Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

[Gphrpkhead]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

The only exhibition this year was British Columbia and since it was the first game of the year Shibrowski got only 1/2 of it since I imagine they wanted to get Patterson into game shape before the season started.

Kent Patterson (30:08 W)
Michael Shibrowsku (29:52 N)

Good point. He saw some limited action this season.

[northeastern]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Happy Holidays all..
and g'luck to the Huskies.
Hoping for a strong showing, should be a neat experience.

[Driftryder]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Happy Holidays all..
and g'luck to the Huskies.

Sounds like you guys have been playing some good Hockey recently with big wins on the road over Notre Dame and Michigan, should be a good game if we end up facing each other on the 31st.

[gopher wes]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Happy Holidays all..
and g'luck to the Huskies.
Hoping for a strong showing, should be a neat experience.

Any players to look out for from Northeastern? What is their key to success at this point and leading into that tourney?

Insight on your squad would be greatly appreciated!

[Art VanDelay]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Methinks Nate Schmidt will have a great weekend. 6 pts. Mark this thread.

[SkinsFan09]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Any players to look out for from Northeastern? What is their key to success at this point and leading into that tourney?

Insight on your squad would be greatly appreciated!

Steve Quailer
Vinny Saponari
Ludwig Karlsson

Key to out success is goalkeeper Chris Rawlings who is now #7 in the NCAA with a save percentage of 93.3%.

[NU Speed Racer]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

I would not take NU lightly in this tourney. Their record is very deceiving. If you just look at the record (which I think the poll voters are doing), NU looks like a .500 team that has put things together all of a sudden and is one of the hottest teams in the nation.

However when you break it down, or talk to any NU fan, you see a different story. NU is 0-4-1 in games against BC and Merrimack, both ranked #1 at a point this season. The tie was to Merrimack and was their first non-win of the season. Of the 4 losses, 3 are 1 goal games. 2 of them were OT losses that you can argue should have been wins for NU (up 3-1 on BC with 15 to go in the game).

With the game against Minn, NU will play 11 games against previously ranked #1 teams in the nation this season, Minn being the 9th game of those 11.

They also have a brand new coach, who's brought a spark to the program and the players. He's got them believing in his system and its starting to pay off early.

You turn those OT losses to ties or even wins and this NU team is ranked in the top 20 and would be given a lot of picks for possibly winning this tourney, especially if Minn guys are at the World Juniors.

[JDUBBS1280]

I would not take NU lightly in this tourney. Their record is very deceiving. If you just look at the record (which I think the poll voters are doing), NU looks like a .500 team that has put things together all of a sudden and is one of the hottest teams in the nation.

However when you break it down, or talk to any NU fan, you see a different story. NU is 0-4-1 in games against BC and Merrimack, both ranked #1 at a point this season. The tie was to Merrimack and was their first non-win of the season. Of the 4 losses, 3 are 1 goal games. 2 of them were OT losses that you can argue should have been wins for NU (up 3-1 on BC with 15 to go in the game).

With the game against Minn, NU will play 11 games against previously ranked #1 teams in the nation this season, Minn being the 9th game of those 11.

They also have a brand new coach, who's brought a spark to the program and the players. He's got them believing in his system and its starting to pay off early.

You turn those OT losses to ties or even wins and this NU team is ranked in the top 20 and would be given a lot of picks for possibly winning this tourney, especially if Minn guys are at the World Juniors.

I don't think anyone is taking them lightly, especially considering how inconsistent our team has been lately and the fact that we are certain to be without our leading scorer (Nick Bjugstad - 27pts) and could also be without Kyle Rau (22 pts) if he makes the WJC roster for the US.

[Driftryder]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

I would not take NU lightly in this tourney. Their record is very deceiving. If you just look at the record (which I think the poll voters are doing), NU looks like a .500 team that has put things together all of a sudden and is one of the hottest teams in the nation.

I agree with you, I'm sure the Gophers will not take you guys lightly if they do indeed play( 2 of our top scorers may be missing as well) NU looks like a good team that is coming on strong and has beaten some top teams. I also know these types of games are huge at the end of the year for PWR rankings and should be treated like a WCHA series.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Northeaster and Niagara have both had big wins this year. This is an important weekend for the Gophers. At least two forwards are going to get playing time that normally don't, and these are important games to try and win.

[Tiggsy]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

I agree with you, I'm sure the Gophers will not take you guys lightly if they do indeed play( 2 of our top scorers may be missing as well) NU looks like a good team that is coming on strong and has beaten some top teams. I also know these types of games are huge at the end of the year for PWR rankings and should be treated like a WCHA series.

Maybe this is what the team needs. The last couple of weeks have been against "lower" teams and the Gophers have been dragged down a bit. Maybe this team won't make the Gophers play down to their level.

[SanTropez]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Steve Quailer
Vinny Saponari
Ludwig Karlsson

Key to out success is goalkeeper Chris Rawlings who is now #7 in the NCAA with a save percentage of 93.3%.

He was a transfer correct?

[HungryHungryHuskies]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

He was a transfer correct?

Yes. Boston University for two seasons, dismissed from the team, USHL for one season and then ended up on Huntington Ave.

In my opinion, he's been a little invisible on the ice the past few times I've seen him, but we all know what he's capable of doing. One other guy I'd say to look out for is Cody Ferriero. He's finally starting to show flashes of what kind of player he can be, and there have been a number of times this year he's been Johnny-on-the-spot and attacking the net at the perfect time. Watch for any feeds to Ferriero for some good scoring opportunities.

[NUMcNeely]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Here is the Northeastern shpeel from my point of view:

We got a new coach this year, used to play for us in the 80's back in the glory days and we started the season looking like garbage. We played some teams well as documented by previous posters, but overall we didn't look anything like many of us were hoping we'd look like. It was very frustrating to say the least, especially given the offensive talent and depth on this team. Then the light switch flicked on and ever since we've played great 5 on 5 hockey, the power play and PK are still works in progress, but our overall play as of late has been light years ahead of what it has previously been. Key guys to watch:

#14 Braden Pimm (Forward), in my opinion our best overall player, makes a lot of smart plays, play maker in the offensive zone and has really good instincts on the PK.

#37 Chris Rawlings (Goalie) he's been the back bone of our recent success, he's really shown big strides from last year and even earlier in the season, he's a big guy (6 foot 5) but his lateral movement has really improved.

#7 Anthony Bitetto (Defense) great puck handler, good vision from the point especially on the PP, has really upped his defensive game this year and has just been solid all around.

#74 Vinny Saponari (Forward) Probably our most talented forward, especially offensively, he can really see the ice well and dish out the puck to his line mates.

So that's the basic run down, had I'd known we'd be playing this well I probably would have made an effort to go to this. Oh well, next time.

[SkinsFan09]

Re: Mariucci Classic (Minnesota Niagara Northeastern Princeton) 12-30,31

Quailer is the best player on NU.