Primeau: Hungry for his NCAA Tournament debut

MONTREAL - It's been a storybook season for Northeastern University freshman Cayden Primeau.

The 18-year-old goaltender enters the NCAA Tournament's Northeast Regional boasting 19 wins, along with the sixth-ranked goals-against average (1.88) and save percentage (.932) in the country.
In order to keep the Huskies' bid for their second-ever Frozen Four appearance alive, though, the Voorhees, NJ native will first have to stymie the winningest program in college hockey history - the University of Michigan - on Saturday afternoon, before besting the winner of the matchup between Cornell University and Boston University on Sunday.
If Primeau's remarkable play has demonstrated anything this year, it's that he's most definitely up to the challenge. And, he believes his teammates are ready to rise to the occasion, too.

"I think my confidence stems from the confidence that our team as a whole has. Every time we go out on the ice, we believe that we're the better team," said Primeau, the Canadiens' seventh-round pick, 199th overall last June. "It's just about going out and performing, utilizing the information we learned over the week. It's exciting because we know that we can be even better."
The Huskies certainly turned their fair share of heads this season, especially when they claimed their first Beanpot title in 30 years in mid-February.
Topping cross-town rivals Boston College and Boston University under the bright lights of TD Garden was a good indicator to Primeau that this group had some serious potential.
"There's been excitement all season, but that really was the tipping point of everyone realizing that this was going to be a special year," said Primeau, who surrendered just two goals on 77 shots during the annual event pitting Boston's four major hockey schools against one another. "We're really confident about the group we have. Winning the Beanpot definitely helped with that."

Coming off a loss in the Hockey East semifinals last Friday, Primeau is eager to suit up for his first NCAA Tournament experience at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, which is just a short 45-mile drive from campus.
He fully expects the stands to be packed full of Huskies supporters, including his parents Keith and Lisa, who've only missed a handful of games during the 2017-18 campaign.
"It's going to be huge having the game close by. The students and alumni always came out and supported us. They gave us life. If we were down, they were definitely a reason for us coming back," mentioned Primeau, a finalist for the 2018 Mike Richter Award, which is presented to the most outstanding goaltender in the NCAA ranks. "Having everybody there will be something special. The turnout is going to be great."