Scoring 1 2 3 Final
Northeastern 6 1 4 11
Toronto 0 0 0 0

Saturday, October 7, 2000 (Exhibition)

This past August I sat in a sweltering hot seat at the Ballpark in Arlington (TX).  Sweat ran down my  back as the temperature inside the stadium exceeded 105 degrees.  My lemonade warmed up almost as soon as I bought it, and my Popsicle lasted all of two seconds before melting under that unforgiving Lone Star sun, the sticky drip of cherry running down my arm.  I sat next to a man and his 11-year old son enjoying a boys' day out.  In the middle of the baseball game, after the sun had set yet the heat had not subsided, for some reason long forgotten the father had teased his son that the Stars had lost the Stanley Cup to the Devils; the boy was more upset by Brett Hull's misfortune back in June than he was by the fact that the Rangers' baseball season had gone down the tubes long ago and that they were poised to lose the current game to Boston.  I remember complimenting the boy on his intelligence, "You know what's important kid, hockey."  The moral to the story is this: even in the hot southern sun, Hockey is Life.  

I remembered that story as the Northeastern Huskies played their lone exhibition game of the new season.  It has been seven months since they played hockey at Matthews Arena; long enough for the hockey jones of a die hard fanatic to ferment into a nervous fever that you might miss one moment of the new season.  Seven months since a draft of cold air chilled those of us who sit loyally in the balcony rooting for the team; seven months as we waited like children for Santa Claus, hoping to get a glimpse of him who brings us joy.  Seven months since the DogHouse asked anyone if they could feel it (yes, yes, yes).  Seven months.

I do not care if it was just an exhibition game.  I do not care if it doesn't count towards the national top ten rankings.  I do not care if it doesn't propel them to the top of Hockey East.  I felt like a junkie who had just gone to the methadone clinic.  Since last spring I have been waiting for this, the beginning of a new season, skates cutting across ice, rubber pucks cracking off the glass above the boards, the clash of sticks fighting for face-off wins echoing throughout the old barn.  Okay, this one was more of a precursor to a new season.  I am not going to get unrealistic about the Huskies' performance tonight, and I am not going to set any unrealistic expectations; this team is still expected to finish fifth in the Hockey East standings, and they have a lot of work to do if they are going to rise to the top of the conference.  But, oh boy, was it fun to watch them beat up on somebody - even if that somebody had to be imported from a foreign country.

Toronto goaltending was shellacked with an unexpected onslaught from a Northeastern team that seems to be ready for the season to begin.  The scoring came from Mike Ryan (2 goals), freshman Scott Selig (2 goals), Graig Mischler, freshman Ryan Dudgeon, Leon Hayward, Chris Lynch, Matt Keating - no I'm not done yet - Kevin Welch, and Joe Mastronardi.  NU goalies Mike Gilhooly, Jason Braun, and Todd Marr each played 20 minutes of shutout hockey.  Times of goals and assists are irrelevant, besides I dropped my pen jumping for joy sometime around 4-0 in the first period.

Coach Crower had two interesting lines in the game.  The offensive punch of Mischler, Ryan, and Selig may provide the scoring spark that Crowder has been looking for since taking over the reins four years ago.  The "Crunch Line" of Cummings, Mastronardi, and Keating did not provide any offense, but it did provide plenty of hard checking.  Cummings has not been renowned for goal scoring other than his overtime game winner in the Beanpot against Harvard, but he may be helped by being placed on the line with Keating - a promising scorer - and Mastronardi - a sophomore looking to develop further.

The most inspiring moment of the night came in the first period from freshman Scott Selig (#72 in your game program).  Selig dodged through the Toronto defense and passed off to Mike Ryan on the left side to add a tally to the plethora of goals to be scored on the night.  So effective was Selig in the first period that the Toronto players tried to take him out in the second.  The overwhelming advantage in shots on net that the dogs enjoyed over their northern opponents (50 to 11) gives hope that they are going to shoot the puck when the opportunity presents itself and connect for a goal rather than holding it forever hoping for something better that never comes.

So, the Huskies begin the season in earnest against St. Lawrence next week.  It will be hard to cheer against a team that took BU to the limits of human endurance in the NCAA tournament last spring and beat them.  The four overtime game that the Saints won will go down as the stuff from which legends are made.  They may even be fully rested by game time.

Seven months of waiting have ended.  I only hope that the season is so fun that I don't find myself pining for the hot Texas sun by mid-January.  They don't have any Division I teams down there, and the only ice is in the drinks.