Interview with head coach Bruce Crowder

Coach Crowder on what to take out of last season: Well I think our approach at the end of last was a little different than it was the year before. The year before we didn't make the playoffs, we ended up attacking the offseason with a lot of vigor right off the bat, and I think what happened is by the time February rolled around, we had been going pretty strong since about May and I think we just ran out of gas. After last year we decided to kind of back things off a little, started training almost a month, six weeks after the season, and kind of scheduled everything so that hopefully we are peeking in February, instead of peaking in early January which is what we did last year.

Coach Crowder on seniors and experience: For me we have come full circle. Everyone here is someone that we have brought in , the thing we have now is we've got guys who have been here four years under this coaching staff. We have seven seniors and I think in the years prior we only had nine total. I've said this all along, to be successful in college hockey you have to have your seniors come to the forefront and we are expecting big things out of our seniors this year. We've had some highs and we've had some lows and they have to come together as a pack and decide they want to go out in a blaze of glory.

Coach Crowder on scoring: I am going to go to my seniors, we need Brian Cummings to have a great year, we need Graig Mischler to have a great year, we need Matt Keating as a senior to have a great year, Kevin Welch needs to have his best year. And I think those guys have that capability.

Coach Crowder on Brian Cummings entering his senior year: Brian Cummings best year was as a freshman, and his best two game last year came in the BC series. We need him to come out of the gate and be a force in this league and he undoubtedly has the capabilities to do just that.

Coach Crowder on Matt Keating's 1999-2000 season: It was very much unexpected. He had a pretty good freshman year with about ten points, and the sophomore year he only had three points and no goals, so obviously he was a guy who because of his sophomore year we were not really counting on offensively. Then he went out and was third in scoring with 20 points last year. He's a natural athlete. Obviously there is everything with baseball. We didn't think he was even going to play last year and just concentrate on baseball. But again, he's excited about coming back even though he played pro baseball in the summer, he's looking forward to going out with a great senior year. I think it was his consistency and his competitiveness that allowed him to improve. Those are two things that he possesses as an athlete that are pretty good.

Coach Crowder on this year's schedule: The thing is we've shown in the past we can get up for some big games. Nine out of our first 14 games are against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year. The other five are two with PC, one with Lowell and two with Notre Dame. We've got a tough schedule. The first half of the year when you look at teams like Wisconsin, St. Lawrence and St. Cloud coming in here ad we go to Notre Dame for two, we've got our work cut out for us and I think that is going to make us a better team. If I was worried about my own career winning percentage I would have scheduled other teams, but we want to make this program better and the players better and put in a position to win championships and I think this is the way to do it.

Coach Crowder on Hockey East: It is going to be a cat fight type of year. I think Providence is going to be really tough. Everyone has lost quite a bit. BU lost some seniors and their goalie, BC lost all their seniors. It is going to be very competitive. It is going to give the coaches more gray hair and the fans are going to love it.

Coach Crowder's season outlook: We expect to make some waves. We expect to get to championship games and win championship games. When you have the majority of your team as upperclassmen, as juniors and seniors, now is the time to rise to the top. When you look at our junior and senior class I think those kids are capable of doing that in this league.

Coach Crowder on this year's recruits: We have to find more ways to generate offense. If you look at the kids we have coming in, their plus sides is that they are offensive minded. They might not be complete players at this point, but one of the things we felt is that we have a very good nucleus of forwards who can play defense and we really needed to add some skills on offense into the mix. When you look at the five coming in we all hope they have the ability to make us a better team offensively. We went out looking for guys we thought could make a difference in our offensive game. I think we've gone out and tried to recruit some kids with offensive talents. That is what we are expecting out of them. If you look at them I don't know if any is a real complete player at this moment, but that is why they are here, to get better. And I think you are going to see all of them challenge for ice time.

Coach Crowder on this year's forwards: We need a lot more offense. We need guys scoring goals. We need guys being a little bit more of catalysts and taking charge. One thing that happened last year because of our difficulty scoring goals is we were never able to separate in any given game from the opponent. It was always a one goal difference and obviously it puts a lot of pressure on the defense and the goaltending situation. It would be nice to take some heat off the defense and the goalies for a change and give us some room to breath. We are going to have to have more of that killer instinct, which I think is very important for our forwards.

Coach Crowder on this year's defense: Our defense is very solid. The thing is to try to stay away from the injury bug which has kind of hurt us in the past. I think we are as solid as any team in the country. When you look at our defense, it is an area that is definitely our strength. When you look at Peterman, Jozefowicz, Spiller, Fahey, Engbrecht, those five are as good as any five in the country. Our biggest thing at that position is to stay healthy.

Coach Crowder on this year's goaltenders: I think goaltender is a bit of a question mark. I think both goalies with the experience they have had have shown great things and they haven't shown great things. The biggest thing at the goaltending position is whoever is the most consistent is going to see the most ice time. I think early in the season we will go with whoever is playing well. We've got four kids right now and what we will do is after a few weeks into the season we will determine a number one and a number two, and those two guys will battle for playing time, and the three and four will have to wait for something to happen and wait for their chance. We're not going to rotate three or four goaltenders through the system. Jason Braun is very well seasoned. His freshman year he played a lot. Last year Gilhooly came in and played a lot. They know about the other one and are very competitive. We expect Todd Marr to take some playing time away and make the other two guys work. For us it is going to be a key position, and hopefully everyone involved in that position has been doing what they are supposed to be doing all summer long.

Coach Crowder on his assistants: We expect Jamie (Rice) and Paul (Cannata) to continue to be like the wide world of sports, scouring the globe to bring us the best players and athletes that they can. Both will be all over North American and three or four different time zones by the time the season is over.

Coach Crowder on ...
CAPTAIN JIM FAHEY: Jim brings a lot to the table. He is going to be our captain and obviously his leadership is something we really are going to be looking for.

ASSISTANT CAPTAIN BRIAN CUMMINGS: We really need a breakout year out of Brian Cummings. He's a kid who has kind of teased us, and it is now or never for him. We would like to see him have a great year and hit the road running.

ASSISTANT CAPTAIN MIKE JOZEFOWICZ: We need to get as much as possible out of Mike. He has shown signs of a guy who can play at the next level and we need to see that out of him each game this year.

JASON BRAUN: Jason played a lot as a freshman and had a little more competition as a sophomore. We need that position to be at its best, and hopefully he can make that happen.

MATT COATES: Coatsie is a tremendous kid. With his desire and work ethic, you never know what could happen.

RYAN DUDGEON: Ryan scored an astronomical amount of points in the Ontario Western League. He has great hands and always seems to find a way to score.

ARIK ENGBRECHT: Arik is a kid who we want to be a go-to-guy. He has the ability to take charge with his speed and his skill. They key will just be to stay healthy..

MIKE GILHOOLY: Mike had some tremendous games as a freshman. We are looking for him to become stronger, more confident mentally and more consistent.

LEON HAYWARD: Leon is a great guy to have on your team because you know what you are going to get out of him each and every game. We need him to keep that going and to supply a little more offense.

MATT KEATING: Matt was the biggest surprise on the team last year. He increased his offensive productivity by 17 points, and quite frankly, we would like to see him increase it by another 17.

WILLIE LEVESQUE: Willie is a hard nosed two way player who gives us some offense. We just need him to continue to work hard and improve in all areas.

CHIRS LYNCH: We went to Chris in a lot of situations last year. He wins faceoffs and is on the powerplay, and he will be counted on to produce offense for is this year.

SEAN MACDONALD: Sean has had a couple of tough years. We need him to realize this is his senior year. And I think he does and he will have a senior year to remember..

JOE MANCUSO: Joe is a hard working defenseman that we know we can go to. We do not have a lot of depth on D and he has to be ready to play at all times.

TODD MARR: Todd is a young man who is not content just to be on the team. He wants to play and to start and is going to do whatever it takes to do so.

JOE MASTRONARDI: We are looking for a lot out of Joe offensively as a sophomore. He had an OK freshman year and we are expecting more out him this year.

RAHIM MAWJI: Rahim is very fast and very competitive. He is going to keep the older players honest and really push them for playing time.

GRAIG MISCHLER: Graig was our top scorer last year and has always brought some offense. Right now we want to see him put up more point and have a break out senior year.

ERIC ORTLIP: Eric is a two-way center. He may be the most complete player out of the freshman class and can do more things. We are expecting good things out of him as a freshman.

JOHN PETERMAN: If there was one injury last year that hurt us more than any other it was losing John in December for the rest of the season. He hits extremely hard and has a cannon for a shot.

TREVOR RESCHNY: Trevor Reschny practices with us all last year. He has tremendous upside and will see a lot of ice time this year.

MIKE RYAN: All in all, Mike had a good freshman year. Being drafted and being a local kid, he had a lot of pressure on him. With a year of experience, we expect him now to be an offensive player for us.

SCOT SELIG: Scott is very skilled offensively and we are very excited to have him at Northeastern. He is going to get a lot of opportunities to show us what he can do.

RICH SPILLER: If Rich decides he wants to be on of the best hockey players in the country, I think he ahs that kind of capability. If he puts his mind to it, he can do it.

BRIAN SULLIVAN: Brian made a big jump from high school to Division I hockey. He is a sophomore behind some talented defensemen, but we still need to know we can rely on him.

BRIAN TUDRICK: We are looking for Brian to be tenacious, kill penalties and push guys everyday for playing time.

KEVIN WELCH: Kevin is probably one of my favorite players. I love what he brings to the table. He is a great guy in the lockeroom and one of those guys the whole team loves.

RYAN ZOLLER: Ryan is a guy who we would like to see more out of offensively. He is also a bit of a swingman, and can play defense if needed. He has a pro shot and we consistency out of him.