Re: Northeastern Huskies 2010-2011 Season Thread
From Sebastien Laplante:
We had a rare mid-week game against BU last night at Agganis Arena as I had shared with you earlier this week. Unfortunately, the end-result was not a reflection of the game as many observers would tell you we were dealt an unfair ending. However, no one said hockey was always fair so we’ll have to work harder and find a way to play a full 60 minutes, which ultimately was the cause for our shortcoming.We took control of the game in the early parts with a very aggressive forecheck. We were able to sustain several attacks and cycle-possession leading to several very good scoring chances. Brodie Reid (Delta, BC) would open the score for us at the 6:49 mark on a NHL-quality shot! The play started when Anthony Bitetto (Island Park, NY) pinched in from his blue line spot to keep the puck in the zone. Anthony moved it to Mike McLaughlin (Seaforth, ON) who skated aggressively behind the net and towards the corner to create a passing lane in order to find a well positioned Brodie in the slot. Brodie received the puck on his backhand, with the stick skill of a natural goal scorer, he adroitly pulled it to his forehand and let go a rocket top shelf on the glove-side. Brodie was terrific last night multiplying the scoring chances. Brodie has been spending lots of time on his own working on his skating, his edges and agility skating, as well as his shot. His performance last night, including his goal, is a direct result of his individual efforts. It was Brodie’s first goal of the season while on a 5 on 5 situation on the year. His first tally had come on our first game of the season at Providence late in the game while our goaltender was pulled for an extra attacker.Shortly after Brodie’s goal at the 8:00 minute mark, Garrett Vermeersch (Macomb, MI) would double up the lead on a rebound from a Randy Guzior’s shot. Steve Silva (Tyngsboro, MA) had found “Guz” coming down from his right point position and Randy had taken a back-hand “spinarama” shot on the BU’s goalie’s pads. It was Garrett’s 2nd goal of the season, and second in 2 games. Even though we started like lions as illustrated by the shots which were 14-1 at one point in our favor. However, it appears we let up the pressure and allowed BU to get back in the game on a couple of costly mistakes. The first goal came on our own odd-men rush when one of our players missed the BU net wide on a slap shot. That slap shot jump started BU’s own odd-men rush which led to their first goal. Their second goal came after BU had us pinned in our zone for a while. One of their forward had changed and his replacement charged into the zone. He would get the puck at the blue line at full speed charging towards our flat-footed defenseman. He used our D-man as a screen shooting the puck, got his own rebound and went around Rawlings to find the bottom of the net. End of 1st period, NU2-BU2. Our second period did not start on the right foot as we allowed BU to score 2 more goals in a 47 seconds span as the Terriers were now on top 4-2. It was then that we decided to play the way that had gotten us the 2-0 lead. We quickly started to apply the same forecheck we had applied earlier in the game to regain the advantage in puck possession. Cutting down on turnovers and valuing each possession. We outshot the Terriers 16 to 8 in the second period while Garrett Millan played very well in front of the BU net. With 2:04 left in the second, Braden Pimm (Ft St. John, BC) would solve Millan also scoring his second of the game on a rebound shot from the glass behind the BU net. Cody Ferriero (Essex, MA) had moved the puck to Jamie Oleksiak (Toronto, ON) who took a good shot who reflected off the backboard. End of 2: NU3-BU4.That goal would motivate us to come back from the intermission determined to get the lead back. After taking the play to them, BU was forced to take 2 penalties on the same play giving us a 2-men advantage for a full 2 minutes. Wade MacLeod (Coquitlam, BC) would tie the score at 4 on a beautiful wrist shot after several good scoring chances and good puck movement. Assists were given to Brodie Reid and Anthony Bitetto. Tyler McNeely (Burnaby, BC) did not collect an assist but did a good job providing a screen in front of Millan. We had several more chances to score, including a point blank shot from Garrett Vermeersch, but no luck. The Terrier-skaters did a very good job all night of getting themselves in the shooting lanes blocking several shots before they made it to Millan. We attempted 88 shots on Millan on the night with 41 making it to him.BU would score the game winner on a PP of their own with 3:27 left in the last period on a nifty play from behind the goal line. The main lesson from Wednesday night’s game is never to change your style, or drift away from your game plan, when you take a lead. Evidently, we did Wednesday night after we took the 2-0 lead, cutting corners and trying to play an “easier” game. We paid a heavy price for it.Garrett Vermeersch continued his strong play, which is direct consequence of his enhanced dedication to work ethic. Cody Ferriero also played a strong game after watching the last Merrimack game from the stands. Our 3 freshmen D’s, Bitetto, Eibler and Oleksiak, all played top minutes in this game and looked terrific for us overall. Our next game is not until January 7th as we will travel to Amherst to face the Minutemen.Before I say goodbye, I must correct a mistake made on the press release announcing Jamie Oleksiak’s selection to the USA World Junior Selection Camp. Jamie is not the first Husky to be selected. Another illustrious alumnus, Willie Levesque, actually played in the 2000 WJC. We apologize for the oversight. Just like Willie was 10 years ago, we wish Jamie the very best hoping he will also be selected on the final roster which will be announced December 23rd.
