After Covid interfered with normal scheduling and attendance of hockey games, last season saw the return of a packed Dog House and Northeastern Men’s Hockey went on to have one of the most successful seasons in their history. The team won the 2022 Hockey East Regular Season Championship and reappeared to the NCAA tournament, such accolades beckoning anticipation of another successful season.
The pieces are in place for the Huskies to build off last year’s fortune and be even more successful this season. The Huskies’ roster contains the ideal mix of size and speed, maturity and youth, and prowess and passion, with professional hockey on the horizon for several of the young men. There are 11 players making their debut on Huntington Ave., including three selected in the NHL draft last summer. Center Cam Lund was a second pick by the San Jose Sharks and defensemen Jackson Dorrington and Hunter McDonald were drafted by the Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. “We have high expectations for ourselves and nobody else. We expect to be playing for a championship at the end of the year,” said McDonald.
The 2022/2023 season kicked off Oct. 1 at the historic Matthews Arena with a 3-2 win in overtime against Long Island. Freshman Vinny Borgesi had a memorable debut by scoring the overtime winner of the 3-2 home opening victory.
With the season still in its infancy, it’s a perfect time to try to predict who this year’s top performers will be. According to Hockey East, Northeastern was ranked first as the season favorite by Hockey East 2022-23 Men’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll. It is a tenacious group led by excellent players and coaches, including returners Aidan McDonough and Devon Levi, who were named to the Hockey East First Team All-Star last season. Hockey East’s Coach of the year, Jerry Keefe, has returned in addition to assistant coach Jason Guerriero making his first appearance.
“Myself along with the entire team have high expectations for the team this year,” said senior Captain Aidan McDonough, a forward drafted to the Vancouver Canucks in 2019. “We have gone through some ups and downs so far early in the season and feel like the best is yet to come. We expect to win championships and this year is no different.”