Scoring 14 goals in two night against Sacred Heart makes one wonder: does Northeastern have the most potent offense in the league? That leads the three things we learned this week:
1. Was what we saw from the Huskies going to be commonplace?
It’s impossible to think that the Huskies can maintain a seven-goals-per-game pace, but to think that Northeastern could rattle off four or five a night, something that would place it among the offensive elite nationally, isn’t too far fetched.
Now I know what you’ll say: they did it against Sacred Heart. Well, we’ve also buried the Huskies in years past for the fact they couldn’t crush (heck, at times couldn’t beat) Atlantic Hockey teams.
All the right player were scoring and rookie Zach Solow was the best Husky posting six points and three goals.
Plenty of hockey to play and certainly tougher tests ahead, but know this Northeastern team can score.
2. New Hampshire might be the most underestimated team
I know I had the Wildcats in the bottom half of my preseason poll, but a two-game sweep of UMass Lowell was an impressive start to the season for New Hampshire.
This is a team that has found increased team speed and frustrated the River Hawks attack, particularly in the neutral zone throughout the weekend.
Additionally, Danny Tirone was Danny Tirone: solid and dependable, in good position and seemingly with an ability to react quicker than many to big-time shots.
Definitely a lot to like about weekend one for UNH.
3. At 8-3-2, it’s a good non-league start for Hockey East
I’ve had people write to me asking me why I often harp on Hockey East’s non-league record. It’s simple: the better the record, the more NCAA teams the league will get.
An 8-3-2 mark, that included two Boston University wins over Union and Quinnipiac (the QU win coming on the road) and Providence’s sweep at Miami highlighted the first two weekends of non-conference play. Drop in the fact that the NCHC, the league that has become almost a rival for best non-conference record in recent seasons, is 5-5-1 thus far and there’s a lot to be happy about this very early start.
