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ORONO – More than three weeks after University of Maine sophomore netminder Ben Bishop had to leave a game against the University of New Hampshire for a strained groin, he was forced to exit the ice once again late in the second period against Merrimack after feeling a ‘pop’ in his groin area.
“I felt just a pop and we’re not quite sure what it is, I’m going to get an MRI [today],” said Bishop. “It was a little bit lower [than the last time] but it’s the same area. It was the same feeling I felt the last time.”
Yesterday, the team announced that Bishop would be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
With just 43 seconds remaining, Black Bear head coach Tim Whitehead pulled Bishop, knowing full well that he was in pain from a split that occurred a minute and a half earlier. At the time, the injury looked minor, with Bishop bending down for a couple of stretches before he skated around and got back in net. Now, however, it appears that the 6-7 netminder has aggravated the injury that occurred when UNH’s Trevor Smith collided with him on Feb. 4.
Bishop said he felt a sudden pain when he bent down to make a save with a minute or more remaining in the second. Right after seeing Bishop make the attempted split, Whitehead said he was reminded of the Wildcat game.
“It’s a real shame,” said Whitehead. “I think back to that situation at UNH and it doesn’t make me feel very good to be honest with you. It’s an unfortunate scenario that he’s re-injured it now. It’s not a good thing. He’s a tough kid though and he will bounce back as soon as he can. We don’t know how serious it is, but obviously he doesn’t come out of the game if it’s not serious.”
Bishop tried to close out the second period but the pain proved to be too much.
“I just wanted to finish the period, I was hurt a little bit but I wanted to finish but coach wanted to me out,” said Bishop.
Freshman goalie Dave Wilson, who is 2-2-0 after making four starts in replacement of Bishop earlier this month, came into the decision with 43 seconds remaining. It was a scene Wilson has played out before. Only three weeks ago, he entered the UNH game after Bishop had to leave. In that appearance, he surrendered two goals and the loss. He currently has a 2.73 goals against average and .910 save percentage, while Bishop has a 2.15 goals against average and .921 save percentage. Bishop is 19-8-2 and at one time had started 41 straight games for UMaine.
“I was just playing it by year to be honest,” said Wilson about being ready to take the ice whenever. “Ben was playing great this whole series – I figured whatever happened happened, I would be ready for anything.”
The Black Bears will now await Bishop’s MRI and see if the pain regresses.
“Hopefully Bishop will get healthy; we will need him down the stretch,” said Leveille.
At the same time, UMaine feels Wilson will be fine if they have to lean on him some more.
“We definitely know that Wilson is ready to play when he needs to, which is another positive for us going into the playoffs,” said Lundin.
Bangor Daily News