With the new season starting tomorrow night, we wrap up our preview series with our final team, the Northeastern Huskies.

Last year: 14-16-8 (10-10-7 HEA), finished 6th in the Hockey East regular season standings, lost to Boston College in Hockey East tournament semifinals.

What happened: The Huskies got off to an ugly start, both in and out of conference. Home losses to Holy Cross, Bentley, and Niagara made for a forgettable first few months at Matthews Arena. Northeastern got going after the winter break and made their push, with the common team goal of “trying to get back to .500″. After another Beanpot final turned heartbreak, NU found themselves in the thick of the playoff race when their head coach Greg Cronin was suspended for the final six regular season games. Despite the adversity, the team went 2-2-2 against the top three teams in the conference to end the season. With Cronin back for the playoffs, the Huskies came into Agganis Arena and pulled off the upset, knocking off BU in three games to move on to the semifinals where they had yet again another heartbreaking loss to BC, ending their season.

Key losses:

• Wade MacLeod/Tyler McNeely/Steve Silva (1st Line): These three players accounted for 46 goals last season. They were the heart and soul of the team, and carried everyone offensively. All three were expected losses to graduation, but their talent and chemistry came through all season. It will be tough for the Huskies to replace all that offense.
• Brodie Reid (F): Reid got going in the second half last year and provided a much needed spark to the Husky power play. He finished his freshman year with 11 goals and 17 assists while playing in 37 games. After just a single season on Huntington Ave., Reid signed a deal with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.
• Jamie Oleksiak (D): After being drafted in the first round of the NHL draft by the Dallas Stars, Oleksiak decided to leave college in favor of the OHL. The defenseman gave NU size (6’7”) and physicality on the back end but Oleksiak was raw at times and it took him time to adjust to the college game. The reason this is a big loss is because he looked like he was getting there when the season ended and he would have been an asset this season.

Key returners:

• Anthony Bitteto (D): The Long Island native is a leader both on and off the ice. Never afraid to speak up, Bitteto has earned the role of assistant captain after piling up 20 points last season. Look for him to get a lot of ice-time on the back end with his partner, Luke Eiber.
• Steve Quailer (F): Quailer struggled to get his form back at the beginning of last season after recovering from his ACL injury. This year the Huskies are counting on him to help replace the scoring they’ve lost. He will be one of the biggest keys to whether NU can succeed.
• Chris Rawlings (G): One of the bright spots for NU this year is their goaltending situation. Rawlings is coming off a good season, (2.68 GAA, .920 SV%) but he is expected to split some time with sophomore Clay Witt, who showed promise at the end of last saeason. The best case scenario is that Rawlings ups his game to another level and never lets Witt off the bench. If that happens, the Huskies will be in good shape defensively.
• Braden Pimm (F): Coming into his sophomore season, Pimm will see more minutes and get more chances to contribute. Just like with Quailer, he is going to be counted on for offense and he did enough last season to show he is ready to step his play up a notch.

2011-2012 Outlook: It’s always takes a bit of time to adjust to a new coach. Jim Madigan and his new staff are hoping that adjustment doesn’t take too long because every game matters in Hockey East starting with Friday’s season opener. That said, Northeastern isn’t as deep as they have been over the last few years and it could be their biggest problem. Just one or two injuries and there could be a lot of inexperienced players on the ice. This team has some experience, like Quailer, captain Mike McLaughlin, and Alex Tuckerman, who made the NCAA tournament in 2009. But they also have a lot of guys who are stepping in to new roles. Predictions for this team have ranged from as high as 5th, to 8th where they were slotted in the coaches’ poll, and even as low as 10th. This team has enough talent to be in the middle of the pack in their conference, but if they have early season struggles like they have over the past two years, they might finish a little lower down in the standings.

–Jared Shafran

Jared Shafran Hockey Fall Preview, Hockey East