Winning a championship and becoming a professional are two end goals driving athletes every day.
While Dylan Sikura and Adam Gaudette already experienced the high of reaching that first goal in 2016, as members of Northeastern’s first Hockey East championship team since 1988, taking home more hardware was a major reason they decided to hold off on inevitable professional careers and return to Huntington Avenue for at least another year.
Glancing at Northeastern’s returning roster, it is easy to see why.
In Sikura and Gaudette, the Huskies return a pair of 20-goal scorers from the season prior for the first time since 1994-95, while senior captain Nolan Stevens was on pace to become a third if it weren’t for an injury that cut his season to just 17 games. The team’s 266 total returning points are more than any Hockey East team.
"It’s always exciting to have the opportunity to go pro," said Gaudette, a junior from Braintree, Mass., who the Vancouver Canucks drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL draft. "Everybody looks at that as their main goal, but it was pretty easy to come back with the team that we had coming back, and the freshmen.
"We have unfinished business, a lot of things we want to take care of this year."
Two of just five returning 50-point scorers in the Division 1 ranks — and the only pair in Hockey East — this season, Sikura and Gaudette want to play during the third weekend of March again, and watch another Northeastern banner be raised to the TD Garden rafters.
Keeping both Sikura and Gaudette on campus for another year was difficult for the program after the two performed well at their respective NHL franchises’ development camps over the summer, but they’re back and ready for one final go together.
A sixth-round draft pick in 2014, Sikura stood out to the Chicago Blackhawks’ brass, drawing high praise from general manager Stan Bowman and head coach Joel Quenneville. The Huskies are surely excited to have No. 9 dancing around the offensive zone at Matthews Arena for another year, and the move puts pressure on the team to sign a player who has quickly become one of its most coveted prospects once this collegiate season ends.
It seemed that Sikura had proved all he needed to in the college game. The Aurora, Ont., native notched 57 points, the second-most assists (36) in the nation and five game-winning goals, and he was named a Hobey Baker Award finalist as a junior.
Development was a key. This summer was a positive experience for Sikura, and he showed highlightreel skill, but he felt there was still room for growth in his game.
"Obviously, it’s nice to have that support from the clubs up higher, but personally it’s all about coming back here and getting better as a player and being ready to make that next step," said Sikura. "My sophomore year, we were able to win Hockey East, and I’ve been craving that feeling ever since, so coming back, it’s big for the team.
"When you go to those development camps, you skate with guys who are playing in the NHL now and you get to see how your game compares to theirs. Another year at school is only going to do well."
Gaudette’s exploits were similar, but the decision to return to school for his junior season was made easier by being less than an hour’s drive from home. He took a major leap during his second collegiate season, scoring a program-record and nation-leading 16 of his 26 goals on the power play, and also developed his responsibility as a 200-foot player.
Canucks director of player development Ryan Johnson couldn’t help but notice. "He’s been somebody I’ve kind of had in my back pocket for a couple years and now I can’t keep him secret anymore," Johnson said in July. "It’s amazing to see his strength and his stride coming together the way we thought it would."
Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan (Milton, Mass.) put Gaudette on Sikura’s line pretty much right from the start of his freshman season. With Gaudette’s elite-level shot and Sikura’s playmaking ability, they quickly formed a dynamic partnership that has elevated the game of any winger around them.
"Those two read off each other really well," Madigan said. "I came out of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization; it’s almost like when they had (Chris) Kunitz and (Sidney) Crosby, then moved Bryan Rust in there and had Conor Sheary with Crosby.
"We want someone who can play fast and pursue pucks, and those two guys are going to have the puck anyway."
Former assistant captain Mike McMurtry was by their side on a line two seasons ago, and last year a host of others as the Huskies battled the injury bug.
Brandon Schultz and Austin Goldstein (Saugus, Mass.) filled the role over the season’s first four games.
And, the Achilles’ heel from recent seasons — a lack of consistent secondary scoring — has been addressed, too. Stevens is back healthy for his senior season, Matt Filipe (Lynnfield, Mass.) appears ready to jump after a solid freshman season, and other rookies, including reigning USHL Player of the Year Zach Solow, also stepped up in the early going.
There is no doubt that Sikura and Gaudette have a future in this game, but it’s all about the here and now on Huntington Avenue. And, the here and now is looking good.
"It’s good to have the guys up there on the same page as we are here. It’s all about development," Gaudette said of his relationship with the Canucks. "It was a mutual decision to come back another year. … We won a Hockey East championship, but we still want to get that Beanpot, another Hockey East, and we want to win it all.
"We want to get that (NCAA Tournament) bid, and I think we have the team to do it."
