Experience has no substitute, especially when it comes to navigating the rollercoaster ride of a Hockey East season.
After goaltender Cayden Primeau left for the Montreal Canadiens organization following his sophomore season, Northeastern and head coach Jim Madigan were in search of experience.
Insert Craig Pantano. The Bridgewater, Mass., native had plenty of experience, making him the perfect choice to tend goal for the Huskies this season. However, he had certainly never experienced anything quite like returning to play a home-and-home against a former team, which he did Nov. 8-9.
“It was definitely special,” said Pantano, who began his collegiate career at Merrimack College, tending goal in 57 games before transferring south to Northeastern as a fifth-year graduate student.
“Going back to the place that I was at for four years was definitely bittersweet. I was happy to be back because I had a lot of memories there, and the crowd was great to me as well, so that was awesome. It was a fun weekend, but I’m just happy we got three points out of it.”
Northeastern is one of three Hockey East programs that filled its goaltending opening with a graduate transfer, though only Pantano stayed within the 11-team league. The other two came from ECAC rivals, with Michael Lackey joining Providence from Harvard and Wilton, Conn., native Sam Tucker taking his talents to Boston University after completing four years at Yale.
As Madigan’s Huskies looked to fill the two-time All-Hockey East First Teamer’s void, the agile Pantano has been everything they wanted and more. The former South Shore Kings netminder’s .925 save percentage ranks fourth in Hockey East while his 2.04 goals-against average is fifth.
Pantano has fit right in from a statistical perspective, giving the Huskies the type of goaltending that they need to be successful in one of the nation’s top conferences, but he has also assimilated well in a locker room that includes 13 other Massachusetts natives.
“It’s nice when you get someone who has played four years of college hockey and been through four years of strength and conditioning, four years of practice and preparation, so he comes in with that experience and a professional approach,” said Madigan, the Huskies’ ninth-year head coach. “He’s brought energy. He’s a quiet kid but he’s got that dry sense of humor, so he integrated really well with the locker room and our players. Craig has been just great for us.”
Senior defenseman Ryan Shea (Milton, Mass.) is one of several Huskies who Pantano knew before he even made the transition to campus. That’s not uncommon in the tight-knit Hockey East ranks, but the Northeastern captain and former Boston College High School standout echoes the coach’s sentiments about the team’s new goaltender.
“He’s been unreal and nothing fazes him,” Shea said after Saturday’s game. “He never gets mad. If he lets one in, he'll be the first one to say, 'Let’s go boys, let’s just get another one.’ It’s honestly great having him here. He stood up to the task against his old team.”
The goaltender was a key reason the Huskies were able to gain three points in the tight Hockey East standings. Though Northeastern was outplayed for large stretches of the first game against Merrimack, Pantano made a season-high 37 saves and helped his team to a 1-1 tie.
A night later, Pantano was tested far less against the Warriors, finishing with a 19-save victory. He has allowed just a single goal six times in his first 12 starts as a Husky.
Merrimack has had a unique goaltending situation in the first season following Pantano’s departure. All three of second-year head coach Scott Borek’s goalies are freshmen, with the Warriors having leaned on Finnish import Jere Huhtamaa to start each of the last five games.
Borek’s greatest playmakers, like sophomore Chase Gresock and senior Sami Tavernier, certainly have the book on Pantano after spending the last year or three as his teammate, but his presence in the opposing team’s net didn’t change the game plan entering the weekend.
“I think every goalie is the same,” Borek said after Friday’s series opener. “If you play a goalie and create traffic, they get smaller because he backs up, but if you don't he gets bigger because he gets out. That’s an area of the game we can continue to grow in. We need more traffic so we can back him up. We know he’s a heck of a goalie.”
Putting results aside, Pantano’s weekend wasn’t complete without receiving some good-natured ribbing from his former teammates.
The series was unlike anything Pantano had experienced before, and will again as he completes his career with the Huskies this winter, but it offered him the opportunity to connect with his fellow Warriors under unique circumstances.
“It was definitely a little weird at first,” Merrimack senior captain Tyler Irvine said. “I saw him in warm-ups and I said, 'Hey, Craig! That’s the wrong side!' We had a good laugh about it. I’ve played a couple close friends in juniors, but never a teammate like that. It was fun. It was good to see him again, and it’s great to see he’s doing well over there.”
“It was pretty funny when some of the guys from last year were involved,” Pantano said. “Chase was in a little scrum in front [in the first game] and he was jabbing at me a little. The ref said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to get back,’ and Chase went, ‘No, it’s OK. He’s my friend!’ I had a good chuckle out there.”
Now that Pantano’s return trip to North Andover, Mass., and the season series against his former Hockey East club is over, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound stopper is excited to continue helping in the Huskies’ quest for a third straight NCAA tournament berth and second straight Beanpot and conference championships.
But the series did offer Pantano the chance to reflect about a winding college hockey journey that began with him serving as the back-up to Collin Delia, now a Chicago Blackhawk.
“That place means everything to me,” Pantano said of Merrimack, where he was coached by Mark Dennehy and Borek. “All my best friends are from there and graduated with me. It’s hard to put into words because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Merrimack.
“Borek was great to me and my senior class last year. They all call him ‘Dad,’ so I think that says a lot, and you know what kind of guy he is from that. He was always sticking up for us and he was supportive of me, so I’m so thankful for that.”
