Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Throughout the first leg of the college hockey season, the University of Maine faithful have eagerly awaited the return to dominance of All-American goaltender Jimmy Howard.
Last Saturday, before a legion of Dartmouth followers, Howard returned to the glory that had followed him all last season. Led by Howard’s 33 saves, the Black Bears shut down a potent Big Green offensive assault en route to a 0-0 stalemate. The re-emergence of Howard bodes well for a Black Bear squad that will be hoping to continue their four-game unbeaten streak this weekend against a deceptive Merrimack team. The weekend homestand marks the Warriors first visit back to Orono since the Black Bears eliminated Merrimack in the quarterfinals of last year’s Hockey East Tournament.
To say that Howard is beginning to just warm up now doesn’t justify the situation. Through the opening two months of the season, while saddled with nagging injuries and sickness, Howard has managed to hold strong but not to the standard that fans and anyalsts have come to expect from him. After the first two months of the season, Howard has posted 2.32 goals against average and a slightly lower-than-normal save percentage. It is a start that has worried many followers and sparked rumors of Howard’s health. It was not normal to see the perennial Hobey Baker contender coast to a near .500 record. However, with Howard’s stellar performance against the Big Green looming in the near past, there is hope that Howard will return to the esteemed position he placed himself in after last year’s title run. His return was also evident this week when Howard was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.
For Whitehead, the progression of Howard is something he believes will take time.
“Its going to be process, he’s fighting back from mono and his ankle and his knee, its something that doesn’t change overnight,” said Whithead. “Obviously he had a great game against Dartmouth, and I think your going to see more and more of that. He’s getting better and better as we go along here.”
Whitehead also believes the team is playing better defense in front of Howard, as of late.
“I think for the most part we are protecting Jimmy better recently,” said Whitehead.
The Black Bears will enter the weekend currently ranked ninth in the nation in the USA Today-USA Hockey Magazine poll and tenth in the nation in the USCHO-CSTV poll. UMaine stands at 9-6-1 on the year, while 5-3 in conference competition. As for their opponent, Merrimack comes into the series 4-9-1 overall and 1-7-0 in Hockey East play.
Whitehead believes the homestand could provide a chance to climb in the standings.
“We are ready to go against Merrimack, I think its going to be a great league weekend,” said Whitehead. “We have an opportunity here to jump in the standings.”
However, Whitehead also took time to discuss the fact that the Warriors will be no pushover.
“Merrimack is going to be looking to steal some points up here and build on momentum from last weekend,” said Whitehead.
The Black Bears will be looking to build on their first deadlock of the year, a game which Whitehead took time to discuss early this week.
“If you’re a fan of goaltending that was a great game for you,” said Whitehead. “We had an interesting game, a lot of action for a 0-0 game. Both teams had some glorious chances.”
With the weekend series, the Black Bears will also be looking to strengthen their home ice record, which has fallen below normal standards, as well this season. In years past, the Black Bears have held a stark advantage over opponents when playing at Alfond. That is not the case so far this season. The Black Bears are currently 5-4 at the Alfond and in need of a weekend sweep to electrify their supporters. Coming off two strong wins at the Alfond against the University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Whitehead believes their success their signals the team’s recent turnaround.
“Its great to be home. One of the reasons we know we are coming around here is we have regained our home-ice advantage,” said Whitehead.
Senior captain John Ronan also talked about the chance to play at home.
“It’s good to be back home again,” said Ronan. “We are working hard in practice and we’re bringing the right attitudes into the games and I think it will show this weekend.”
The Warriors will look to refute that advantage Friday and Saturday boasting a roster that is poised to create several problems for the Black Bears roster. Merrimack is highlighted by the play of Mike Alexiou and sophomore Jeff Caron, who have carried the Warriors thus far this season. Along with Alexiou and Caron, junior Bryan Schmidt all lead the team with 13 points each. Alexiou was recently named Hockey East Player of the Week and leads the team in goals with eight on the year. Caron holds the team lead in assists with ten. The talented Alexiou has six goals and seven assists.
In net for the Warriors, sophomore Jim Healy will look to pave the way. Healy enters the game having played in eleven games with a 4.05 G.A.A and .880 save percentage. Senior Casey Guenther has played in two games and given up seven goals with a .794 save percentage.
Merrimack comes into the homestand with victories over Rensselaer, Wayne State, UMass and Providence. The latest coming against the Friars for the Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Pot Championship.
The weekend slate marks the 59th and 60th meetings between the two squads. UMaine holds a commanding advantage in the series with a 46-8-4 lead overall. The Black Bears enter the decisions having won the last eight straight games, with the last coming Oct. 29 in Merrimack.
In the two team’s last duel, UMaine skated to a 3-0 victory behind a two-goal performance by Jon Jankus.
UMaine will be led into battle by Derek Damon, who is tied for ninth in the nation with nine goals. Damon will be followed by Greg Moore who has registered ten points on seven goals and three assists. Sophomore Brent Shepheard, who has six goals and five assists on the season, will also be looking to making a impact. Rounding out the offensive attack will be the always dangerous Michel Leveille, Keith Johnson and Josh Soares. Sophomore Mike Lundin leads the defense in points with eight assists, while freshman Tim Maxwell will likely play an important role in the homestand.
“I am excited, we have been improving pretty consistently,” said Whitehead. “We’ve had some big wins on the road and as we anticipated it might take us a bit longer this year but we do think we can do something special this year.”
Both games start at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena.
