Huskies making it fun to be in the doghouse
This has been a great year to be a Northeastern player, or a Huskies fan. NU (23-9-4, 18-6-3 Hockey East), ranked fourth in the nation, has spent most of the season in the top 10, jumping out of the gate with a 5-0-1 run. The Huskies were consistent, never posting back-to-back losses, and winning the season series against every conference opponent except Boston University and UMass-Amherst. More on that later.
Northeastern students have rallied around their revitalized hockey team, establishing special sections in the balcony at Matthews Arena, including the Doghouse, and its reverse at the opposite end of the rink, with a hanging sign that reads the Godhouse, though it's really just overflow of student fans. A young man in a DayGlo green bodysuit runs around the upper concourse at the end of games, trailing students waving NU flags. The noise is constant.
"It's a real carnival atmosphere, which is what the spirit of college hockey is all about," said NU coach Greg Cronin. "It's fun to be a part of Northeastern hockey, it's fun to be a fan."
Northeastern, the No. 2 seed, will host No. 7 UMass-Amherst in the Hockey East quarterfinals, a best-of-three series beginning at 7 tonight at Matthews Arena. Tomorrow night's game will be on NESN.
"This is, for us, a great opportunity," said Cronin. "Northeastern hasn't hosted a playoff series since 1998 [against UMass-Lowell]. I'm happy for our students. It's the first time ever at Northeastern they've come to games at this volume. It's terrific for the program, it's terrific for the school.
"Clearly our players have the opportunity to manage the energy in the building."
Northeastern led the Hockey East standings from the beginning of the season until the last game of the regular season, which the Huskies lost to Boston College, 4-1. That gave BU the opportunity to take over first place with its victory over Providence.
"BU might be the only professional team playing college hockey right now," said Cronin with a rueful laugh.
"We've done well; for the second half of the year we've been the second- or third-most consistent team [in the country]. I'm really proud of our players, particularly in response to what happened last year [when NU crashed and burned with eight losses in the final 10 games]."
Missing out on first place in the conference was tough, but the Huskies have settled for home-ice advantage.
"You fight all year for home ice," Cronin said, "and our arena has been a real special place this season. This is a senior class that had three wins in their freshman year. To be 1 point and one day away from finishing first in the league is a real testimony to their character."
Now it's on to the Minutemen (15-18-3, 10-14-3), who won two of the three games against NU in the regular season.
"I wouldn't use the word 'worried,' " Cronin said. "It certainly gets my attention. They're a good hockey team, but there are no easy games in the league, every game is difficult. They have two of the top players in the league, James Marcou and Justin Braun in the back; they're very dynamic and dangerous on the ice."
UMass coach Don Cahoon acknowledged his team could be dangerous - or dreadful. "The season has been up and down; I think our record speaks for itself," Cahoon said. "We've been a hard team to figure out, both internally and externally. It seems to go as our team offenses and special teams go. When we bring our best, like most of the teams in this league, we're going to be competitive with almost everyone."
Northeastern has the advantage of playing in its rowdy doghouse.
"It's the second season now," said Cronin. "What you did in the first 36 games is officially over. Now it's whoever shows up on the weekend with the most poise."
"It's certainly good to be involved in the playoffs," said BC coach Jerry York, whose team slipped and slid through an uneven season. "The last few years we have had a chance to host them and this year it is a new wrinkle to it. I've read all of the releases from Hockey East. Nowhere does it say that the traveling team has to get knocked off."
However, only two weeks ago UNH won a pair from BC, albeit by one goal in each contest. The Eagles are practicing at a local school's Olympic-size rink this week to get ready to play on the big sheet at the Whittemore Center.
BC beat UNH in triple overtime in last year's Hockey East final.
"We're looking forward to having an opportunity to play against them now and we can forget about last season," said UNH coach Dick Umile. "They present problems all the time, they're a very, very skilled team, and obviously they are well coached. We are going to worry about ourselves and make sure we are ready to play."
The Wildcats are rolling into the NCAA Tournament in top form. They have a 15-game winning streak, and are unbeaten at home this season (13-0-3), part of a 30-game home unbeaten run (26-0-4). UNH has a 2-3 record all time against Duluth, with the home team winning every time.
UNH expects to have leading scorer Jenn Wakefield (32-17 -49) back in the lineup after she missed two games with a leg injury. Wakefield is tops in the country in game-winning goals with nine.
BC (22-8-5), seeded sixth, travels to Minneapolis for its quarterfinal against No. 2 seed Minnesota (31-4-3). The Eagles will need a big game from Molly Schaus, Hockey East's Defensive Player of the Week, who posted a .934 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average in two games in the conference tournament. Schaus leads Division 1 with a .940 save percentage. Kelli Stack leads the offense with 23 goals and 34 assists, 11th in the nation in scoring. She centers a dangerous line with Allie Thunstrom (19-22 -41) and freshman Mary Restuccia (12-15 -27) on the wings.
No. 8 Dartmouth (20-9-4) plays at No. 1 Wisconsin (31-2-5) and No. 7 St. Lawrence (24-10-3) is at No. 3 Mercyhurst (29-5-0).
Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com. 
