I'm going to post the preview I wrote for the weekend's series with the
Huskies.
 
 
        They are one of the hardest working teams in Hockey East and play
under the direction of one of the most respected coaches in the game.
        And when the Northeastern Huskies make their season debut at the
Alfond Arena this weekend, opposite ends of the spectrum will
consolidate the unlike styles of game.
        In short, the Huskies are here to hit.
        "When we have success, we play the body," said Northeastern junior
forward Todd Barclay, who recorded a hat trick in the Huskies' 5-3 win
over Maine at Alfond last February. "Most of our offense comes from
working hard in the corners."
        "They have some good, young defenseman and we'll try to wear them
down," Husky sophomore defenseman Mike Jozefowicz said.
        No. 3 Maine, which enters the weekend holding a 9-1-1 mark overall, is
coming off a weekend rest while 4-9 Northeastern is riding the coat
tails of a two-game losing streak.
        Despite occupying the basement in the Hockey East, the Huskies are
4-2-2 in Orono since the 1993-94 season. But coach Bruce Crowder is
fielding a young team this year and insists history should be kept in
its original place.
        "We have 17 freshmen or sophomores in our lineup," Crowder said. "Our
freshmen have never played in Maine before and our sophomores have
played in Maine just once. Every year is different, it's just one of
those things for us. We always seem to have a different look."
        But the game plan hasn't changed. The Huskies' wrecking ball will
swing into action with their bruisers ready to flex their muscles on an
offensively-struggling team.
        "They'll pass up many opportunities with the puck to get a big hit,"
said Black Bear forward Brendan Walsh, who traveled to Boston last
weekend to see Northeastern play UMass-Lowell. "They are definitely
more physical than us and we'll have to address that."
        And, aside from Walsh, Matthias Trattnig and Barrett Heisten   Maine's
more physical skaters   will be called to arms come Saturday night.
        "It's part of my game," Heisten said. "If I don't hit, I'm not playing
well."
        The Huskies are led up front by Roger Holeczy, Barclay and freshman
standout Willie Levesque.
        The three forwards have combined for 32 points this season and anchor
a unit that is accustomed to generating offense by grinding it out.
        However, after scoring a combined two goals in its last two games,
Northeastern's offense is on a tailspin, and that is what Crowder's
crew emphasized in practices this week.
        "We've been snake-bitten and we've been trying to puck in the net,"
Crowder said.
        "We've been struggling," Barclay said. "We're working hard but the
bounces haven't been going our way."
        "Right now we're in a slump," Jozefowicz echoed. "We just have to put
the puck home  and we're working on that. We're at the bottom right now
and we can't go much lower."
        The Black Bears, who are in third place in Hockey East behind Boston
College and University of New Hampshire, are paced by Walsh, David
Cullen and the team's leading scorer.
        "I think his name is something like Kariya," Crowder said. "He's
electrifying."
        Maine will go with Alfie Michaud in net Saturday night while Mike
Morrison will get the call Saturday.
        "Northeastern is hungry," Michaud said. "It's going to be a battle."
"These games will be critical," Maine coach Shawn Walsh added.
Paw Prints
        Northeastern has only won one league game this season  and it came
against the BC Eagles.
        Maine is third in the league on the power play and first on the
penalty kill.
        Steve Kariya leads all Black Bears in most career points against the
Huskies with 11.
        Michaud has posted a 1-3-1 all-time record against Northeastern with a
1.28 Goals Against Average.