Tag Archives: Braden Pimm

Oct 14 2011

Northeastern Blanks UNH, 4-0

By Joshua Kummins 

BOSTON, MA – After a tie and a loss last weekend, the Jim Madigan era at Northeastern University finally saw their first win on Friday night at Matthews Arena, as junior goaltender Chris Rawlings pitched his school-record ninth shutout in a 4-0 decision over No. 15 New Hampshire.

“Obviously, it was a great win for our team,” said Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan. “We had a good week of practice and we brought the game into its simplest form in all three zones.”

It was all Huskies in the first period, as they tagged New Hampshire senior Matt DiGirolamo for three scores on just six shots.

Northeastern took the 1-0 lead at the 6:29 mark of the first stanza, as Braden Pimm redirected a nifty pass in the slot from junior line-mate Steve Quailer. Then, sophomore Zak Stone was found at the right place at the right time and sent a loose puck through the five-hole on DiGirolamo for his first collegiate goal before Justin Daniels made it 3-0 for the home team at the 9:21.

“[The three goals] gave us a chance to believe in what we worked on all week in practice-just actually coming through,” said Madigan.

New Hampshire surrendered five goals in a shutout at BU last Saturday and had been blanked just six times in the last five seasons, including just two in ‘10-’11. Although, despite 14 total shots in the opening period, neither team was able to light the lamp in the middle stanza, as both goaltenders settled in to keep the score at 3-0 in favor of the home team.

At the start of the third period, the Huskies put several golden chances towards DiGirolamo’s cage, including a point-blank shot from Robbie Vrolyk on the right circle before eventually sophomore Luke Eibler connected with senior captain Mike McLaughlin on the right circle for his second goal of the season.

McLaughlin took a wrist shot that was deflected into the net over DiGirolamo’s right shoulder, allowing the Reading, Mass. native and sophomore Jeff Wyer to see his first regular-season game action ever in a Wildcat uniform.

Wyer made three saves in the final 11:23, while DiGirolamo made 14 stops in 48:37 and was credited with his second defeat of the season.

For Husky goaltender Chris Rawlings, this particular game was a great comeback from last weekend’s dismal performance.

“It was a complete 180 from Maine,” said Rawlings. “Our team was completely different in all three zones. The biggest key was all the shots we blocked…Pucks were not getting through, which makes my job a lot easier.”

The Huskies return to action next Friday night at Merrimack, while UNH’s home opener is tomorrow against the nation’s top ranked team, Boston College.

GAME NOTES:

* With the Huskies’ first blanking of the season, Rawlings record 27 saves en route to tying Brad Theissen’s career record with nine shutouts from ‘06-‘09.

* The Huskies had not scored three goals in a period since the third and deciding game of the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Boston University on March 13.

* Zak Stone played in 14 games last year, recording his only point on an assist against Harvard on Jan. 19.

* The Huskies have enjoyed recent success when leading after two periods with a [20-3-3] record over the past two seasons.

Oct 8 2011

Hockey East Notebook: Leftovers from the Matthews Arena

Friday's contest against Northeastern and UMass left fans with some questions, as the Huskies and Minutemen skated to a 3-3 tie!

By NoontimeSports.com 

Friday’s Northeastern-UMass Hockey East Conference was rather exciting; especially for an early October game. In fact, I doubt anyone thought sophomore Braden Pimm would be the savior for the Huskies, yet, that’s just my opinion.

Here’s some left over statistics and audio from the game, enjoy.

* Both teams combined for 71 shots, (UMass registered 39-shots/Northeastern had 32-shots)

* In the third period, UMass goaltender Kevin Boyle saved 10-shots, while Northeastern’s Chris Rawlings denied 12-shots.

* Both teams combined for 15 penalties and 38-minutes in the penalty box, which didn’t seem to please either coach after the game concluded.

* Northeastern’s head coach Jim Madigan talked about the impact of 15-penalties and stated, “There [were] a couple of penalties that our guys just need to do a better job at and not put themselves in those situations. I thought the referees did a good job on both sides and I asked for clarification on one item, but I thought they did a good job. Our guys just have to be smarter and not put themselves in situations that’s going to go for penalty.”

*Northeastern struggled on the power play and only converted one goal on four attempts. They also couldn’t muster a goal when they had a two-man advantage too.

* UMass head coach Don Cahoon talked with the media about his young goaltender and stated the following two things:

-“I thought the third period was the period he stood [on] his head when they had a couple of shifts where they really dominated us and I thought he made some big plays in tight, so he’s a solid goaltender… he’s developed nicely.” 

- “Well, I think [my team] knows he’s a good goaltender and I think Northeastern knows Rawlings is a good goaltender and team’s understand [this concept] and it usually is a measure of that team’s success’s from the pipes out.”

* The Minutemen were two-seconds away from walking out of the Matthews Arena with their first win of the season, but according to Cahoon, his team “cheated” during the third period. “We need to be that much better and we weren’t. As I said, we cheated in the third period and that third period coast us [the game].“

* Coach Madigan also addressed the new Northeastern coaching staff and stated, “The learning curve’s there – the players [are] getting acclimated and adjusted to us as a staff and what we’re looking for, but there’s not a problem. The players they’ve responded really well, they work hard.”

* Finally, Friday’s tie marked the fifth time the Huskies have skated to a draw on their home ice – dating back to the ’09-’10 season.

Oct 7 2011

Pimm Helps Northeastern Tie UMass, 3-3

By Matt Noonan 

BOSTON, MA – Prior to the start of the season, University of Massachusetts head coach Don Cahoon seemed rather concerned about his team’s youth and inability, especially since the Minutemen were coming off one of their worst seasons in their college history, and only mustered six wins – five of them came in the Hockey East Conference.

On Friday, Cahoon was once again reminded of his squad’s youth, as the Minutemen squandered a one-goal lead with two seconds left in the third period and allowed Northeastern’s Braden Pimm to score the game tying goal, which resulted in a 3-3 tie.

“I thought it was an early October game in many ways,” Cahoon said. “Pretty ragged play, a lot of anything that happened came off broken plays. There was a lot of effort out there, there’s was a lot of emotion – naturally [you’d] think you’d get that emotion given [Jim Madigan’s] first game and that team obviously wanted to come out and perform in their own rink for [their head coach] and we tried to trade off plays and … I though our guys played pretty hard too.”

Both teams struggled to gain any sort of momentum during the opening period, but eventually UMass’s Colin Shea found the back of the net and beat Huskies goaltender, Chris Rawlings [36-saves] to give the Minutemen a somewhat comfortable one-goal lead on their first power play.

Northeastern responded nearly 10-minutes later with two back-to-back strikes that came off the stick of Justin Daniels, who practically scored the same goal twice. Daniels was literally parallel to UMass’s goaltender Kevin Boyle [29-saves], and connected on two rebounds.

Yet, Northeastern’s lead only lasted approximately nine-seconds, as UMass’s Branden Gracel raced down the ice and tied the game prior to the first intermission. The Minutemen then registered their final goal during the opening minutes of the second period, as captain T.J. Syner provided some fireworks at the Matthews Arena before Northeastern’s Pimm forced a five-minute overtime period in the third.

“[There] was a learning curve for all of us – from a coaching staff and with the players who really worked hard all preseason long to get us to this point, so we were happy with the outcome,” Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan said.

“[The] first two periods, I was pretty happy with at least where we were and the third period was a challenge for us and Northeastern I thought carried the play to a pretty large extent,” Cahoon said. “That tie was well earned on their part and I thought the overtime was a pretty good five-minutes for us, but obviously in overtime anything can happen, but it’s a one-shot situation, so overall, it was a raged game, it was played hard [and] it probably showed more good on both sides than bad, but a lot of work still [needs] to be done.”

UMass will look to build off this tie next Friday, as they welcome Bentley University to the Mullins Center, while Northeastern University will head to University of Maine on Sunday for a 1:00pm face-off.

Feb 19 2011

Northeastern Finally Hands Boston College a loss, 2-1

By Matt Noonan

BOSTON, MA – It was the final meeting between Boston College [22-7-1,16-6-1] and Northeastern University [11-12-7, 9-8-6] men’s ice hockey teams on Saturday, but despite all the wins and loses between both squads, the Hub may have found its newest college sports rivalry or at least, four games to watch every winter.

Boston College and Boston University is the immediate answer when one thinks about college hockey in Massachusetts or collegiate rivalries in the Hub, but after watching the Eagles and Huskies push each other to the brink during three games in six days, which featured 11-periods, two overtimes and 30-points, it maybe fair to say that this was indeed some quality hockey that was on display for an entire week.

“[Tonight] was a hockey game [because] the other two nights were [awful] games,” said Boston College head coach Jerry York. “This was much more like what hockey in February should be.”

Yet, despite all the fireworks that both teams produced over a span of 96-hours, Northeastern University’s 2-1 win on Saturday should not be classified as a dramatic finish, but rather a subdued win against the Eagles.

“[It was an] extremely gutsy efforts, really proud of them for the focus and the poise they played with. Coach [Greg] Cronin [and Albie] O’Connell and myself worked hard to get them to this level and we’re very proud of them buying into the system that we as a coaching staff have come up with and its great to see them coming together right now at this time of the season,” said Northeastern assistant coach Sebastien Laplante.

The game itself didn’t feature a lot of penalties, fights or back and fourth banter between both benches, but instead, just sloppy hockey, as well as a bunch of young college students who seemed rather fatigued.

Throughout the entire first period, the Eagles spent a great deal of time in front of Chris Rawlings net; yet, they were unable to convert any of their 14-shots into points. The continuous efforts were unsuccessful, but the same could be said for the Huskies offense too that finished the period with only four shots. Their lack of shooting or offense transcended from their first period on Friday, when the Huskies only recorded three shots on Eagles goaltender John Muse and one goal.

Although, after watching a slow first period, it seemed as if the fans just wanted something to cheer about, which did happen when Brodie Reid broke the stalemate and gave the Huskies an early, 1-0 lead. Northeastern would score again, but during the final period when Braden Pimm netted an unassisted goal, which practically put the game away, until Boston College’s Cam Atkinson scored during the final few minutes.

Atkinson’s goal electrified the Matthews Arena, as the final minutes felt like the closing seconds of the 59th Annual Boston Beanpot Championship.

“[Northeastern] did a nice job in a lot of different areas,” said York. “I think its like I said before, it’s a good solid hockey team.”

The Buzzer did sound eventually and due to Boston College’s hard fought efforts, the Eagles left the ice with a loss while Northeastern celebrated the win. The Huskies not only earned their first victory against the number one team in America, but also solidified a spot in the upcoming Hockey East tournament in March.

“We clinched [the] playoffs tonight, but we’re certainly not [going] to stop right now. We want to keep going up and see we’re we can end up in the standings and get better position for the playoffs,” said Laplante.

While the “mini-playoffs” series is indeed over, it certainly is possible to believe that these particular three games will help build confidence and momentum for both squads prior to the start of the conference playoffs.

“This was like one of those playoff series. Two out of three, three out of five series, you just don’t get these very often before we get to playoff situations, so its good for both teams,” said York.