BOSTON – No. 3 seed Northeastern is back in the NCAA tournament for the second in the last three seasons, and will square off with No. 2 seed Michigan on Saturday in the Northeast Regional at the DCU Center in the first meeting between the two teams since 2011. The game will be televised on ESPNews.
Join fellow fans at Matthews Arena on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. to sendoff the team on its trip to Worcester. The event will be held in the Matthews parking lot adjacent to the student entrance to the building, and free hot chocolate, donuts and Northeastern items will be provided to those in attendance. In addition, the Huskies will hold a student raffle for two tickets to this weekend's Northeast Regional!
Tickets to the Northeast Regional will be on sale until 11 a.m. on Thursday morning. Students can
click here to secure their seat at the student rate, while members of the Northeastern community can visit
tickets.GoNU.com to purchase their tickets.
Join us before the game on Saturday!
Before Northeastern takes on Michigan in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday fans are invited to join a pregame reception at
UNO's pizzeria & grill in Worcester, Mass. Festivities will kick-off at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 1:30 p.m. UNO's is located at 25 Major Taylor Blvd. in Worcester and is walking distance from the DCU Center.
Registration for the event is $10 and can be purchased by
clicking here. Any questions can be directed to
Justin Scheinert at
j.scheinert@northeastern.edu.
Huskies for Hobey
Adam Gaudette and
Dylan Sikura added to their extensive list of individual achievements last week when both were named as a Hobey Baker Top Ten Finalist. They are also the only representatives from Hockey East included on the list, and Northeastern is the only team to have two finalists.
Once again, fans will have the opportunity to show their support for Gaudette and Sikura by participating in the Hobey Baker fan vote, which is now open and runs through March 25. Fans can vote once per day through their Facebook accounts by visiting
Vote4Hobey.com.
Gaudette and Sikura give Northeastern its fifth and sixth in team history to be named a top ten finalist in team history, and second time in as many seasons, joining
Zach Aston-Reese (2017), Brad Thiessen (2009), Jim Fahey (2002) and Sandy Beadle (1981). Aston-Reese and Thiessen would go on to be named to the Hobey Hat Trick.
Back to the Dance
Northeastern is returning to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in team history, and second time in the last three seasons. The Huskies earned an at-large bid after finishing ninth in the PairWise rankings with a record of 23-9-5. The Huskies are 3-5-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament, which includes a run to the Frozen Four in 1982.
NU connections to the NCAA tournament
Fernie Flaman Men's Hockey Coach
Jim Madigan is just the second coach in program history to take two Northeastern teams to the NCAA tournament, and the first since Fernie Flaman himself reached the tournament in 1982 and 1988. Madigan was a freshman on the 1982 Frozen Four team and an assistant coach on the 1988 team.
Director of operations
Mike McLaughlin was a freshman on Northeastern's 2009 team, and has served in his current role for the Huskies' trips to the NCAAs in 2016 and 2018.
Sophomore
Matt Filipe and his father, Paul, are Northeastern's first father-son duo to both reach the NCAA tournament. Paul played with Madigan on Northeastern's 1982 team. Earlier this season, the Filipe family became Northeastern's first father-son duo to both win the Beanpot.
Youth movement
The Northeast Regional features four of the youngest players in college hockey, three of which will play in the Northeastern-Michigan game. The Wolverines' Quinn Hughes (Oct. 14, 1999) is the youngest player in college hockey, while Michael Pastujov (Aug. 23, 1999) is the fourth youngest and
Cayden Primeau (Aug. 11, 1999) the fifth. BU's Brady Tkachuk (Sept. 16, 1999) is the second youngest player in the NCAA.
Gaud Is Good
Adam Gaudette leads the nation in both overall scoring (60 points) and goals (30). His 20 multi-point games are the most in college hockey, and he's the 10th player in team history to record 60 points in a season, and the 12th in the NCAA to do it since 2012-13.
Gaudette's been filling the net in every way, and is near the top of the list in several categories:
Goal: Number (NCAA Rank)
Total Goals: 30 (1st)
Power Play Goals: 11 (t-4th)
Shorthanded Goals: 2 (t-10th)
Game-Winning Goals: 5 (t-2nd)
Multi-Goal Games: 8 (1st)
Hat Tricks: 2 (t-2nd)
He is the 11th player in team history to score 30 in a season, and the seventh in the NCAA since 2012-13.
Gaudette's done damage when it matters most. He's either scored or assisted on 12 of the team's 23 game-winning goals this year (five goals, seven assists). It's the second most game-winning points in the NCAA.
Gaudette's third in career scoring among active players with 142 points. His 68 career goals and his 32 PPG lead all active players. He also has points in 20 of his last 23 games (22 goals, 20 assists), and is on a season-long 10-game point streak entering the NCAA tournament (11 goals, 10 assists), two shy of a career-long.
Gaudette is the sixth Husky in team history with 50 points in consecutive seasons. He's also the 16th Husky since 1953 to record two 20-goal seasons during his collegiate career, and the 15th to do it in consecutive seasons (last: J.F. Aube in 1994-95).
Since 2012-13, only four players have record 50+ points in consecutive seasons: Gaudette,
Dylan Sikura, Boston College's Johnny Gaudreau and St. Lawrence's Greg Carey. He also became the 51st player in NU history to reach 100 points, and the 22nd to do it in three seasons or less.
Gaudette captured the Hockey East regular season scoring title with 33 points (19 goals, 14 assists) in conference play. He is the first Husky to win the scoring crown since Jason Guerriero in 2004-05. Of Hockey East's nine Hobey Baker Award winners, five won the conference scoring title (Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau, Jason Krog, Paul Kariya, David Emma).
He's Sik
Senior
Dylan Sikura is second among active players in the nation with 145 career points, and is currently third in the nation with 53 points (21 goals, 32 assists) in 34 games this season (1.56 points per game; third in the NCAA). His 32 helpers are tied for third in the country, and leads the nation with 13 power play goals.
What's most impressive about Sikura is his steady progression throughout his career at Northeastern. He went from a seven-point in 25-game freshman campaign to 28 points as a sophomore before a breakout 57-point junior season. 110 of Sikura's 145 career points (76%) have come in his last 72 games (1.53 points per game).
Huskies rake in all-conference honors
Adam Gaudette, who tore through league play with 35 points (20 goals, 15 assists) in 24 games, was named the Hockey East Player of the Year at the conference banquet. It's the second straight year that Northeastern has had the player of the year in the conference (
Zach Aston-Reese).
Gaudette, in addition to
Jeremy Davies,
Cayden Primeau and
Dylan Sikura, were all named Hockey East First Team All-Stars. Northeastern is first school since Maine (1992-93) with four first teamers, and the third in league history. Primeau was also named to the All-Rookie Team, NU's first selection since 2014.
Captain
Nolan Stevens was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star, giving NU five first and second team all-conference selections. It's the first time since Boston University in 2014-15 that Hockey East has had five players from the same school on the first and second teams.
Dynamic duo
Hobey Baker Top Ten Finalists
Adam Gaudette and
Dylan Sikura and have picked up right where they left off a season ago, recording 60 and 53 points apiece, respectively, making Northeastern one of two teams in the NCAA to have two players with at least 50 points this season (Princeton).
They've combined for the second highest points per game average among two teammates in the NCAA this season at 3.05 (points/team games played).
In the 93 career games that the two have played on the same line, Gaudette and Sikura have combined for 231 points (Gaudette: 56-58--114; Sikura: 44-73--117), leading NU to a 54-27-12 record in those games.
Gaudette and Sikura joined an elite group of Huskies earlier this season: only 10 players in Northeastern history have recorded 100 points over two seasons. Since Jan. 1, Gaudette is tied for first in the nation with 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists), while Sikura is fourth in overall scoring (12 goals, 19 assists).
Captain Comeback
Nolan Stevens is third on the team with 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists), and has goals in 17 of his last 30 games. Stevens has points in 32 of his last 48 games (31 goals, 27 assists), dating back to last season.
Stevens' 20-goal season as a sophomore in 2015-16 make him one of just 17 active players in the NCAA, along with Gaudette and Sikura in 2016-17 with a 20-goal season to his credit. He's the 17th Husky since 1953, and one of three this season (Gaudette and Sikura), with a pair of 20-goal seasons on his collegiate resume.
Prime'd for success
Freshman
Cayden Primeau has acclimated himself to the college game, earning starts in 31 of Northeastern's 37 games and posting a 19-7-5 mark, already tied for the fourth most in Northeastern single-season history. The Voorhees, N.J. native is sixth in save percentage (.932) and goals against average (1.88). He is one of two rookie netminders with 19 victories in the NCAA.
Primeau has allowed one goal or fewer in 18 games this season, the most for a Northeastern team since the 2008-09 season. He's also tied for 12th in the nation with four shutouts, and tied the program record for freshman shutouts, set by Brad Thiessen in 2006-07, on Feb. 24 at UNH.
Primeau was named the Hockey East Goaltending Champion at the conclusion of the regular season. He is the first Husky to be the goaltending champion since Brad Thiessen in 2008-09. He's also the fifth freshman in conference history to win, and first since Thatcher Demko in 2013-14.
He, with Gaudette, marked the first time since 2013-14 (Boston College's Johnny Gaudreau and Thatcher Demko), and 16th time in Hockey East history, that one team had both the scoring champion and goaltending champion in the same season.
Secondary scoring
With 75 of Northeastern's 134 goals this season coming off the sticks of
Adam Gaudette,
Nolan Stevens and
Dylan Sikura, much has been said about the Huskies' secondary scoring. In recent weeks, though, Northeastern's other three forward lines have come alive with 15 goals in the last eight games, including game-winning tallies from
Trevor Owens,
John Picking,
Biagio Lerario and
Brandon Schultz.
Winningest class in Northeastern hockey history
Northeastern's senior class has helped lead Northeastern to 79 victories, making them the winningest class in team history. They've also helped the Huskies to their first Hockey East title in 28 years, two NCAA appearances and the program's first Beanpot title since 1988.
Racking up the W's
Northeastern has 23 wins on the season, the third most in team history, and is one of 10 teams in the NCAA to have reached 23 victories. The Huskies are two wins shy of tying the school record for wins in a season, set in 2008-09 and 1981-82, and have already guaranteed that they'll have the fewest losses in a season since the 1981-82 Frozen Four team.
