BOSTON --Â With just two games remaining until the holiday break, the Northeastern men's ice hockey team resumes conference play when the Huskies battle No. 4/4 Providence on Friday night at 8 p.m. from Matthews Arena.
Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal to Matthews Arena for the 2013 Teddy Bear Toss, where fans can throw their stuffed animals onto the ice during the first intermission. Friday's Teddy Bear Toss is part of the Husky Hugs program run by Northeastern University's Office of Alumni Relations. Their goal is to collect 1,000 teddy bears that distributed to local area children's charities.
NU rides a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) into this weekend's tilt, which is tied for the fifth longest unbeaten streak in the nation. The Huskies are coming off a tournament championship last weekend at the Shillelagh Tournament after a 1-1 tie with Western Michigan on Friday and a 3-2 come from behind victory against No. 11/10 Notre Dame last Saturday.
The Huskies have been backstopped by junior goaltender
Clay Witt in recent weeks, who is 7-3-1 this season after earning the start in eight of the team's last nine games. Witt's .939 save percentage is sixth in the nation, and he was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after a 61-save performance last weekend against Western Michigan and No. 11/10 Notre Dame.
Witt has allowed two goals or fewer in each of his last four starts, seeing his goals against average plummet to 2.08 (sixth in Hockey East). He also has at least 30 saves in six of his last seven outings.
At the other end of the rink, sophomore
Kevin Roy continues to put up numbers for the Huskies, leading the team with 11 goals and nine assists. Roy is one of 11 players in the nation with at least 20 points this season, while his 11 goals are tied for the fifth most in college hockey.
Freshman
Dalen Hedges has emerged as a scoring threat in recent weeks, and is fourth on the team with five goals and eight assists. Hedges is tied for second in the nation with three game-winning goals, and also ranks second in Hockey East with a .589 face-off percentage (121-of-206).
Freshman
Mike Szmatula (five goals, 12 assists) is also of to a hot start to the season, and is fourth in the nation and leads Hockey East in rookie scoring with 1.13 points per game. Szmatula leads a crop of 12 NU rookies who have tallied 17 goals and 42 assists this season, which is tied with Boston College for the highest freshman scoring output in the country.
A win against Providence would …
• Be NU's 884th victory all-time and extend its unbeaten streak to a season long tying five games.
• Give the Huskies consecutive victories over ranked opponents since Oct. 10 (No. 19 Merrimack) and Oct. 13, 2012 (No. 1 Boston College).
• Mark the first time since the 2008-09 season that NU won 10 games before January.
• Give Northeastern its first win against Providence at Matthews Arena since Nov. 20, 2010.
The all-time series with the Friars
Northeastern is 51-79-16 all-time against Providence in a series that dates back to 1953. PC took all three games last season, while NU claimed a 1-0-2 record in 2011-12.
The Huskies will be looking to snap a five-game winless skid against the Friars and pick up their first victory against Providence since Nov. 18, 2011.
Several Huskies have performed particularly well when facing off with the Friars.
Josh Manson has 2-2-4 totals in five career games against PC, while
Cody Ferriero has three goals and an assist in seven games.
A look at Providence
Providence currently sits atop the Hockey East standings with a conference record of 6-2-0 (11-2-2 overall). After a 9-1-1 start which saw four and five-game winning streaks, the Friars are 2-1-1 in their last four contests after a split in a two-game series with New Hampshire, tying Quinnipiac and most recently defeating Brown 3-2 on Nov. 30.
The Providence offense is led by junior forward Ross Mauermann. Leading his team in goals (12), assists (nine), points (21) and plus/minus (+18), Mauermann is tied for second in the nation in goals and seventh in points. Sophomore forward Mark Jankowski is second on the team with seven goals, while forwards Shane Luke, Nick Saracino, Steven McParland and defenseman John Gilmour have all tallied 10 points.
Sophomore Jon Gillies has started 14 of the Friars' 15 games in goal, allowing only 25 goals while compiling a record of 10-1-2. He holds an impressive 1.81 goals against average with a .945 save percentage. Gillies was named the Stop It Co-Goaltender of the Month after going 7-1-1 in November with two shutouts.
Last time out
After falling behind 2-0 midway through the second period, Northeastern stormed back to score three unanswered goals to top No. 11/10 Notre Dame and capture the Shillelagh Tournament title on Saturday night at Compton Family Ice Arena, 3-2.
Dalen Hedges scored the eventual game-winning goal for the Huskies, who matched last season's win total with the victory on Saturday.
Torin Snydeman and
Braden Pimm also scored for Northeastern, while
Clay Witt made 31 saves in goal to earn All-Tournament honors along with Pimm.
NU outshot the Irish 35-33 in the game, was 1-of-8 on the power play and won 35-of-66 face-offs. Notre Dame went 1-of-4 on the man advantage.
It's all about the hardware
NU's Shillelagh Tournament championship last weekend 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.
November to remember
After getting off to a rocky start to the month, the Huskies bounced back to salvage a 4-4-1 mark in November, including a 3-0-1 mark in the final four games. NU's four November victories marked the first time since 2008-09 that the Huskies won at least four games in the month.
Saturday's win also gave NU nine victories on the season, tying last year's total. It took the Huskies 28 games to win nine contests last year.
That didn't take long
Freshman
John Stevens gave NU a 1-0 lead with a power play goal just eight seconds into the second period against Western Michigan last weekend. It was the fastest that NU has scored to start a period since Mike Jozefowicz scored a power play tally six seconds into the second period at Massachusetts on Jan. 15, 2000.
Better late than never
Northeastern scored twice in the third period last Saturday to complete the comeback against Notre Dame. The Huskies have 20 goals in the final period, which is tied with Boston College, Providence and Quinnipiac for the most in the nation.
Witt earns Hockey East accolade
After leading the Huskies to the 2013 Shillelagh Tournament championship last weekend in Notre Dame, Ind., junior goaltender
Clay Witt was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
This is the second conference accolade of the season for Witt, who also picked up defensive player of the week honors on Nov. 11. Witt backstopped the Huskies to a 1-0-1 mark last weekend, including a shootout victory against Western Michigan before a 31 save performance against No. 11/10 Notre Dame in the tournament title game.
Witt made 61 saves during the weekend to run his streak of 30-plus save outings to three straight, and six of the last seven. The Brandon, Fla. native allowed just three goals in two games, and had a .953 save percentage to earn All-Tournament Team honors. Witt is 7-3-1 this season with a 2.08 goals against average and a .939 save percentage that is sixth in the nation.
Head of the class
The Northeastern rookie class has tallied 17 goals and 42 assists in 15 games this season, which is tied with Boston College for the most points for a freshman class in the country. Eight different NU rookies have tallied a point this season.
Freshman
Mike Szmatula is second on the team lead with 17 points this season (five goals, 12 assists), and is fourth in the nation in rookie scoring with 1.13 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).
Witt blanks the Warriors
Junior goaltender
Clay Witt had a strong weekend between the pipes against Merrimack on Nov. 22-23, making a combined 67 saves in two wins. On Saturday against the Warriors, Witt made 38 stops (one shy of tying a career-high) to earn his first career shutout, the first for a Husky since
Chris Rawlings blanked Massachusetts on Nov. 30, 2012.
Witt also made one of the best saves of the season on Kyle Singleton in the first period with a diving post-to-post save to preserve the Northeastern lead. The save was honored as the top play on the NCAA Plays of the Week.
Sophomore surge
Sophomore forward
Kevin Roy has 28 goals and 26 assists in 44 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 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) this year.
At the dot
Freshman
John Stevens has won 52.6% of his face-offs this season, going 184-of-350. His 184 wins are seventh in the nation, and he is one of two freshmen in the nation in the top 10 in face-off victories. As a team, the Huskies are 529-of-1045, while the NU freshmen have the most wins of all rookies (498).
Winner, winner
Three of freshman center
Dalen Hedges' five goals this season have proven to be game-winners, making him one of 19 skaters in the nation with at least three game-winning tallies this season. Hedges is also one of just two freshmen with three game-winners, and matched
Kevin Roy's 2012-13 team-leading total last weekend at Notre Dame.
Pimm on the power play
The Northeastern power play, currently ranked in a tie for seventh in the nation with 16 goals on the man advantage, has received five from senior
Braden Pimm in 15 games, already exceeding his total from his first three seasons combined. Pimm is one of eight players in the country with at least five power play goals this season.
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 13 of NU's 15 games this year, totaling 21 goals and 16 assists along with a combined +14 rating.
Ferriero's coming out party
Freshman winger
Nathan Ferriero had a big night for Northeastern against Merrimack last Friday, tallying three assists. Ferriero assisted on both of
Dalen Hedges' tallies, as well as
Kevin Roy's eventual game-winning goal.
Ferriero is the fourth Husky to log three helpers in a game this season, joining fellow freshmen
Mike Szmatula (Oct. 11 vs. Alabama-Huntsville),
Zach Aston-Reese (Oct. 19 vs. Holy Cross), and Hedges (Oct. 25 at St. Lawrence).
On the plus side
Junior captain
Josh Manson has anchored the Northeastern defensive corps through the first 15 games of the season, and is tied for 13th in the nation with a plus/minus rating of +11. The Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native has been an even or a plus in 13 of the team's 15 games so far this year, and is one of just 23 skaters in the nation to be at least +11, and one of 12 defensemen.
Lending a helping hand
Northeastern has tallied 86 assists through 15 games this season, which is 12 in the country and third in Hockey East, sparked by 12 helpers from freshman
Mike Szmatula (tied for 16th in the nation). Szmatula has an assist in eight of the team's 15 games this season, including three games with multi-assist efforts and a career-high three helpers on opening night against Alabama-Huntsville.
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 a third of that total in just 15 games. NU is tied for 11th in the nation with 51 goals this season, and its 3.40 goals per game average is 14th in the country. The Huskies' 51 goals this season are the most through 15 games since the 1994-95 season when NU tallied 52 goals in the opening 13 games of the season.
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 returned to the USCHO.com poll this week, checking in at No. 19. The Huskies are also receiving votes in the USA Today poll. Northeastern is one of nine 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 17 goals and 42 assists, which is 43% of Northeastern's total scoring.
O Captain, My Captain
Northeastern head coachÂ
Jim Madigan announced this spring that junior defensemanÂ
Josh Manson will serve as the Huskies' captain in 2013-14. Manson will be joined by classmatesÂ
Dax Lauwers andÂ
Adam Reid as assistant captains.
Manson, a 2011 sixth-round NHL draft pick by the Anaheim Ducks, emerged as a leader during his sophomore season with seven points (three goals, four assists). Lauwers and Reid, meanwhile, contributed five (1-4-5) and 12 (6-6-12) points, respectively, during their sophomore seasons in 2012-13.
Show dogs
Northeastern has four NHL draft picks on this year's squad. SophomoreÂ
Kevin Roy is NU's highest draft pick after the Anaheim Ducks took him in the fourth round (97th overall) last year. San Jose selected seniorÂ
Cody Ferriero in the fifth round (127th) in 2010 while juniorÂ
Josh Manson was an Anaheim sixth rounder (160th) in 2011. NewcomerÂ
Matt Benning was selected by the Boston Bruins in the sixth round (175th) at the 2012 Entry Draft.
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.
The road ahead
After a 10-day layoff, Northeastern will close out the first half the season with a roadtrip to Burlington, Vt. for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Catamounts at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Dec. 17. It will be the first of three meetings between the teams, with Vermont visiting Matthews Arena for a pair of games on Jan. 17-18.
