team, which returns to the ice on Sunday afternoon against Air Force at the Ledyard Classic at Thompson Arena.
The Huskies are riding a six-game unbeaten streak into Sunday's tilt (4-0-2), its longest of the season. It is tied for the fifth longest such streak in the nation, with five of those games coming against conference opponents.
Redshirt junior goaltender
Clay Witt has carried the load for Northeastern, earning the start in 10 of the team's last 11 games. The Brandon, Fla. native has made a combined 96 saves in the last two games, including a career-high 52 against No. 4/4 Providence on Dec. 6, tied for the third most saves in a game in program history.
Witt, the reigning Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week, has at least 30 saves in eight of his last nine outings, and is third in the nation with a .945 save percentage and seventh in the country with 449 saves.
At the other end of the rink, sophomore
Kevin Roy continues to put up numbers for the Huskies, leading the team with 13 goals and 11 assists. Roy is one of six players in the nation with at least 13 goals this season, and he is fourth in the nation with 0.76 goals per game.
Freshman
Mike Szmatula (six goals, 12 assists) has also had a scalding start to the season, and is fourth in the nation and leads Hockey East in rookie scoring with 1.06 points per game.
Szmatula leads a crop of 12 NU rookies who have tallied 19 goals and 46 assists this season, which is third in the nation in freshman scoring. The 46 helpers from the Husky rookies are the most among any freshman group in the country.
Senior
Braden Pimm has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last five games. The Fort St. John, British Columbia native has come up big in special teams situations this season, with six of his eight goals coming in odd-man situations. He is tied for fifth in the nation with six special teams goals this season (five power play goals, one shorthanded goal).
A win against Air Force would …
• Be NU's 885th victory all-time and extend its unbeaten streak to a season long seven games.
• Extend Northeastern's winning streak against Air Force to 11 games, the longest against any opponent in team history.
• Send the Huskies into a tournament championship game for the second time this season.
• Make the Huskies 6-1 all-time at the Ledyard Classic, and 4-0 in their last four games.
The all-time series with the Falcons
Northeastern and Air Force will meet for the first time since Jan. 4, 1997, with the Huskies leading the all-time series, 10-0-0.Â
Torin Snydeman is the only Husky to have faced Air Force, having posted two goals and an assist in six games as a member of Sacred Heart.
A look at Air Force
After starting the season 7-3-0, Air Force is winless in its last six games (0-2-4), and is coming off a pair of draws at Holy Cross in the first week of December. Air Force sits in a tie for third place in Atlantic Hockey with a record of 4-2-3 in the conference.
A quartet of junior forwards have been the offensive leaders for the Falcons. Chad Demers leads the team in all three offensive categories with seven goals, 12 assists and 19 points. Cole Gunner is not far behind with 5-11-16 totals. George Michalke (5-6-11) and Scott Holm (5-4-9) tie Gunner for seconds on the team in goals.
Senior Jason Torf has been between the pipes for all 16 contests, going 7-5-4 while posting a 2.67 goals against average and a .914 save percentage.
Northeastern at the Ledyard Classic
The Huskies are making their fourth appearance at the Ledyard Classic, and first since the 2009-10 season. Northeastern is 6-1 all-time in the tournament, and captured the 2009 title after a 2-1 victory against UMass Lowell, led by MVP efforts from
Chris Rawlings.
Last time out
Three points from
Kevin Roy and 44 saves from
Clay Witt, along with an eight-of-eight performance on the penalty kill, led No. 16 Northeastern to a 3-0 victory at Vermont on Dec. 17 at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
John Stevens and
Mike McMurtry also scored for the Huskies, while
Dalen Hedges contributed two assists. Mike Santaguida made 21 stops for the Catamounts, who outshot NU 44-24 in the game and went 0-of-8 on the power play. The Huskies were 0-of-4 on the man advantage.
Coming in hot
Northeastern enters this weekend's tournament riding a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2), dating back to Nov. 22. It is tied for the fifth longest unbeaten streak in the nation, and is the longest for the Huskies since the 2011-12 season.
During the streak, NU has outscored its opponents 17-8 while
Clay Witt has posted a 1.30 goals against average and .966 save percentage.
Double digit W's
The Huskies' victory against Vermont on Dec. 17 gave Northeastern 10 wins this season, exceeding last year's total. It also marked the first time since the 2008-09 season that NU has won at least 10 games before January.
The Huskies are one of 15 teams in the nation with at least 10 wins this season. Of those, five (UMass Lowell, Providence, Boston College, Notre Dame, Northeastern) are Hockey East teams.
Playing from ahead
Northeastern has gotten in the habit of jumping out to leads in games this year, scoring the first goal in 11 of their 17 games this season, which is tied for 11th in the nation. The Huskies are 7-2-2 this season when scoring first, compared to a 3-3-0 mark when their opponent opens the scoring.
Huskies collect Hockey East honors
After leading Northeastern to a 3-0 victory at Vermont last week,
Kevin Roy and
Clay Witt collected Hockey East accolades. Roy, who recorded three points, was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Week while Witt picked up Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Roy (Lac-Beauport, Quebec) scored a goal and added two assists last week to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, five assists). Roy leads the team with 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) this season, and is ninth in the nation with 1.41 points per game. Roy is one of 12 players in the nation with at least 24 points, and one of six skaters with at least 13 goals.
Roy has logged seven multi-point games this season, including two in the last four games. The sophomore forward has continued his scoring into Hockey East play this season, where he is tied for fourth in the conference with 1.00 points per game (six goals, three assists).
Witt, meanwhile, earned his second shutout of the season last week with 44 saves against the Catamounts, including 22 in the third period. The Brandon, Fla. native is 8-3-2 this season, and is one of 13 netminders in the country with a goals against average below 2.00 (1.97).
As a team, the Huskies were named the Team of the Week following last week's win at Vermont. NU is riding a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2), which is tied for the fifth longest unbeaten streak in the country. Northeastern is 10-5-2 this year, and secured its 10th win before January for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
That didn't take long
Freshman
Mike Szmatula gave Northeastern a 1-0 very early against the Friars on Dec. 6, scoring his sixth goal of the season just seven seconds into the game. The goal was two seconds shy of tying the NCAA record for fastest goal to start a game (five seconds; four times, most recently on Mar. 11, 2005 Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Bowling Green).
Szmatula's goal was also the fastest Northeastern has scored to start a game since the 1979-80 season, and the quickest to start any period since Jan. 15, 2000 (Mike Jozefowicz, second period at Massachusetts).
Northeastern has now scored twice in the first minute of a period twice this season:
John Stevens scored eight seconds into the second period against Western Michigan on Nov. 29.
Witt comes up big against Providence
Redshirt junior
Clay Witt etched his name in the Northeastern record book on Dec. 6 when the NU netminder made 52 saves against Providence. It marked a new career-high for the Brandon, Fla. native, and is tied for the third most saves in a game in program history (George Demetroulakos vs. Boston University on Feb. 21, 1980).
The last time a Husky goaltender made at least 50 saves in a game came on Feb. 4, 1991 when Tom Cole made 51 stops against Boston College. Witt is a three-time Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honoree, and is sixth in the nation with a .940 save percentage. He has made at least 30 saves in seven of his last eight outings, and is 7-3-2 this season.
It's all about the hardware
NU's Shillelagh Tournament championship on Nov. 29 marked the first time in team history that the Huskies have captured a tournament title in November, and the first time that Northeastern won an in-season tournament since the Mariucci Classic in 2011.
Better late than never
During its six-game unbeaten streak, Northeastern has scored six third period goals. The Huskies have 21 goals in the final period this season, which is tied for sixth in the nation.
Head of the class
The Northeastern rookie class has tallied 19 goals and 46 assists in 17 games this season, which is third in the country for the most points for a freshman class. Eight different NU rookies have tallied a point this season.
Freshman
Mike Szmatula is second on the team with 18 points this season (six goals, 12 assists), and is fourth in the nation in rookie scoring with 1.06 points per game. If Szmatula finishes the year first on the team in scoring, it would mark the third straight season that a freshman has led NU is scoring (
Ludwig Karlsson in 2011-12,
Kevin Roy in 2012-13).
Sophomore surge
Sophomore forward
Kevin Roy has 30 goals and 28 assists in 46 career games with the Huskies. On Nov. 22, Roy became the 56th player in program history to record at least 50 points in their first two seasons in college hockey, and first since Wade MacLeod and Tyler McNeely in 2008-09.
Roy is averaging 1.2 points per game since arriving at Northeastern last season, and leads the team with 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) this year.
At the dot
Freshman
John Stevens has won 51.5% of his face-offs this season, going 210-of-408. His 210 wins are 10th in the nation, and he is one of three freshmen in the nation in the top 15 in face-off victories. As a team, the Huskies are 595-of-1194, while the NU freshmen have the most wins of all rookies (561).
Winner, winner
Three of freshman center
Dalen Hedges' five goals this season have proven to be game-winners, making him one of 22 skaters in the nation with at least three game-winning tallies this season. Hedges is also one of just three freshmen with three game-winners, and matched
Kevin Roy's 2012-13 team-leading total on Nov. 30 at Notre Dame.
Filling the net
While head coach
Jim Madigan has shuffled the lineup a bit through the first half of the season, one line of Huskies have remained intact.
Kevin Roy,
John Stevens and
Braden Pimm have been grouped together on the same line in 15 of NU's 17 games this year, totaling 25 goals and 20 assists along with a combined +22 rating.
On the plus side
Junior captain
Josh Manson has anchored the Northeastern defensive corps through the first 17 games of the season, and is tied for 14th in the nation with a plus/minus rating of +13. The Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native has been an even or a plus in 15 of the team's 17 games so far this year, and is one of just 20 skaters in the nation to be at least +13, and one of eight defensemen.
Lending a helping hand
Northeastern has tallied 96 assists through 17 games this season, which is tied for 11th in the country and tied for third in Hockey East, sparked by 12 helpers from freshman
Mike Szmatula (tied for 27th in the nation). Szmatula has an assist in eight of the team's 17 games this season, including three games with multi-assist efforts.
Out of the gates
Northeastern's hot start to the season gave the Huskies a 5-0-0 beginning to the year for the first time since the 1988-89 season, and fourth time in program history (1980-81, 1952-53). It also tied a program-record for the most victories in the month of October, matching the 2008-09 squad. Northeastern's two victories against Alabama-Huntsville to star the season gave NU a 2-0-0 start to the season for the second straight year. It's the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95 that NU has begun consecutive seasons at 2-0-0.
Offensive explosion
After scoring 81 goals all of last season, Northeastern has already logged more than half of that total in just 17 games. NU is 13th in the nation with 57 goals this season, and its 3.35 goals per game average is 14th in the country. The Huskies' 12 goals on opening weekend were the most goals scored in the team's first two games of the season since NU scored 13 in the opening two games of the 2002-03 season.
Oh brother
Northeastern's 28-man roster features two sets of brothers in Cody and
Nathan Ferriero, as well as Derick and
Kevin Roy. The Huskies are one of just two teams in the nation to have two pairs of brothers on its roster, joining Quinnipiac's Connor and Tim Clifton and Conner and Kellen Jones.
Poll position
Northeastern remained at No. 16 in this week's USCHO.com poll. The Huskies are also receiving votes in the USA Today poll. Northeastern is one of eight Hockey East teams either ranked or receiving votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, and also appeared in the poll during the first nine weeks of last season, highlighted by a No. 14 ranking on Oct. 15, 2012.
Hello, my name is …
Northeastern houses 12 freshmen (eight forwards, three defensemen, one goaltender) on its 2013-14 roster, which is the most in Hockey East and tied with Sacred Heart for the most rookies in the nation.
Nine freshmen have seen playing time so far this season, and have accounted for 19 goals and 46 assists, which is 43% of Northeastern's total scoring.
All eyes on me
Northeastern will take the ice in front of a national audience three times this season, as part of a two-year contract extension between NBCSN and Hockey East, the league announced Oct. 8. NU took on Boston College at Conte Forum on Nov. 1, and will also be on NBCSN for the Huskies' two-game set at Notre Dame on Jan. 24-25.
In addition, NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets, will stream all league games telecast on NBCSN. All games will be live streamed via "TV Everywhere," the media industry's effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.
Taking it outside
The Huskies will make their anticipated return to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, as the Huskies face UMass Lowell on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 as part of Frozen Fenway 2014 festivities. The City of Boston, the Boston Red Sox, Hockey East Association and Fenway Sports Management (FSM) announced the return of Frozen Fenway in a press release on Apr. 25.
"The entire Northeastern family, from our student-athletes, to our coaches and to our fans, is truly gracious for another opportunity to play hockey at Fenway Park," head coachÂ
Jim Madigan said. "I'll never forget my first experience outdoors at Fenway and everyone is very excited to make some new memories. We are also excited to take on a worthy opponent in UMass Lowell."
The matchup between the Huskies and the River Hawks will mark the second time Northeastern has participated in the Frozen Fenway festivities. On Jan. 14, 2012, in front of an audience of 29,601 in frigid temperatures and brisk winds, the Huskies dropped a contentious 2-1 battle to Boston College, the eventual national champions.
Poile named General Manager of U.S. Olympic Team
Alumnus David Poile has been named general manager of the 2014 United States Olympic men's hockey team, USA Hockey announced on Jun. 28.
"Being chosen for this position is a tremendous honor," said Poile. "When you get to represent your country, it's a special feeling. I look forward to working with our management team in fulfilling our ultimate goal of bringing home the gold medal."
Poile, currently the general manager of the NHL's Nashville Predators, played three seasons of varsity hockey at Northeastern from 1967 to 1970. He is 26th on the Northeastern all-time scoring list with 118 points, and he still holds the program record for hat tricks with 11. He was inducted into the Northeastern Hall of Fame in 1987.
Season and individual game tickets now on sale
Season and individual game tickets are now on sale for the Northeastern men's ice hockey team. Starting at just $100, fans can secure a great seat to see the NU men's team take the ice for all of its 14 home games during the 2013-14 season, including nine Hockey East games. Individual game tickets start range from $10 to $20. Log on toÂ
GoNU.com/tickets for more information.
Huskies hockey in high definition
GoNUxstream will broadcast each and every home men's hockey game free, in high definition, live at www.GoNU.com/xstream. Northeastern University was the first school in Hockey East to broadcast a live, HD stream over the internet. The broadcast is complete with live stats, live chat, commentating and sideline reporting.
Hang out with the Huskies
Be sure to connect with Northeastern athletics and Northeastern men's hockey on Facebook and Twitter to receive scores and information, interact with fellow fans, access photos and videos, and receive exclusive promotional and ticket offers. Follow NU Athletics, @
GoNUathletics, and 'Like' us atÂ
facebook.com/GoNUathletics. To get live, in-game updates of Northeastern men's hockey, follow @
GoNUmhockey, and 'Like' us atÂ
facebook.com/GoNUmhockey.
