Massachusetts high school product and Huskies OL Greg Niland was featured in the Brockton Enterprise this week:
“Greg is a guy that we saw in the summer before his senior year,” said Huskies head coach Rocky Hager. “The athleticism with which he was able to do things on our camp field was like, ‘Gee wiz, I need to pay pretty close attention.’ Coyle-Cassidy is a hockey school, but he was dominating and we chose to recruit him.” [Brockton Enterprise]
Sophomore Steve Qualier is next up on the ongoing summer A-Z player profiles from INCH:
The Huskies will expect much more from him as a sophomore, including a potential position switch to center. There he’d have added defensive responsibilities and need to take faceoffs, but his intelligence on the ice should make the transition easier - and could make him even more dangerous offensively with more room to work. [Inside College Hockey]
Alex Faust Football, Hockey, The Dog Pound
Prefacing the new season is difficult to do without at least a mention of the roller-coaster ride that was the 2008-2009 campaign. The opening sentence of collegehoops.net’s 2009-2010 preview contrasts possible reasons for the Huskies late-season downfall, asking whether last year’s surge was based in luck or the losses down the stretch were due to lack of depth. With that type of introduction, it’s clear that this year’s pre-season assessment is not nearly as glowing as it was in 2008. This year, they rank Northeastern at 102nd, a tumble from last year’s pre-season rank of 69. [Collegehoops.net]
Alex Faust Basketball
>>> Boston College quarterback David Shinskie has broken ribs after a practice incident. No word yet on who the quarterback will be in the season opener versus Northeastern. [ESPN]
>>> Four Huskies were named to the Sports Network’s pre-season All-America list, lifting NU to ninth place nationwide. [The Sports Network via NU Athletics]
>>> An interesting article in the Washington Post talks about when fans get too involved in scouting potential players, and the impact that a surge in fan-operated team websites has on the recruiting process. [Washington Post]
11 days until Northeastern football kicks off on WRBB.
WRBB Sports The Dog Pound BC
Co-captains Annie Hogan and Lindsay Berman speak about what it means to be playing a game in Fenway Park.
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Assistant coach Lauren McAuliffe:
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Assistant coach Linda Lundrigan:
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Patrick McHugh Audio, Press Pass Fenway, women's hockey
UMass athletics has inked a deal with 890 ESPN (WAMG Boston) to carry Minutemen football, hockey, and basketball this season. The station, which joins the UMass Sports Network of radio stations, was previously the flagship broadcast partner for Northeastern athletics. No announcement has been made regarding Northeastern radio broadcasts this season. [UMass Athletics]
Alex Faust The Dog Pound UMass
Hockey East officially announced this morning that the women’s hockey teams from Northeastern and the University of New Hampshire will compete in the first half of a college hockey doubleheader at Fenway Park on January 8th, 2009. The game will be the first ever outdoor women’s hockey game, and is expected to shatter the single-game record for attendance at an NCAA women’s hockey game. The current record is 6,854, set when Minnesota played its first women’s hockey game in the fall of 1997.
Tickets for the doubleheader will start at $5 and prices are capped at $99. More ticket information can be found here.
WRBB will provide live coverage of the event, which begins at 4:30 p.m.
Press releases about the game: Hockey East | Northeastern
Alex Faust Hockey Fenway, UNH, women's hockey
Michael Litos, who maintains his CAA-basketball-centric blog on a daily basis, conducted an interview with CAA commissioner Tom Yeager for Virginia Sports Now. A few interesting items came up in the interview.
First, With Old Dominion and Georgia State entering the conference over the next few years, undoubtedly buzz starts about the future size of the conference (and the implications for a comparatively small Northeastern program):
[Litos]: Old Dominion starts football this year and Georgia State is right behind them. For lack of a better word, you are getting to an unworkable number of teams. What do you guys have in the works to deal with that?
Yeager: I think we are at the limit now in terms of our present structure or membership. When you get to 14 teams you are looking at 8 conference games in your division and two outside your division. That would mean some (players) would go through their entire college career and not play a team in the other division and something just isn’t right about that.
We’ve got so much going for us we’ll make it work, but if someone else starts football we’ll be restructuring. (It’s important) because there’s nothing like a football Saturday at these institutions.
Which leads, inevitably, to discussion of potential realignment, but the response to that:
Yeager: No. That’s all pretty well calmed down. It’s all top down and regional. I’m sure there’s movement below us and the west coast could realign tomorrow and it’s not going to reach us.
One more clip after the jump. Read more…
Alex Faust Basketball, Football CAA
>>> In the world of scheduling Northeastern football, flexibility is the name of the game. Michigan and Connecticut have finalized their agreement to play a home-and-home series during the 2010 and 2013 seasons. Their 2010 game will be on September 4th in Ann Arbor, which conflicts with the Northeastern/UConn game scheduled for September 2nd. As a result, NU will play UConn later in the season on October 9th. [Hartford Courant]
>>> A former member of Northeastern’s mens crew team, Will Miller has been named to the U.S. team competing in the World Rowing Championships. [Patriot Ledger]
>>> Ryan Gibbons may make up to $400,000 as a backup with the Dallas Cowboys this season, according to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. [Via Diehard Dogs on Twitter]
We also see that ESPN released their schedule for College Gameday (the basketball version). Sadly, Northeastern isn’t on the list. However, if it’s any consolation, there will be an ESPN-sponsored Bracketbuster game at Matthews Arena later this year.
WRBB Sports The Dog Pound Alumni, UConn
>>> Former Husky Ryan Gibbons has a “legitimate chance” to play for the Dallas Cowboys this coming season, that from reporter/blogger Tim MacMahon out of Dallas. Gibbons, who graduated after the 2005 season, has been on the Cowboys’ practice squad. [Dallas Morning News via Diehard Dogs]
>>> After hearing that news, we are reminded of this article, which contains a brief section about Cord Parks, who is battling for an opening as a backup with the St. Louis Rams. [St Louis Post-Dispatch]
>>> This morning, we saw a note that Chaisson Allen has a new website. The site, Chase Me Online, does not appear to be completely finished yet. There is a functional photo gallery, but other features will probably be added as the season draws closer.
WRBB Sports The Dog Pound Alumni
