Northeastern 2026-27: Gentlemen of the Road

[RossiRules]

In spite of all the negativity and even a ridiculous suggestion of a program pause, I think our husky ice athletes both woman and men will persevere. This bump in the road could actually could spawn our finest hour. For decades, all of the local college programs and even the Bruins actually travelled to Matthews some by horse and buggy to Matthews up hill both ways in the snow to play games and practice.

 

[Split-N]

+1,000

The paraphrase Thomas Paine, "These will be the times that try men's souls" (women's too). Encouraging though the first game win (vs longtime nemesis Bentley) may have been, bear in mind that not having an on-campus rink for games also means no on- or near-campus practice home. Players and coaches have to shuttle between Huntington Ave. and the Boch Center, in Dedham (~10 miles each way) almost daily for practice. (BTW, if you've never been in the Boch Center, it's cold enough to hang meat.)

That's a tough road to hoe over the course of the season so there surely will be bumps (and sinkholes) along with way. Given the circumstances, these kids and their coaches will richly deserve whatever successes they achieve. It's going to be very easy for fair weather fans to jump ship. So, if you're reading this post, please don't be one of them.

 

[BCeagle]

That doesn’t explain why Walter Brown isn’t available. Perhaps BU passed on a chance to “assist” a local rival. No good neighbor policy here!

I work a lot of games each week. The only explanation is many local rinks are used for Mens League games which means the rink makes money renting out the rinks. WBA is one rink where mens league games are played each week and then you have students using the rink.

There are other rinks but not sure why they can't be used. Like Ulin rink in Milton, Cleveland Circle, Rink by the Charles River in Watertown/Newton area, Ryan in Watertown Square area, etc. Another rink could be the figure skate rink in Norwood which has actually two rinks. One is often used for hockey. Fessenden in Newton also rents out to HA or Hockey Academy games.

I heard even BC High is building their own rink. Lovell has 3 rinks in Rockland.

 

[RossiRules]

Ouch..

 

[Split-N]

I'll take Saturday night over Friday night.

I guess there's a reason why Northeastern has come to be known as "Goaltender U." Nobody in the college hockey universe had ever heard of Sam Caulfield until last night. The kid was immense tonight and can't fault him all that much for Friday. Brian Mahoney-Wilson magic?

Nice to see four goals but the PP needs work. At least they have a punch list to work on during the 13-day break.

 

[PPGuru]

Caulfield played at Milton Academy. Had a monster season, good enough to be named Prep Player of the Year before moving on to Juniors. Granted, Prep accolades don't guarantee future success at higher levels, but Caulfield was fun to watch and I'm happy to see him here.

 

[cinnamoroll]

I guess there's a reason why Northeastern has come to be known as "Goaltender U." Nobody in the college hockey universe had ever heard of Sam Caulfield until last night. The kid was immense tonight and can't fault him all that much for Friday. Brian Mahoney-Wilson magic?

last year of his junior career hinted at this potential tbh. he was cut from his USHL team only to move up to the QMJHL but on the worst team in the league. he made that team respectable by some miracle. when he got injured they were back to being just straight up miserable to watch. he stole games for Baie Comeau they had no business being in. he was a Colgate commit originally but i wasnt shocked he got more offers.

another similar guy that came in last season was Josh Fleming in Penn State, they took a chance with his not spectacular numbers because he was behind a bad Acadie Bathurst team. as a freshman he split the net with transfer Kevin Reidler, .924 save % and 2.61 GAA, 10-7-2 record.

great sign of solid goalie scouting and obviously Northeastern's QMJHL scouting dominance. there's an even better goalie currently in the Q committed for next year

 

[navy44]

Did anyone see the hit on Zacher, or have any information on what happened? Keefe seemed steamed in the Saturday night presser, referring to Friday's game.

 

[eyak29]

If Zacher's still banged up from that hit, Caulfield looks ready: 39 saves on 40 so far. Two at BC this weekend, and I'd be fine riding him.

 

[Split-N]

Giving away my age here but Zacher's performance this weekend might have been the greatest display of college goaltending I've seen since Ken Dryden. And if Joe Connor's shot in the waning minutes on Friday night had only dropped into the net instead of on top of it.....

 

[RossiRules]

Wow that was really a great weekend for goalie university

 

[eyak29]

Hard to argue. Zacher stopped 91 of 97 while BC outshot Northeastern 97-42 over the weekend, and both games went to overtime. I said earlier that Caulfield looked ready if Zacher was banged up. Clearly he wasn't. That's a goalie stealing a split.

 

[Split-N]

Still very, very early but the Richter and Hobey powers that be must surely have noticed.

 

[McBain75]

I made the trip up from Buffalo this past weekend to see the team play in person. Friday night, it felt like a game they had no business being in but they clawed their way into it. Saturday, they capitalized on power plays. Overall, BC just played smoother. Especially on Friday - they passed and controlled the puck better and that resulted in a lot more offensive zone time and shots. NU just looked sloppy and the puck kept hopping off their sticks. Some of the guys need to put some more power behind their shots - they look like they're hitting it with a pool noodle. Zacher played great but the one thing he does is give up meaty rebounds in front. BC preyed on a couple of those. I don't know if NU can play the same game as a team like this, but maybe they just have to play their own style.
Letourneau is the latest version of a spoiled star player who expects everything his way. BC had some guys who were FAST.
Friday it was about half full. Saturday, most people were probably doing Halloween stuff so it was pretty empty.
I'm not sure what this team is yet and what it can be. I'm not sure what their ceiling is. But that's to be determined right now. I'm okay with starting with splits at UMass and BC.

 

[RossiRules]

Made it out to Georges Coney Island for two dogs and to find the spot where my wife and I carved our son's name into the counter in 1993.

If you have never tried this spot do so, as it's a Worcester landmark.

In my now 40+ years and 500 plus NCAA games in attendence I had never seen a hockey game at Holy Cross and I'm glad I went.

I know that the Crusaders aren't a great team this season. However, our Huskies played well in all three phases of the game and were generally disciplined, in what was at times a very physical contest.

It was only game #6 of the 2026/2027 season, just another road game in what will surely be 100 + straight road games to follow.

Power play looked good at times. Nice job Huskies. That HC rink reminds me more of a D3 rink, like the kind you might see at Babson or Curry.