The men’s hockey team will be heading to the TD Banknorth Garden this Friday for the Hockey East semifinals thanks to the stick of freshman winger Alex Tuckerman. Tuckerman netted three goals on the weekend in the quarterfinals against UMass.’ His first goal was an insurance goal Saturday night in Northeastern’s 4-1 win, and added the game-tying goal Sunday along with the overtime winner as the Huskies downed UMass 3-2. With the three goals and an assist from Saturday, Tuckerman was named as the Hockey East Player of the week. These accomplishments have also earned Tuckerman the Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
‘ It has been his goal to go pro since he was young, and he’s always wanted to play for the Boston Bruins, he said. The Orleans native is majoring in psychology. He said he plans to go into sports psychology after his playing days are done. He said he hopes to work with a team and be able to stay with sports.
‘ Tuckerman came to Northeastern out of Sioux City, a team in the US Hockey League (USHL). While playing for Sioux City he played with teammate Steve Quailer and he traveled with Quailer to visit Minnesota State. Tuckerman was also recruited to play at Hockey East foes Boston University and Maine. Head coach Greg Cronin saw him play in Sioux City and called him after the game to recruit him.
‘ ‘[Cronin] called me after the first game he watched me play and showed a real big interest in me,’ Tuckerman said. ‘I knew Northeastern was an-up-and coming program and I just wanted to be part of something like that.’
‘ The southpaw sits at fifth place on the team in points, with eight goals and 14 assists. He has had two game-winning goals this season, though he said none of his goals live up to the excitement of his most recent goal – the overtime game and series winner against UMass in the quarterfinals.
‘ ‘It was the most exciting feeling I’ve ever felt,’ Tuckerman said. ‘I kind of almost blacked out I guess. It went by really fast. I was in the locker room before I knew it.’
‘ Tuckerman went on to say, ‘We were struggling but I knew coming into the weekend that we had a good team and that we were going to do something special this year. We kind of bared down.’

‘- Nathan Vaughan, News Staff