Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Rosenthal , sykura, Owens, couturier and I believe 1 more defenseman will be great additions to a very good freshman class from last year with Witt, Roy and the upperclassman who will lead these guys. In all seriousness this team has outstanding potential to the point some may say they could win hockey east. If Witt plays like everyone thinks he will this team can win hockey east. This team was very good team last year but lost some games they should of never lost but they will learn and they will be a force. If they don't then maybe then there should be some concern that this staff cannot win. I think this team is primed and the talent is deep and will be one of the best in the country. I know it sounds crazy but look how deep this team is and only losing 1 key player wow.

I like your enthusiasm but I would be very surprised if this team is any good next year. Expect next season to go like the last three series did against Maine, bu, and UNH. Not like we saw prior. Its not a very deep team. They have 3 good to great forwards and then a big drop off to ok role players to guys who should be nowhere near the lineup. The defense is still going to have major issues, and I think the Clay Witt we saw post Beanpot is the one we are going to see most of the year next year. He played above his head and kept this team in games they had no business being in last year.

I think Rossi nailed in an earlier post, this was one of those "pop-up" winning season all NU coaches have that come out of nowhere but have no basis in reality, and next year becomes more of the normal. A struggle to hit 10-12 wins.

 

[Bad knees]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

I understand your pessimism, however if you break it down and take away BC's power line you have a mediocre team at best. That also equates to all the HE teams as we are in much better position only losing 1 key player and or 33 points we have players that had major contributions this season. I also believe that there is something different about this team and that this teams chemistry as per many players comments were that' they feel more as a family and that will take them along way. Look at the other HE teams we can match up with any and yes let's go back to the BU game they dropped the ball, teams past would have laid over this team gave UNH everything that they could handle and you know as I do if any of those calls go our way we move on. Plus even if they improve 10% in the PP and everything is equal than they can be an elite team in HE

 

[HHound]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

I understand your pessimism, however if you break it down and take away BC's power line you have a mediocre team at best. That also equates to all the HE teams as we are in much better position only losing 1 key player and or 33 points we have players that had major contributions this season. I also believe that there is something different about this team and that this teams chemistry as per many players comments were that' they feel more as a family and that will take them along way. Look at the other HE teams we can match up with any and yes let's go back to the BU game they dropped the ball, teams past would have laid over this team gave UNH everything that they could handle and you know as I do if any of those calls go our way we move on. Plus even if they improve 10% in the PP and everything is equal than they can be an elite team in HE

Bad Knees- Good attitude and understanding of what is going on here.

Huskies01 - You are getting more pessimistic by the day. If you ran the University, I bet you'd change the school colors to black and black with black trim. Have you ever considered a career as a funeral director?

 

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

I understand your pessimism, however if you break it down and take away BC's power line you have a mediocre team at best. That also equates to all the HE teams as we are in much better position only losing 1 key player and or 33 points we have players that had major contributions this season. I also believe that there is something different about this team and that this teams chemistry as per many players comments were that' they feel more as a family and that will take them along way. Look at the other HE teams we can match up with any and yes let's go back to the BU game they dropped the ball, teams past would have laid over this team gave UNH everything that they could handle and you know as I do if any of those calls go our way we move on. Plus even if they improve 10% in the PP and everything is equal than they can be an elite team in HE

BC does lose alot up front. But Fitzgerald and Cangelosi had the same type of seasons as freshmen as our guys did. If our guys are going to get better, so are theres. Not to mention they are better on defense and in goal. They may not blow out as many teams, but they could win every game 2-1 next year no problem.

Notre Dame will have a better 2nd season in the league, that you can put $$$ on. bu will probably bounce back, especially if they get Eichel to come. UML may have the best coach in the league not named York, and if its not him, its the guy down at PC. Both those teams will be in the hunt for home ice.

As for the PP, what leads you to believe it will suddenly improve? While I agree that it had nowhere to go but up and should move back to at least average just because, we were saying the same thing going into this season.

Now for the fun stuff: This team gave up 741 shots on net last season in conference play. Figuring in blocks and misses, think of how high that number could be, I would guess approaching 900! (overall we gave up over 1000 up there with bu and UNH, two other teams not known for their defense this year)

We took 552 shots in conference play. So a difference of 200 shots. Now, take a look at shooting %. Against us this year our fellow Hockey East teams had a shot percentage of .069%. NU managed .094% in those same games. IF you look at the NHL, average team would be around .08%. (from Quant Hockey). The worst team in the NHL was the Sabers, at 6.956 this past year, the best the Ducks at 10.21. So if average team is around .08% we really overacheived on both offense AND defense this past season. So unless our forwards can continue to score on less shots, and our defense can continue to keep the puck out of the net while giving up a ton of shots, we will probably come back to normal in both areas. And lets remember we scored 52 and gave up 51 this year in conference play. So that should scare everybody. We got lucky on both ends of the ice.

So yeah, maybe team chemistry helped this team gut out a bunch of the wins and ties this year they did not deserve, unless they some how get more talent in here or the guys they have get better, if things move back to league average, we are in BIG trouble.

 

[NU_Husky]

Northeastern recruit Shaun Bily was drafted by Cedar Rapids in yesterday's Phase I draft.

Thanks for the heads up. In addition, Jon Barry, '95 D out of Thayer, was taken today in the Phase II part of the draft by Youngstown. '97 F Matt Filipe was taken by Cedar Rapids.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

I understand your pessimism, however if you break it down and take away BC's power line you have a mediocre team at best.

Yes, take away BC's power line and don't replace them with anyone... of course they'd be mediocre at best. In 3 more years they wouldn't even have a team!

I think we already went over this earlier but BC loses a ton all the time and brings in another serious class coming in and will likely move to a more defensive team this season with the strength on defense and goaltending, where they basically lost 1 ok player in McLeod on D. As always, don't expect BC to drop down very much in the standings and definitely don't expect NU to finish above them (it's possible, just very unlikely).

 

[retsap71]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

I understand your pessimism, however if you break it down and take away BC's power line you have a mediocre team at best. That also equates to all the HE teams as we are in much better position only losing 1 key player and or 33 points we have players that had major contributions this season. I also believe that there is something different about this team and that this teams chemistry as per many players comments were that' they feel more as a family and that will take them along way. Look at the other HE teams we can match up with any and yes let's go back to the BU game they dropped the ball, teams past would have laid over this team gave UNH everything that they could handle and you know as I do if any of those calls go our way we move on. Plus even if they improve 10% in the PP and everything is equal than they can be an elite team in HE

Whereas I do not agree with Huskies sky is falling at all times attitude, to call BC a mediocre team at best, does not bode well for your assessment of NU's team. BC will be at the top again. Watch the NHL draft in June, 2 of the top 15 names will be at BC in the fall. They are reloading, then add Noah Hannifan and Wood the following year. Don't feel bad for them, they are loaded again.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Whereas I do not agree with Huskies sky is falling at all times attitude, to call BC a mediocre team at best, does not bode well for your assessment of NU's team. BC will be at the top again. Watch the NHL draft in June, 2 of the top 15 names will be at BC in the fall. They are reloading, then add Noah Hannifan and Wood the following year. Don't feel bad for them, they are loaded again.

Hanifin accelerating to come this season. Won't be drafted until 2015 though.

 

[retsap71]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

BC does lose alot up front. But Fitzgerald and Cangelosi had the same type of seasons as freshmen as our guys did. If our guys are going to get better, so are theres. Not to mention they are better on defense and in goal. They may not blow out as many teams, but they could win every game 2-1 next year no problem.

Notre Dame will have a better 2nd season in the league, that you can put $$$ on. bu will probably bounce back, especially if they get Eichel to come. UML may have the best coach in the league not named York, and if its not him, its the guy down at PC. Both those teams will be in the hunt for home ice.

As for the PP, what leads you to believe it will suddenly improve? While I agree that it had nowhere to go but up and should move back to at least average just because, we were saying the same thing going into this season.

Now for the fun stuff: This team gave up 741 shots on net last season in conference play. Figuring in blocks and misses, think of how high that number could be, I would guess approaching 900! (overall we gave up over 1000 up there with bu and UNH, two other teams not known for their defense this year)

We took 552 shots in conference play. So a difference of 200 shots. Now, take a look at shooting %. Against us this year our fellow Hockey East teams had a shot percentage of .069%. NU managed .094% in those same games. IF you look at the NHL, average team would be around .08%. (from Quant Hockey). The worst team in the NHL was the Sabers, at 6.956 this past year, the best the Ducks at 10.21. So if average team is around .08% we really overacheived on both offense AND defense this past season. So unless our forwards can continue to score on less shots, and our defense can continue to keep the puck out of the net while giving up a ton of shots, we will probably come back to normal in both areas. And lets remember we scored 52 and gave up 51 this year in conference play. So that should scare everybody. We got lucky on both ends of the ice.

So yeah, maybe team chemistry helped this team gut out a bunch of the wins and ties this year they did not deserve, unless they some how get more talent in here or the guys they have get better, if things move back to league average, we are in BIG trouble.

I do agree with you on ND and BC will good again. NU could have a good season and I think they will, BUT they will most likely be weak on the blue line again which will make it tough to beat the teams with the fast skaters. BC's fast forwards on the fore check are to much for the NU slow dmen. I think NU will have the same 18-22 win season next year. Fighting for home ice, fighting for NCAA. If that is the new constant here, I can live with it. Seeing as that most years it has been can they not finish last. Based on reputation I like the sounds of the kids coming over the next several years. I said when JM was hired he will be the coach to stabilize this program. I believe you see that happening.

 

[retsap71]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Hanifin accelerating to come this season. Won't be drafted until 2015 though.

I heard that he might, so now BC gets 2 years from him. I read he is the 17 year old version of Eichel. Which I will still be shocked if he shows at BU.

 

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

I do agree with you on ND and BC will good again. NU could have a good season and I think they will, BUT they will most likely be weak on the blue line again which will make it tough to beat the teams with the fast skaters. BC's fast forwards on the fore check are to much for the NU slow dmen. I think NU will have the same 18-22 win season next year. Fighting for home ice, fighting for NCAA. If that is the new constant here, I can live with it. Seeing as that most years it has been can they not finish last. Based on reputation I like the sounds of the kids coming over the next several years. I said when JM was hired he will be the coach to stabilize this program. I believe you see that happening.

Yes, NU COULD be good again this coming year, I just think a huge correction is coming, and it does not bode well for us.

Like you said, and I have been saying, the defense on this team kills them. And as I showed below that stats more then back it up. And it is not going to get better this year.

Lets be fair to the incoming kids, lets say at best they play at the same level Benning did this past year, that does not make us better on the blue line. And I think its going to be a stretch if they can both do that. Maybe Cockerill can, I doubt Owens can. (sorry good solid dmen are just not available the fall of their final year in prep/juniors/wherever.) And its not like Benning took the league by storm.

The reinforcements on the blue line start coming in 2015, just as we get rid of the dead wood back there. Hopefully we still have some forwards left who can put the puck in the net when those kids are ready.

The best part of this coming season will be watching Roy light it up in his final year. No way the Ducks let him go back for a fourth year and lose him to FA.

 

[NU_Husky]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

The best part of this coming season will be watching Roy light it up in his final year. No way the Ducks let him go back for a fourth year and lose him to FA.

This I feel all NU fans can agree with. Both parts of that statement. Sadly I too believe this to be Roy's last year at NU, but I feel he will go out with a BANG. He will crack 50 points, IMO. I'll go ahead and say 25 goals. I feel a special season coming.

As for the incoming D recruits, I really don't think they can play worse than DD did. Whenever he touched the ice I expected a goal to be scored against us. I feel that either Owens or Cockerill would be an upgrade in that spot- likely Owens, from a defensive perspective. Then look at the last spot, where Fennell would be penciled in- he grew to be passable in his own zone but he added zero to the offense, so Cockerill would add quite a boost with his shot. They (the incoming guys) may not be night-and-day upgrades, but I think you will see the bottom two branches of the defensive tree cut and replaced with better players.

Benning/Lauwers
Cockerill/Gunn
Saucerman/Owens

This is what I predict will be our 6 man lineup. For better or worse, I am an optimist, and I feel that they will be a competent, league average unit. Growth + better players replacing weaker ones will help this corps

 

[HHound]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Yes, NU COULD be good again this coming year, I just think a huge correction is coming, and it does not bode well for us.

Are you talking about a hockey team or the stock market and why are you so "opto-mystic"?

Owens was the defenseman of the year in a secondary junior league. He might surprise you on D + he's shown an offensive side. Cockerill seems like a small moose, who is known for having a bomb of a shot. If they play as well as Benning, I'll be delighted, as I expect that the rest of the D to be more effective with another year under their belt.

 

[Huskies01]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Are you talking about a hockey team or the stock market and why are you so "opto-mystic"?

Owens was the defenseman of the year in a secondary junior league. He might surprise you on D + he's shown an offensive side. Cockerill seems like a small moose, who is known for having a bomb of a shot. If they play as well as Benning, I'll be delighted, as I expect that the rest of the D to be more effective with another year under their belt.

So do you think that a combo of

Benning/Lauwers
Cockerill/Gunn
Saucerman/Owens

is going to be better then the different combos of

Manson/Gunn
Sauce/Lauwers/Benning
DD/Fennel

If not, or if they play the same, we better hope Clay Witt can play like he did pre-Beanpot, because if he falls off even a bit, and our offense cannot compensate for it, we will be a bottom 3 team.

Because this "improvement" you speak of for some of these guys is not going to happen. The majority of these guys are what they are at this point.

Look, numbers dont lie. This team got very lucky that the goalie played as well as he did this past season. And I really do not think he can keep any more pucks out of the net this coming season as he did this past with the same type of play in front of him.

Market correction is in order. Good example, Toronto Maple Leafs of the last two years.

 

[Bad knees]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Huskies you have great facts and you are absolutely right numbers don't lie. Your figures prove that we need to improve and your thought process is that these guys can't improve and your facts are based upon shots on goal and the how the lowest teams in the NHL compare to us. Your right ( our 43% increase in goal production) our( 8%) decrease in goals allowed plus our 110% increase in games won and last but not least out 100 movement upward in HE shows is as a team that was just lucky and that our goalie stole the show that the rest of the team which also helped in accounting for these statistics means they will definitely finish in the bottom 3. The guys like Roy, Szmatula Witt plus our freshman will not improve as they should nothing this year. A lucky season, do you really think that this team with players that have won Clark cups and various other JR championships will just lay down and put there tail between there leggs. Your statement that there will be a correction will be correct NU will be one of the top 3 teams in HE

 

[retsap71]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

Yes, NU COULD be good again this coming year, I just think a huge correction is coming, and it does not bode well for us.

Like you said, and I have been saying, the defense on this team kills them. And as I showed below that stats more then back it up. And it is not going to get better this year.

Lets be fair to the incoming kids, lets say at best they play at the same level Benning did this past year, that does not make us better on the blue line. And I think its going to be a stretch if they can both do that. Maybe Cockerill can, I doubt Owens can. (sorry good solid dmen are just not available the fall of their final year in prep/juniors/wherever.) And its not like Benning took the league by storm.

The reinforcements on the blue line start coming in 2015, just as we get rid of the dead wood back there. Hopefully we still have some forwards left who can put the puck in the net when those kids are ready.

The best part of this coming season will be watching Roy light it up in his final year. No way the Ducks let him go back for a fourth year and lose him to FA.

Here it comes!!! I agree with you

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

do you really think that this team with players that have won Clark cups and various other JR championships

Oh, good argument.

 

[HHound]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

So do you think that a combo of

Benning/Lauwers
Cockerill/Gunn
Saucerman/Owens

is going to be better then the different combos of

Manson/Gunn
Sauce/Lauwers/Benning
DD/Fennel

If not, or if they play the same, we better hope Clay Witt can play like he did pre-Beanpot, because if he falls off even a bit, and our offense cannot compensate for it, we will be a bottom 3 team.

Because this "improvement" you speak of for some of these guys is not going to happen. The majority of these guys are what they are at this point.

Look, numbers dont lie. This team got very lucky that the goalie played as well as he did this past season. And I really do not think he can keep any more pucks out of the net this coming season as he did this past with the same type of play in front of him.

Market correction is in order. Good example, Toronto Maple Leafs of the last two years.

I prefer putting Sauce with Gunn and let the two freshman play together, but I doubt that will happen. An offensive D with a more defensive partner.

As for the statistics: They are more useful in some sports than they are in others. In Baseball, it'a really helpful to know what the opposition players tendencies are, It's a slower (and IMHO, it's a more cerebral game) while hockey is more reactive, more continuous and less plannable game. Shot statistics don't seem as relevant to me as batting averages, ERA, WHIP etc.

Individual game shot stats don't mean a lot unless there is a huge discrpancy, and even then... Ask the NY Rangers.

 

[NU_Husky]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

If not, or if they play the same, we better hope Clay Witt can play like he did pre-Beanpot, because if he falls off even a bit, and our offense cannot compensate for it, we will be a bottom 3 team.

I do not think it is fair to pin these conditions on just NU, saying that we will be a bottom 3 team if our goalie falters, our offense falters, and/or our defense falters. This applies to all teams. If Lowell's frosh goalie comes in and struggles, they will be lower in the standings (especially when considering they lost their top D and onr of their top F). ND lost a ton of senior production, as did UNH. To assume teams will all reload/repeat their production and NU will suffer market correction is unrealistic. All 12 teams face their own challenges for 2013-14, I personally feel NU will be able to answer theirs better than other teams in Hockey East, and others on this board may/may not agree.

I also think it is unfair to assume Clay Witt will come crashing down to earth for a full year. We may very well see a full year of pre-Beanpot Clay. I'm sure not many people thought Hellebuyck would do what he did in year two, yet he was the top goalie in the country. Clay could very well come in next year and give a repeat performance. There is also a larger sample size, in terms of games played, that show him thriving in net (Pre-Beanpot) versus struggling (post-Beanpot). Only twice pre-Beanpot did he save less than 90% of shots (and one of those he saved 89.7% of shots). Whether it be the team wore down, his confidence was shaken, or he himself wore down, I'm personally more inclined to believe the larger sample size.

 

[itisibecky]

Re: Northeastern Huskies 2014 Offseason: Resurrection's Over....Now What?

The problem with the band is that they play ALL THE TIME now. Every time there is a stoppage in play, on they play. If they are not on, they put a song on the PA. Its OK to let the game breathe and people talk to each other, and the kids chant.

Basically what happens with that is we're told by our director to play, and he is told by whoever is on the other end of the headset so it's not really up to us. Also, though I get what you're saying, cheers can happen when things are happening on ice-we only play when there is a stoppage in play- but being at just about every home game I noticed that not much cheering goes on in general. In fact there was a lot of silence from the student section, lack of cheers, etc... Also, this isn't meant to be an attack on the Dog House bc if I wasn't attending every game with the band anyway I'd be there in the Dog House as a fan. I just think that there is extreme disconnect between the band and the student section and let's be real here, we're both there for the same reason-- supporting the team (I hope). If we do this correctly, we can also support each other which would make the experience better for everyone.
Not to mention the opposition (people seem to get very sour when discussing BU) but BU's band and Dog Pound have a very positive relationship and really good coordination and they *gasp* LIKE (and respect) each other. They have pep tunes and chants that go together and cool stuff and they put on a good representation of their school.

I think we need to work together more to have a unified front and support our school better.

Also I feel like we need some new cheers. While I do find some of the ones we do funny, I also think we're kind of overdoing the sex themed chants and I'm honestly not sure if it really does much but make us look silly. If they're like traditional and have been happening for a while than whatever, I'm a new girl here so what do I know, but we should add some new ones that children and adults won't be entirely embarrassed to hear.

Also, a bit of background info, I am (was?) a freshman this year so obviously I have no prior experience with regards to college hockey or how things used to work at Northeastern but I know that I enjoy being at games and supporting the team and I want to see everyone's experience at Matthew's improve.

*Also I'm speaking for myself NOT the band, I just happen to be in the band*