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The annual Blue/White University of Maine men’s ice hockey scrimmage drew a crowd of 2,500 to Alfond Arena Saturday night and the fans weren’t disappointed as the Black Bears put or a great show.
The Blue team, coached by assistant Campbell Blair, defeated the White team, coached by UMaine’s new graduate assistant coach Brian Grady, by a score of 5-3.
Head coach Tim Whitehead and assistant Grant Standbrook watched the game from above ice level. Whitehead thought things went well.
“Guys were competing,” Whitehead said. “That’s what I like the most. Guys were playing within the system and were making good plays all night.”
“I think the team looked pretty good out there,” said senior captain Chris Heisten, who scored two goals and added an assist for the victorious Blue team.
“There’s some things that we need to work on, but on the whole, the guys looked good.”
Heisten was especially impressed with how the new players fit into the line-up and said they are going to have to battle for ice time.
Some of those new players who shined were all four goalies. Only two are back from last season’s roster, Frank Doyle, who was red-shirted last season, and Kirk Levesque, now a sophomore, who was brought in midseason as a third-string goalie. He never saw any action.
Doyle, a sophomore from Guelph, Ontario, is expected to be one of the starters this season. He said it felt good to be back out on the ice at Alfond Arena.
“It was great to be back out there with all the fans,” Doyle said. “I tried to go out there and have a little fun. I was nervous at the beginning, but I had a great time today.”
Doyle’s nervousness was apparent as he gave up the first goal of the game just 56 seconds into the match on a shot he might have been able to stop.
Doyle played in the first half of the game, which was played in two 25-minute halves. He made 10 saves on 12 shots for the blue team.
The other returnee, Levesque, a sophomore from Fort Kent, looked good at times in the second half for the White team. He made 12 saves on 15 shots, including two consecutive on Heisten and rookie Greg Moore. Levesque then had a great glove save against Martin Kariya.
The two rookie goalies looked good as well. Jimmy Howard, from Ogdensburg, New York, came to UMaine from the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., playing the first half for the White team. He also stopped 10 of 12 shots.
The surprising bright spot in net was freshman Ray Jean, a Randolph native, who played high school hockey at Kents Hill.
Jean made six saves on seven shots for the Blue team, but each save was impressive. His best save of the night came off of sophomore Derek Damon. Damon had a breakaway up the middle, and Jean dove out of his net and knocked Damon’s shot over the net.
Damon was another newcomer who had an impressive game. A Bangor native, Damon netted a goal for the White team at 4:26 of the first half. He showed off some fantastic stick moves and nearly had a few more goals. Damon is a sophomore and was redshirted last season.
Freshman Greg Moore, a six-foot one-inch forward from Lisbon, had two assists for the Blue team. He set up Heisten’s game winner at 19:04 in the second half.
“I didn’t play well in the first half,” Moore said. “I was very nervous. I settled down in the second half and I started playing a lot better.”
Defenseman Steve Mullin, another rookie, also scored a goal in the game for the Blue team. Dustin Penner, a junior transfer from Minot State University, had an assist for the Blue team as well.
Plenty of familiar faces had a big outing in the scrimmage. Junior forward Todd Jackson had a goal and an assist for the White team. He netted the first goal of the game, and then set up Damon’s goal just four minutes later.
“I’ve worked a lot on offense,” Jackson said. “I want to pick up my production and help the team out more there this year than I have.”
UMaine opens the season next weekend when they host the Black Bear Classic. They’ll play an exhibition against New Brunswick Friday night at 7 p.m. and will play their first real game Saturday night against Lake Superior State or Quinnipiac.
