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Northeastern Huskies 2023-24: Brave New World or New Beginning?

The most telling change I can see is that the defense is bigger, deeper, more active, and more talented than maybe it has ever been. Maybe that explains why the forwards seem to be swarming instead of taking a shot and then sagging back as we've seen the past few years. But I like what I'm seeing.

Hope whatever is ailing Ritz the Elder and Hunter McDonald isn't serious. It would be a punch in the gut to lose one or both what with much more serious competition coming after the bye week. The injury bug hasn't been kind to NU over the years.
 
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Well I went to a fairly empty Whit tonight and am staying with my older son in Portsmouth. That was pretty ugly hockey. NU was sloppy and turnovers cost. The game was tied thru 2 periods but I will say our goal tending likely isn't what it's been in perhaps over a decade, or more. I said likely not certainly but clearly the 2 week hiatus hurt them tonight. I also believe we lost our best offensive talent from last season to Western MI via transfer portal. So there's that.
 
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Sam is having a great start to the year for sure, but I don’t know if I’d have called him our best offensive talent. Definitely up there, but he isn’t here so it doesnt matter.

whitehead was tested for the first time and didn’t rise to the challenge. I’m not worried about that either. That game got frustrating for everyone down the stretch. Hopefully the team takes this as an opportunity to learn they need to stay crisp under pressure and not pass the puck to the other color sweaters.
 
Yuck! I get it that NU was down three top-level players but that doesn't explain why they seemed so anemic in the attacking zone. Badly outplayed throughout the third period and badly outshot (25-16). Not sure what to say about Whitehead, who looked great in the early going; not so much in the third but in fairness, most of the third period was played in the NU end.

As for the transfer portal export to WMU, he's 5-2-7 in four games.
 
Hoping to see the game tonight. As for the guy at WMU, if he'd put up those numbers here, he'd still be here. Was he in a round peg/square hole spot here? Maybe. But you can't lose what you never got from him.
 
PullTheGoalie said:
Hoping to see the game tonight. As for the guy at WMU, if he'd put up those numbers here, he'd still be here. Was he in a round peg/square hole spot here? Maybe. But you can't lose what you never got from him.
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Maybe, however you need to recognize ones ability too. That said, don't look now, but we just might suck again.
 
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It must be the season for evil spirits floating around because I can't come up with any rational reason why NU should have played so ineptly against its first legitimate opponents of the season. Yes, key guys are banged up but there just has to be more to the offense than JRitz. Nobody else can step up and spark an attack and generally be a pain in the butt for an opponent to deal with? Really? On the defensive side, again giving a pass to Whitehead, who IMO was hung out to dry on two of the Mack and at least one of the UNH goals. Yes, McDonald and Dorrington are missed.

Most telling, I'm just not seeing any swagger. Looking at the body language during stoppages and time-outs, all I'm seeing is bowed heads and stooped shoulders. Absolutely nobody trying to fire anybody up. OK, so the Captain is on the shelf but where's the leadership from the guys wearing the A's?
 
Split-N said:
I

Most telling, I'm just not seeing any swagger. Looking at the body language during stoppages and time-outs, all I'm seeing is bowed heads and stooped shoulders. Absolutely nobody trying to fire anybody up. OK, so the Captain is on the shelf but where's the leadership from the guys wearing the A's?
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I agree with your observation. After the first goal, on a badly misplayed two on one, the team seemed to slump, while the ‘Mack seemed energized. We had to chase the game, but couldn’t get the puck near the net without finding a blue jersey in their path. Our shooters did a job on the end boards. They may need repainting. No one seemed to want to drive to the net and leave their position uncovered. We were lucky to get a goal late in the game, and apologized for it by giving up a 190’ ENG shortly after our goalie reached the bench.
We checked our opponent so softly that we weren’t called for a single penalty. We didn’t deserve one. I can’t remember the last time an NU team didn’t need to employ the PK. MACK’s Copponi was called for two minors - probably a record for his team - which were really unnecessary.
Perhaps beating newcomer Stonehill, Bentley, and winning in a shootout against Quinnipiac with a full squad, gave this team the idea that they merely needed to take the ice in order to beat a couple of teams they’ve owned for years. Unless they straighten things out, and soon, they will be the HEA cupcakes.
 
After seeing NU play three times and going to the ND v BU game tonight, my thoughts are we just aren't very good offensively because we simply don't have the offensive fire power beyond Cam Lund and Gunnerwolf Fontaine. These guys BU and ND are flying compared to us, and all lines are so skilled. However, I think defensively we are as good maybe even better than any team in college hockey. Unfortunately, that often equates to lots of losers in college hockey. BTW the girls team looks terrible too. How the mighty have fallen.
 
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RossiRules said:
After seeing NU play three times and going to the ND v BU game tonight, my thoughts are we just aren't very good offensively because we simply don't have the offensive fire power beyond Cam Lund and Gunnerwolf Fontaine. These guys BU and ND are flying compared to us, and all lines are so skilled. However, I think defensively we are as good maybe even better than any team in college hockey. Unfortunately, that often equates to lots of losers in college hockey. BTW the girls team looks terrible too. How the mighty have fallen.
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We actually do have decent firepower. They are simply not playing very well together. The lines seemed to be mismatched since our top returning scorer Justin Hryckowian has been out. Matt Choupani is a proven scorer, but he also missed the UMass game. The team played better against UMass, but ran into a strong goalie and a couple of posts. The D is good, but I'm not likely to claim that it's the best around. The defense would be even better if Ritzy and Hunter McDonald have been out injured since the first game, and haven't played in a HE game. The two were the HEA defensive forward and defensive defenseman of the '22-'23 season. They are both difference makers.

It might not seem obvious after scoring only 3 goals in 3 league games, but the team is doing several things well. The PK has been a perfect 0-11, while the power play is 5-18 ~28%. Committing only 13 penalties over 5 five games seems rather low. Exactly what that implies is subject to debate. Additionally, the team has won 55% of its faceoffs while playing without its best F/O specialist.
 
I was at the Sat ND/BU game too. Yes, NU is missing very key guys. I still don't think we match up offensively with those two teams. Also saw Jack Williams there, wearing a walking boot. Hope he doesn't miss much time.
 
Hoping the guy you saw in the walking boot was a Jack Wiliams body double. Really, the injury gods have been brutal. No team can lose guys like JRitz and Hunter McDonald and not pay a price. At least NU is only five games into its season so lots of schedule left when they finally get cleared.

Injuries or not, an average of one goal a game against HEA opponents clearly isn't going to cut it, no matter how well the defense and goaltending performs.
 
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PullTheGoalie said:
I was at the Sat ND/BU game too. Yes, NU is missing very key guys. I still don't think we match up offensively with those two teams. Also saw Jack Williams there, wearing a walking boot. Hope he doesn't miss much time.
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Williams played Friday against PC where he centered Lund and D-Ritzy, won 9 of 13 faceoffs and recorded 3 SOGs. I'm afraid that the player you might have seen was Matt Choupani. Choupani was out of the lineup Friday. Of course, you might have seen J-Ritzy.:(:(:( :((:
As I've said before, NU has a policy of treating injury information like the U.S. government (tries to)protect its nuclear secrets. So we have no idea when these players will return.
 
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PullTheGoalie said:
Sorry to say, he introduced himself as 'Jack', was wearing an NU hockey hat, said he was on the team, came to see buddies he knew playing that night.
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Good grief! He must have been hurt very late in the game on Friday. If true, we have to deal with PC this weekend without our first line center, our second line center and his RW, as well as our top Defensemen. We’re going to be kind of thin on offense. Our D will have to carry us.
 
PullTheGoalie said:
1-1 after two but the 28-5 shots on goal in favor of PC is grim.
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Well a loss is a loss. We really were lucky to steal a point because, they truly didn't deserve one. Unfortunately, this team is absolutely horrible offensively. I have mentioned earlier they may be the worst team we have had since Cronin's first year. I mean who else agrees with me? It's not injuries, it's talent! We just can't score and it's ridiculous to think we will. Who aside from Lund and Gunner can generate consistent offence against the likes of this years stacked BU, ME and BC teams? I'd like to think it's mental, but let's face it in this case, its not. We are going to be losing one goal games all season. Losing guys to the portal is one thing but not being able to build a team with adequate talent is on the coaching staff and whomever is charged with scouting prospective players...this years team is a total miss. I was thinking and hoping it's a chemistry issue. However, I think it's tallent, you can't fix that thru coaching or practice. Totally concerned!
 
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