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Goodbye Denver, hello Alabama.
Only five days after vanquishing one ghost from their past, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey squad is preparing to banish another. With redemption and mystique playing center age at the grand old Alfond Arena, the Black Bears welcome Alabama-Huntsville to the house that Walsh built.
While the weekend series against the Chargers features no national championship game rematch, it does have some juicy storylines of its own. The biggest of which comes in the form of a 2-2 tie from 2004. The stalemate, the Black Bears’ lone home deadlock, represented one of the rare blemishes that year. It is a memory several Black Bears are not eager to relive, especially head coach Tim Whitehead.
“It’s human nature to have a let down after the Denver series and I understand that,” said Whitehead. “We’ve been very honest with our players that this is a dangerous weekend and we need to continue to press upon them that Alabama-Huntsville can beat anyone in the country, including us if we don’t bring our best game. Alabama has proven that year and year out.”
The Chargers arrive in town only six days after the Black Bears avenged their 2004 title game loss to Denver with an opening home weekend sweep. Denver entered that series as the two-time defending national champion and the second ranked team in the country.
“We are going to have do the same thing we did this past weekend,” said assistant captain Steve Mullin about the series. “They are going to come in wanting to do the exact same thing we wanted to do to Denver; they are going to want to knock off a team that is higher than them. Our job is to not let them do that.”
With the pair of weekend victories, the Black Bears skyrocketed to the top of the college hockey ranks. UMaine is currently ranked fifth in both the USCHO-CSTV and the USA Today-USA Hockey Magazine polls. For the Chargers, who play in the College Hockey America conference, the series is their first of the year.
Whitehead took time to discuss the Black Bears’ first appearance back in the top five since last year’s preseason poll.
“We want to stay up on everyone’s radar,” said Whitehead. “Though it’s usually better to be somewhere higher than lower, but that’s fine, we aren’t that concerned with it. It’s so early, we don’t put much stock into it right now.”
It is clearly a role reversal from last weekend for UMaine, who played the role of underdog against the Pioneers.
“This is a good team we are up against,” said Whitehead. “Their top crew is as good as anybody and that worries me for this weekend, we are going to need to be very sharp.”
Whitehead notes the Chargers as a team that can not be taken for granted.
“They are a great program with a proud tradition,” said Whitehead. “They have championships at a division II level, they have been knocking at the door of the division I level every year and this year is going to be no exception.”
The hard fought tie of two years ago also represents the Black Bear’s lone misstep against the Chargers. UMaine leads the overall series 7-0-1 with the last six games being played at Alfond Arena.
Whitehead commented on the weekend that ended the Black Bears’ perfect record against the boys from the bayou.
“We beat them 1-0 and didn’t play that well but got away with a win,” said Whitehead. “Then the second night we did come out with very good intensity, very sharp passing, the powerplay was strong and only came out with a tie.”
“We were 17-1-1 at home and that was our only tie.”
Now two years removed from that inspiring series in Orono, the Chargers return with most of the same roster, just older. Its lineup features 15 seniors and juniors.
“I think the biggest thing you see when you look at the lineup, is that their top line of five guys and goalie are all juniors and seniors who played in the series up here two years ago,” said Whitehead. “So they are coming up with no fear in their mind because they played flawless up here against a very good team.”
Leading the way is captain Jeremy Schreiber on defenseman. Whitehead cited Schrieber as one of the key contributors in the last duel. Schreiber recorded 21 assists last year. His linemate on defense, assistant captain Jeff Winchester, also promises to create plenty of trouble for UMaine.
On offense the Chargers are led by assistant captain Bruce Mulherin, who recorded 24 goals and 15 assists last year. The Black Bears will also hope to shutdown junior Steve Canter, who recorded 19 points last year. Canter and Mulherin boast a first line that also includes Grant Selinger.
“Their top five and their goalie are as good as anybody’s,” said Whitehead. “When you play a team from one of the emerging conferences, either the Atlantic or the CHA, as many teams around the country are learning already, their powerplay and goaltending is typically as good as anybody’s.”
In net, senior Scott Munroe played in 31 games and had a 2.29 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. The Chargers enter the season as the favorite to win their conference.
“We feel we have greater depth, so we have to keep them off the powerplay and we need to use that strength in numbers,” said Whitehead. “We really got to get the tempo high and play at a pace that they feel uncomfortable with.”
UMaine, on the other hand will will be looking to continue where they left off last weekend.
“I thought our passing was real sharp,” said Whitehead. “That was the best it’s looked probably since 2004, quite frankly. I thought we went tape to tape a lot more than we usually do and that’s very encouraging.”
“I think we transitioned really well.”
Tending the net for the Black Bears will likely be a combination of freshman Ben Bishop and Matt Lundin. However, Whitehead won’t be hesitant to start either goalie both nights if necessary.
“Going into the weekend, I would like to play both goalies but I am going to wait to make that decision,” said Whitehead.
Bishop, who was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week for the second straight week, enters the game with a 2-1 record and a .923 save percentage with a 1.97 goals against average.
On offense, senior Derek Damon and Josh Soares look to be big contributors, as well as the line of Greg Moore, Michel Leveille and Brent Shepard. Damon and Soares have both tallied three goals thus far this season. The line of Keenan Hopson, Billy Ryan and John Hopson could also prove to be too fast for the Chargers.
“Overall, I was very happy with the lines,” said Whitehead, “but we want to be careful that we don’t become complacent. We are running out of time to take looks at some of the freshmen so I would like to get all the healthy freshmen in if I can. I just don’t know if I can do that because a lot of guys are playing very well.”
This is not to say Whitehead won’t mix it up the lines with rarely seen players.
“We certainly don’t want to send a message to our team to that we are taking this opponent lightly because we’re not,” said Whitehead. “I have to weigh that with getting players in because it’s very important if someone gets hurt, because now we are going to need that freshman or sophomore.”
UMaine enters the series 3-1-0.
“These games are huge,” said Whitehead. “They are just as big as every game down the stretch because when looking at advancing to the NCAA tournament every game counts in the pairwise rankings.”
Both games start at 7 p.m.
Coach’s corner
UMaine hockey coach Tim Whitehead shares his team’s keys for the upcoming weekend.
1.”We need to take better angles in pursuit of the defensemen.”
2. “When you’re looking at their team, you need to shutdown the top five and the goalie.”
3. “We need to capitalize on the power play when we get opportunities.”
