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For four years, it was their refuge, their cathedral, their haven. It was their home away from home. It was the one place that couldn’t be beat, couldn’t disappear; it was permanent. And on Saturday night, they may be saying goodbye to it for good.
For the five members of the University of Maine men’s ice hockey senior class, this weekend’s final regular season series at the cherished Alfond Arena against the University of Masschussetts-Lowell will undoubtedly bring with it an outpouring of emotion.
UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead took time Wednesday to discuss this year’s graduating class of Matt Deschamps, Jon Ronan, Troy Barnes, Matt Greyeyes and Ben Murphy.
“Its a great group of guys,” said Whitehead. “We have been through a lot together. They have played their hearts out for four years and I am very proud of them all.”
Deschamps commented on the looming Saturday night senior night.
“I think there is going to be a lot of emotion going into this weekend,” said Deschamps. “It’s a really important so it makes it a little more special.”
Deschamps is waiting for the chance to step out on the ice for possibly the final time.
Barnes feels the series marks a varying degree of emotions.
“I have been looking forward to this for sometime now,” said Barnes. “A little mixed emotions, you look forward to it, but at the same time its almost over.”
“The timing is right and I am really excited,” said Deschamps. “I can’t wait to get out, there is a time in your life where good events happen and this is one of them.”
Captain Ronan is well aware of the emotion that will come with the game.
“I talked to my mom and told her not to cry,” said Ronan. “It’s been amazing, the best four years of my life and the quickest four years too.”
Adding more drama to the already emotional weekend is the fact that the Black Bears are fighting for their playoff lives. With UMass-Lowell in town for a two-game slate, the Black Bears will be looking to capture home-ice advantage for the upcoming Hockey East quarterfinals. Swaying only three points ahead of the River Hawks for fourth place in the conference, UMaine could seal a home-ice slot for the playoffs with a weekend sweep. The bigger picture comes into play as well. The Black Bears, seeking some sort of push into the NCAA tournament, desperately need a pair of victories against such a strong opponent.
“I think both teams know they are playing for their playoff lives,” said Barnes. “Its going to get really high-tempo, we know its going to play over this weekend.”
UMaine enters the homestand currently ranked 14th in the nation in both national polls with a 16-10-6 record, while 11-5-4 in Hockey East competition. The River Hawks stand at 19-7-4 and 10-7-3 in conference play. UMass-Lowell is ranked ninth in the USA Today-USA Hockey Magazine and tenth in the USCHO-CSTV polls.
The highly-rated River Hawks will be arriving in Orono reeling from an impressive two-game sweep of top-ranked Boston last weekend. The decisive showing against the Eagles helped the RiverHawks solidify a strong position in the Pairwise standings at 8th place, which goes a long way in selecting the NCAA tournament participants. UMaine, however, is tied for 18th place in the Pairwise rankings, leaving them looking in on the NCAA tournament.
“I stay away as far as possible,” said Deschamps in reference to bubble watching that is destined to occur in the next couple weeks. “You can only control what you can control, which is playing hockey. Looking at all that extra stuff is a distraction and we don’t need that.”
UMass-Lowell’s strong standing has not gone unnoticed by the Black Bears.
“Its a big game for us, we want to come back here and play in the playoffs,” said Barnes. “If we take four points we will be coming back here for the playoffs.”
“They are playing really well,” said senior Ben Murphy. “We need some wins and we are going to have to start out playing strong in front of Jimmy and we are going to have to find a way to get a couple by their goalie.”
Whitehead feels the Black Bears have a golden opportunity to seal their own fate.
“We got every opportunity here to improve our standing in both the league and the NCAAs,” said Whitehead. “The bottom line is we have to win games.”
The Black Bears roll into their first home series since January, coming off a surprising weekend split against Providence College in Providence, RI. UMaine opened the series with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Friars in a game which saw them fire an astounding 40 shots. The following night UMaine bounced back strongly collecting a decisive 6-2 win. The game saw Josh Soares collect two goals, while All American Jimmy Howard registered 27 saves.
Whitehead discussed the rebound game for UMaine.
“I liked the fact that we executed the game plan,” said Whitehead. “That was a big improvement on the night before. On the second game we keep the game simple.”
“It was big boost but at the same time we are disappointed we didn’t get the sweep,” said Barnes.
Leading the way for the River Hawks will be the sensational junior Ben Walter, who has 25 goals on the season leading Hockey East. Walter also has nine assists for 34 points. Rounding the score sheet will be the talented Elias Godoy and Andrew Martin. Godoy enters the game third place in Hockey East with 10 goals and 24 assists, while Martin has 11 goals and 20 assists.
“They have a lot of elite players, particularly at the forward position, and those are the key guys we have to neutralize,” said Whitehead. “We have to make sure we are very sharp defensively.”
Whitehead also stressed the importance of shutting down their special teams.
“Their power play, of course is very strong this season,” said Whitehead. “We are going to have to be very disciplined first of all and on the penalty kill we’re going to have to be very sharp.”
In net for the River Hawks will be freshman standout Peter Vetri who has played in 22 games posting a 2.30 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
“Bottom line is we control our own destiny,” said Whitehead. “We are fortunate, actually, to be playing teams that from here on in that are really strong teams that are in the tournament.”
The series between the two foes, which began in 1978, has the Black Bears holding a 53-22-3 advantage overall. In the last 11 meetings the Black Bears have an 8-2-1 advantage. The last time the squads played, UMaine came back four times from a one-goal deficit to snatch a 5-4 win in Lowell.
The final regular season home game for the Black Bears has provided the senior class with a chance to look back upon their careers.
“Obviously, as a team winning the Hockey East Championship is a great memory,” said Ronan. “The two national championship appearances were incredible.”
“It’s tough, they are all special,” said Barnes. “Senior night is always big, I remember all of them. All of the seniors through my career have been a big impact on my career here, so hopefully the freshmen will enjoy this and remember it.”
The others expressed similar sentiments.
“The last four years have been incredible, I wouldn’t trade anything for the world for being here the last four years,” said Greyeyes.
“Its been an exciting run,” said Murphy. “The fans make it a real special experience every time we go onto the ice and it will be a special weekend for us.”
Deschamps commented on the pressure that sometimes comes into play with senior night.
“I am not going to be sad or anything like that,” said Deschamps. “I just want to play hard and play well and you just kind of have to keep it as another game and not put pressure on yourself.”
The seniors currently have a 99-39-21 record, a .688 winning percentage and have the NCAA tournament all three seasons. The class has also played in the National Championship game twice.
In net for the Black Bears will be Howard with a 2.00 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m. with senior festivities getting started before Saturday’s first faceoff. After the homestand the Black Bears head to Beantown for a closing series against Boston College.
“We know what we got to do,” said Whitehead. “You can read into it all you want but we got to win games to get into the tournament, if we do that we will, if we don’t we won’t.”
