Men’s hockey signs nine recruits

(As seen in the Huntington News)

Since the end of the 2008-09 men’s hockey season, some Northeastern hockey fans have questioned the team’s chances for success in the upcoming season after losing nine players including All-American goaltender Brad Thiessen, who was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in April.

Some of those questions may have been answered June 24 when head coach Greg Cronin officially announced his biggest recruiting class ever for the upcoming season.

Nine new Huskies will join the team, which tied the school record for wins last season with 25 and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.

“I think at this point we can be more specific in our positional priorities and can recruit to the identity we’ve created over the last four years,” Cronin said in a statement. “This class represents the first wave that will reinforce what we’ve already established here at Northeastern.”

Cronin has shown marked improvement every year as coach of the Huskies. In 2005-06, his first at Northeastern, the team finished with three wins. Since then, Cronin has modeled his team to his liking with each recruiting class that comes in. The win total jumped to 13 in 2006-07, then to 16 in 2007-08, and to the school record 25 in 2008-09.

Headlining this new class are twin brothers Drew and Justin Daniels from Suffern, N.Y. The brothers were both picked in the 2008 NHL draft by the San Jose Sharks. Justin was taken in the third round and Drew was selected in the seventh. Both played last year for the Sioux City, S.D., Musketeers of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

Another big addition is goaltender Chris Rawlings. Originally from North Delta, British Columbia, Rawlings grew up 25 miles away from Thiessen's hometown of Aldergrove, B.C.
Listed at 6 feet, 5 inches and 210 pounds, Rawlings played last season with the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). He led the Caps to a 35-15-1 record while posting a goals against an average mark of 2.83 and a save percentage of .915, which led the BCHL. Rawlings was named the BCHL Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.

Jake Newton, a 6 foot, 3 inch, 205-pound defenseman from San Jacinto, Calif., spent his last two seasons with the Lincoln (Nebraska) Stars of the USHL and racked up 10 goals and 28 assists in 59 games in the 2008-09 season. He finished the season with a plus-minus rating of plus-16. Lincoln also finished atop the USHL West Division with a record of 37-17-6, and Newton played in the 2009 USHL All-Star game.

In addition to Newton, the Huskies have two more defensemen joining the team, one of which is Winnipeg (Ontario) native Drew Ellement. At 6 feet, 1 inch and 200 pounds, Ellement will give the Huskies more size and depth on defense, Cronin said. Last season, Ellement played in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and scored 13 goals alongside 28 assists for the Portage (Manitoba) Terriers in 63 games. Of his 41 points, 19 came on the power-play as Ellement scored eight power-play goals and chipped in 11 power-play assists. During the playoffs Ellement scored 17 goals and had five assists in 13 games. During the Anavet Cup finals, Ellement added four points.

Chris Student, a bit smaller at 5 feet, 9 inches and 170 pounds, will also join the team on defense this year. From Edina, Minn., Student also played last season in the USHL with the Waterloo (Iowa) Black Hawks. He scored two goals, had 14 assists, and finished at plus-28 on the season, the eighth-best mark in the USHL and the third highest of any defenseman.

Bryan Mountain, the Huskies’ other goalie recruit, hails from Brynmawr, Penn., and played alongside Ellement for the Portage Terriers. As the starter, he led the team to a league-best 32-9-1 record, finishing the regular season with a 2.66 goals-against-average and a .911 save percentage. Mountain has been able to keep the puck out of the net when it counted the most, posting a 2.46 GAA and a .914 save percentage in the playoffs.

The Huskies managed to get a local in the international group. Robbie Vrolyk, a 5 foot, 8 inch, 162-pound forward from Boylston, will be making the trip back to the Boston area after spending his last three seasons with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. Over the three seasons, Vrolyk racked up 81 points and in both of the last two years, Vrolyk has scored over 30 points. In 2009, he scored 24 goals and had nine assists as Sioux Falls finished with a 28-28-4 record.

Garrett Vermeersch, a 6 foot, 180-pound forward from Macomb, Mich., has played the previous two seasons in the USHL with the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders in 2007-08 and the Lincoln Stars in 2008-09. A teammate of Newton’s during the 2008-09 season with the Stars, Vermeersch scored 17 goals with 28 assists in 56 games. Of his 45 points, 18 came on the power play.