Sports

Bishop, Lundin poised to fill void left by All-American Howard

By Matthew Conyers

Posted on Sept. 19, 2005, at 12:00 a.m.

It could have been easy.

But then again, it’s never simple with this team.

Keeping with the fine tradition of the past two years, the offseason for the University of Maine men’s ice hockey squad brought with it a whirlwind of change. By the end of summer, the Black Bears had seen the departure of an All-American and the addition of two recently drafted freshmen.

A normally uneventful six months became eventful. It should come as no surprise that the ringleader of all the events, was now former Black Bear netminder Jimmy Howard.

After waiting all summer for a decision, the Black Bear faithful were greeted with the heartbreaking news on Aug. 14 that Howard planned to forgo his senior year of school for a shot at the National Hockey League. Howard, who signed a professional contract with the Detroit Red Wings, played in 82 career games for UMaine with a 1.84 goals against average and a .931 save percentage, along with a school record 15 shutouts. Howard, arguably one of the most talented players to wear the UMaine blue, was drafted by the Red Wings in 2003. The announcement of the signing ushered in a period of depression and shock that the UMaine faithful had wished to avoid for one more year.

UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead had to deal with the delay in Howard’s decision firsthand. He points to the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement as one of the main reasons the netminder left in August opposed to June and July like so many other NHL rookies.

Howard spent the summer in UMaine working at the school’s summer camps for younger athletes.

“Things got delayed, that were not Jimmy’s fault, that created tough situations for incoming goalies Ben Bishop and Mike Lundin,” said Whitehead. “Jimmy and Detroit kept chipping away at the contract as time progressed and Jimmy was very good about keeping in touch.”

When news of his departure finally arrived, Whitehead knew Howard had put the time into making the right choice.

“Jimmy had a good grasp of the situation, he could have made his decision sooner but he was patient,” said Whitehead.

UMaine especially had to be patient baring the fact that backup goalie Matt Lundin was looking to make his own decision as to what to do for the year. With Horward looking like he was going to return to the friendly confides of Orono, Lundin was prepared to head to Nebraska to play with the Tri-City Storm, a USHL development team. As well, incoming freshman Ben Bishop was eager to learn who his partner would be.

Lundin discussed the situation for both netminders.

“Bishop had it pretty easy, he knew he was coming, he just didn’t know who his partner would be” said Lundin. “It was kind of hard for me because I didn’t know where I was going. At the end there, I thought I was headed out to Nebraska.”

For the next two to three months, Lundin would habitually checked to see if Jimmy had jumped ship. Mixing it up between calls and talks with Howard and Whitehead, Lundin was in the middle of the storm.

The same was true for Bishop.

“Coach would call over the summer telling me what the deal with Jimmy was,” said Bishop.

Then the shocker came. Howard signed. The announcement came as a surprise with Howard only weeks before having turned down a contract. The Red Wings, however, matched what he wanted and the limelight lover was off to Motown. UMaine now had to fill some tremendously large shoes.

“I had my mind set, no school, all hockey and then I found out Jimmy was leaving, I packed up and in three days headed out here,” said Lundin. “It was pretty tough though, but was an important decision for him so he needed to take his time.”

Fast forward to the middle of September and it is an entirely different scene for UMaine. Howard is gone and Lundin is back from the land of the cornhuskers. It is clear when walking into the Black Bears newly renovated locker room there is a new era emerging in UMaine hockey. The Bishop and Lundin era.

It is an era both athletes are eager to kick off.

“People are going to think ”hey they lose Jimmy they aren’t going to be as good and these goalies will never be as good,” said Lundin. “However, it just gives us a better opportunity to show people what we can do and how good we are without an All-American goalie.”

They are also excited to begin the season as partners rather than rivals.

“I think we both play the same style and we will feed off each other,” said Lundin. “He just takes up a lot more of the net and the ice because he’s what 8′ 3”?”

To be slightly more accurate, Bishop stands tall and mighty at 6′ 5″. The native Missourian is coming off a season where he played in 45 games for the Texas Tornado of the NAHL and posted a 35-8 record. He had a 1.93 goals against average and a .920 save percentage with five shutouts. The high marks last season sparked the interest of the of the St. Louis Blues who drafted him 85th overall.

“It’s exciting getting drafted by the home team; it’s a dream come true,” said Bishop. “You can’t look ahead, you got to look at college and winning a national championship.

Also drafted for UMaine was defensemen Matt Duffy, who was selected by the Florida Panthers 104th overall.

Bishop, is equally excited to be in net for a squad that treats its goalies extremely well.

“UMaine has its history for goalies and has a great tradition with them,” said Bishop. “It’s always in the back of your mind as a goalie that it’s one of the places you want to be.”

Both players, however, preach a familiar goal to Black Bear nation.

“We have an opportunity to win a national championship,” said Lundin.

And that is something, no matter who is in net, the fans can be happy about.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 19th, 2005, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.