BOSTON – Fernie Flaman Head Coach
Jerry Keefe has announced Northeastern Hockey's captains for the 2023-24 season.
Junior
Justin Hryckowian has been named captain of the squad, while fifth-year players
Matt DeMelis and
Liam Walsh and senior
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine will serve as assistant captains.
Hryckowian was Hockey East's Best Defensive Forward last season, while tabbing a Second Team All-Star honor. The Île Bizard, Quebec native concluded the 2022-23 season with a team-high 21 assists and finished second on the team with 36 points and 15 goals. In 35 games, he tallied 319 faceoff wins, the best mark in the league and in the NCAA (471).
DeMelis, a graduate student from Hingham, Massachusetts, has 42 points in 129-career games for the Huskies. The forward finished last season with ten points from four goals and six assists. A four-time Hockey East All-Academic Team honoree, DeMelis has helped Northeastern to a Hockey East regular season title, two Beanpot Championships and a 2022 NCAA Tournament berth.
Walsh comes back as a returning graduate student for the Huskies after transferring from Merrimack College for the 2022-23 season. The forward from Bridgeville, Pa. finished with five goals and seven assists in 19 games last year. Walsh managed a six-game point streak, tallying three goals and four assists for 1.2 points per game.
Fontaine, the 2020 Nashville Predators draft selection, appeared in all 35 games for the Huskies last season. The native of East Greenwich, R.I. tallied 30 points from ten goals and 20 assists, while adding 82 blocks. Fontaine scored both goals, including the game-tying goal, en route to the Huskies eighth Beanpot title with a win over #9/10 Harvard.
"Everyone has bought into taking this program to new heights," said Hryckowian. "We have a great leadership group, but it goes further than that. It's been unbelievable to see how everyone's bought in and I'm really excited to get going."
The Huskies open the 2023-24 campaign on Saturday, Oct. 7 against Stonehill (7 p.m., Matthews Arena).
