Welcome back to our annual New to Northeastern series, where we go position by position to review the new players for the Northeastern Men’s Hockey program for the upcoming season. We start this year as we do every year with the goaltenders, in goaltender, singular, in the case of the 2024-25 season. With Cameron Whitehead returning as the starter for his sophomore season, and Harrison Chesney coming back for his junior season penciled in to the third string role, the Huskies are bringing in Quentin Sigurdson to be the primary backup to Whitehead, creating a goalie room expected to remain intact for two seasons.
Quentin Sigurdson– Hailing from Sartell, Minnesota, Sigurdson stands 6-foot-2, 165 pounds, and catches with his left hand as most goalies do. He played last season mainly for the Odessa Jackalopes of the North American Hockey League, where he was one of the best goalies in the league. In 36 games, he posted a .923 save percentage, 2.56 goals-against-average, and 4 shutouts. The previous year with Odessa, he posted a .909/2.87/0 line of those same stats in 15 games, showing improvement year over year and despite not finishing the season with Odessa, his save percentage was still top ten in the league and he was tied for seventh in shutouts. After he committed to Northeastern, Odessa goaltending coach Colin Grubb stated that Sigurdson’s “mechanics are some of the best (he’s) seen.”
Late in the season Sigurdson was acquired by the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League, where he was teammates with future Northeastern player Ben Wilmott. In nine games with Chicago he sported a .896 save percentage and 3.11 GAA, with one shutout. These numbers are largely inflated by two blowouts in his first three games at the USHL level, but once acclimated he averaged a 2.00 GAA and a .923 save percentage in his final six games, five of which were starts. He won USHL Goaltender of the Week in Februrary when he saved 37 of 38 shots to win his USHL debut. After that game, Steel Assistant Coach Karel Popper said of Sigurdson: “What most attracted us to Quentin was his balance and ability to read the game. His work ethic and engagement in his pursuit of his development has been impressive; he’s always asking questions and trying to find ways to improve on a daily basis. As we all know, this league is very difficult on goalies. We are thrilled that Q was able to find success in his first start.”
As stated earlier, we expect Sigurdson to be the primary backup to Cameron Whitehead this year and likely next year as well. Given recent track records on Head Coach Jerry Keefe’s teams, it is expected that Whitehead will have the majority of minutes but that Sigurdson will need to keep ready in the event he is thrust into action on a moment’s notice. In many ways, Sigurdson may be the best backup goalie Northeastern has had in a few years. He should be an excellent addition to Coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson’s goalie room.