Greg Cronin to lead the Huskies in 2011-2012

Greg Cronin will remain head hockey coach at Northeastern, this comes after reports earlier this week saying that Cronin would be bolting Huntington Ave for the AHL.

Looking ahead to next year...my predictions for Hockey East regular season

1.Boston University-You know I would never say that BU is going be good, but with Chassion,Clending,Millan, and Nieto returning BU could be very good next year. Experience still may be a problem for the Terriers.

2. Boston College. Yes BC is losing Gibbons,Atkinson,Hayes, and Samuelsson but I think the Eagles first two lines will be strong and we should have a good goalie with either Parker Milner or incoming recruit Brian Billet. BC will not have a much depth as they have had in years past but should be able to make a run at the NCAA tournament.

3.Northeastern-  Greg Cronin will be back, and there whole first line plus there best player in the Hockey East playoffs but this is the deepest team in the league. They will have the best goalie in Hockey East in Chris Rawlings. The problem for the Huskies will be they do not have a real "star" coming back. The first round game in the Beanpot between BC and NU should be a great game.

4.Merrimack-Losing arguably the best player in Hockey East will be tough, but MC defenseman Jordan Heywood, goalie Joe Cannatta, and JR Ryan Flanagan all return to the Warriors, who should be unstoppable at home again.

5.UNH-The Wildcats are losing their best players in Mike Sislo, Paul Thompson,and Phil DeSimone but have goalie Matt DeGirlonimo, defenseman Blake Kessel, Connor Hardowa and forwards Henrion, Mosses.

6.UVM.I probably should have UVM higher on this list but a couple things prevented me from doing that. First of all UVM is not good at D next year. They are losing big defenseman Kyle Medvic,and Kevan Miller. But UVM keeps forwards Stalberg and McCarthy.

7. Providence.I think this is the year PC gets into the Hockey East playoffs and will give someone a hard time, the NCAA's are a few years off for the Friars.

8.UMASS.I can't see UMASS not getting into the playoffs under Toot Cahoon. He could be done if they do not do something this year.

OUT OF PLAYOFFS- Tim Whitehead's tenure at Maine come to an end with the Black BEars losing almost everyone from a year ago. Lowell is in rebuilding stage.

Report-Cronin leaving Northeastern for AHL

Relabel sources say that Greg Cronin is leaving Northeastern for the AHL. This comes shortly after Cronin was suspended for two weeks this season.

Eagles to play in Detroit over the Holiday break

Over Christmas break, BC will travel to the Great Lakes Invitational to face off agisanst Michigan,Michigan State, and Michigan Tech.

Eagles will travel down to Yale on Nov 26

Rematch of last year Northeast regional final between the Bulldogs and Eagles.

News and Notes

1.Coach Mike Cavanaugh is one of two finalist for the Providence head coaching job, the other is former BU assistant David Quinn.

2. Although people say it is official that Chris Kreider is returning, the New York Rangers are still being very agressive in trying to lure Kreider to New York.

Philip Samulesson to leave Boston College

More to Come.....

Grading the defense

This year was a good year for the BC defensive core, in my opinion the Eagles were at the top of Hockey East in terms of D play. We will grade each player starting today on how their season fared.

Tommy Cross- Got an injury early in the season that kept him out a long time but I thought that Cross was the best D man on the team. He had the OT goal to beat BU and got a huge goal vs NU in the Hockey East semis. Tommy did struggle in the NCAA quarterfinals vs CC but that should not diminish what Tommy was able to accomplish this year.

Pat Wey-Most likely the best D man when it comes to getting the puck out of the zone and breaking it out. I thought this was a good year for Wey but he could be a great defenseman in this league next year. One game that sticks out in my head for Wey is the 1/22/11 game @ BU. Wey had a great game in his own zone, and was able to get the transition going.

Brian Dumoulin- Yes Dumoulin was an All American for the Eagles, but next year I am expecting him to be the best defenseman in Hockey East. He needs to be more of an offensive threat. To many times this year, he was getting caught up and it led to odd man rushes for the other team.

Philip Samuelsson- This was an average year for Samuelsson, who gave up many goals for this team. I do think that Philip did have some good games at the end of the year, mostly in the Hockey East playoffs. I hope that Samuelsson will be back next year because I think, with hard work, he could be the Eagles second or third defenseman.

Edwin Shea- Honestly, I think Edwin Shea had a god year. He did not play many games, but he seems to try very hard, and did not make as many mistakes as he has made in the past. He is starting to look for a good pass instead of just shooting the puck into the zone. One thing that he must work on is his shot, he needs to have a harder slap shot.

Patch Alber- Of all the d man, Patch has the most speed. Patch will need to have a better year next year for the Eagles to be successful and will need to be more physical in his own zone.

Issac Macleod-Issac should be a regular for the Eagles next year, and we are all hoping that he can find a way to help out this D core and have a great year.

Dumoulun, Atkinson

SO Dman Brian Dumoulin and former forward Cam Atkinson have been named First Team All Americans.John Muse was named a Second Team All American.

Note-NU FR Brodie Reed, who was a killer vs the Eagles this season, has decided for the NHL draft, which was a complete shock around the college world because Rees, who is a great freshman, may not be ready for the "big leagues"....we will see...go eagles !

News and Notes

1.Senior Brian Gibbons had sighned a NHL entry level contract with Penguins.

2.John Muse has sighned with the Portland Pirates

3.Denver University will be coming east to take on BC on OCT 15 and BU on the 17th.