By Nate Owen

Husky fans seeking proof that men’s hockey coach Greg Cronin has his finger on the pulse of his team need look no further than the past two weekends.
In the waning seconds of Northeastern’s last regular season home game versus Boston College on March 6, Cronin inserted junior forward Randy Guzior as an extra attacker after pulling junior goalie Brad Thiessen. His hunch paid off, as Guzior, who had been in and out of the lineup most of the season, netted the tying goal with 25 seconds left and the Huskies emerged in overtime with a 2-1 win.
While Guzior took a seat in Game 2 of the Hockey East semifinals Saturday night, it was fellow classmate Kyle Kraemer who took his place. Kraemer suited up at right wing, alongside top line stalwarts Joe Vitale and Wade MacLeod.
Cronin’s maneuvering again paid off, as Kraemer, who had no goals in the 16 games entering the night, scored the Huskies’ first goal of the affair and had several other shots ding off the post in NU’s 4-1 win over Massachusetts at Matthews Arena.
‘He was really good this week in practice and I talked to him the other day before practice about the decision to go without him Friday night,’ Cronin said. ‘He was very visible at practice and [I told him] I was going to try to get him in this series.’
While not getting ice time might frustrate others, Kraemer said he has been focusing on the things he needs to do to get into the lineup.
‘I’ve been working hard in practice trying to do the little things, winning the one-on-one battles,’ he said. ‘I felt really comfortable [on the ice]. Confidence hasn’t been a problem this year.’
His goal came at the beginning of a fast paced and physical second period. Senior captain Vitale passed the puck from behind the net to David Strathman, who ripped a shot wide left. Kraemer collected the rebound off the boards and trickled the puck past UMass goalie Paul Dainton, who was caught out of position.
After a brief review by the referees, the goal call stood.
‘I knew I had [Dainton] beat because he was so far out from the initial shot from Strathman,’ Kraemer said. ‘[The referees] said that I might have kicked it in, but I felt the puck hit my stick.’
For Cronin, Saturday night’s game brought back flashes of Kraemer’s freshman year two seasons ago, when he was second on the team with 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists).
‘ ‘Tonight I thought he was the most visible guy on the ice for us the first two periods,’ Cronin said. ‘That’s the guy we had his freshman year and hopefully he’s got that back in him.’
The energy Kraemer brought was noticeable to his teammates too.’ ‘ ‘
‘It was great to be able to see him score a goal,’ Thiessen said. ‘He’s one of my roommates and it’s been a tough year for him. [He’s] kind of been in and out of the lineup. To be able to see him get a goal was huge.’
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