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ST. LOUIS -This isn’t about some trip to see the Arch. Nor is it about seeing the St. Louis Cardinals play or attending a pre-game party at O. B. Clark’s downtown.
If the University of Maine men’s hockey team gets to have some fun and good ol’ leisure time along the way in the program’s 11th Frozen Four, great. But as far the Black Bears are concerned, this is strictly a business trip.
Instead of fun and games, the group – anchored by six seniors who have been to the Frozen Four three out of four years – will have one focus and one focus alone: the program’s third national championship.
“We’ve been in this situation plenty of times now,” said senior forward and second-leading scorer Josh Soares. “We want to get these two wins now.”
“It’s all hockey right now,” said Hockey East Freshman of the Year and Black Bear second-line forward Teddy Purcell.
The Black Bears enter Thursday’s afternoon semifinal – their fourth in six years and second straight – hoping to finally bring the elusive third banner back to Orono. After watching UMaine finish their season in heartache the last four times they have been to the Frozen Four, this squad is eager to snap the team’s recent run of bad luck.
“It would be great to finally end that,” said Purcell. “But we have to stick to our plan and not worry about the past. Then hopefully we will be able to erase some of those woes.”
“Any time you can get experiences at the Regionals and Frozen Fours, it helps you the next time you are there,” said UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead. “All the teams in this tournament are experienced in the NCAA’s, so that probably washes out the experiences in this Frozen Four. Focusing on our team, where it helps you is the preparation, the routine and dealing with potential distractions.”
However, standing in the way of the Black Bears in their semifinal duel is a team they know all too well – the Michigan State Spartans.
“They got a lot of skilled forwards and defense that can really move the puck well,” said Soares. “We know we’re up for a challenge here. But the good thing is, we played them last year, so we know them. We have a good feeling of what we are getting into and what we have to do again.”
UMaine will have plenty on their side in the duel of the two storied programs. With sophomore netminder “Big” Ben Bishop back and playing at the top of his game, the team is poised to get back to their first National Championship since 2004.
“If it wasn’t for him this past weekend, who knows what would’ve happened,” said Soares of Bishop’s 68-out-of-70 save performance in the Regionals against St. Cloud State and Massachusetts. “He played fantastic for us. If he is giving up one goal a game, we are going to win some games. If he continues to play the way he is, things are looking good for us.”
As far as Bishop – who is playing only 15 minutes away from his hometown – is concerned, he couldn’t ask for a better adversary in the opposing net. The always-smiling goaltender is once again ready to face-off against Spartan netminder Jeff Lerg in the postseason. If anything, the goalies will at least be amusing to look at. Bishop stands high and mighty at 6-7, while Lerg is a slightly smaller 5-6.
“Everybody likes to comment on that, but I grew up playing against him, so I know him,” said Bishop of Michigan State netminder Jeff Lerg, the Black Bears’ national semifinal opponent. “He’s a great goaltender who is extremely quick. He might be small, but he’s extremely good.”
Overall, the Black Bears are quick to note Lerg’s tremendous ability in net.
“He’s a great goaltender – [he showed] that in the Regionals when he beat two of the best goalies on back-to-back nights,” said senior forward Keith Johnson. “He’s definitely one of the top goaltenders.”
“I scored a couple goals on him in juniors so hopefully I carry that into Thursday,” Purcell said.
Maine’s concerns don’t stop with Lerg either. To have success against the Spartans they feel it is vital to put a lid on the feared ’09 line of Justin Abdelkader, Tim Kennedy and Tim Crowder.
“They’re a creative line, they got a lot of talent,” said Soares. “They have some great speed, so we are really going to have to watch them. They played well against us last year. They’re a top line in the country.”
Johnson and Bishop expressed the same sentiment.
“That’s definitely their top line,” said Johnson. “All three of them are real creative offensively; we got to be aware whenever he is on the ice.”
“They have that very strong top line; they call it the ’09 line. It’s kind of like St. Cloud and BC, they have that one top line and you can’t let them burn you,” Bishop said. “When the guys are playing good team defense, we are unbeatable.”
Purcell believes the Black Bears can handle the creative trio, as long as they continue to play the tight defense they displayed in Rochester for their regional win.
“We just have to play physical and take away their space, because with that they can make some real good plays,” said Purcell.
Another key to the game will be the penalty minutes Maine manages to collect. Last week, the squad picked up 17 total penalties.
“That was the one area where we thought we could do better with – we gave St. Cloud State and UMass way too many opportunities,” said Johnson. “Luckily we killed those off, instead of them capitalizing.”
At the same time, Maine wants to make sure they play with the same emotion – a factor they felt aided them last week.
“A lot of guys play with emotion out there,” said Johnson. “If Rob Bellamy makes a big hit, then fine, we will kill it off. But those stick penalties we have to eliminate.”
“It’s a total different mood right now,” said Purcell. “We’re upbeat and coming to the rink happy. Practices are just a lot more fun to be at.”
On the flipside, UMaine will hope to get its own power play out there as much as possible. The Black Bears currently have the best power play in the country.
“The power play has been consistent ever since October,” Johnson said. “We just have to continue to go in confident with it.”
Whitehead acknowledges the Spartans power play as dangerous too, however.
“Certainly their power play is something to watch out for,” Whitehead said. “They are clicking right now; they capitalized in the Regional on the power play. We have to stay out of the penalty box.”
UMaine also has another factor on their side.
“This year we’re not in Wisconsin playing Wisconsin, so that helps out a little bit,” said Soares. “It’s going to be fun.”
The past two Frozen Fours, UMaine has faced their semifinal opponent in their home state. In the end though, UMaine’s balance could be their biggest strong point.
“We have real good balance, and these newer lines have even added to that more,” said Purcell.
Leading Maine’s offense is senior captain Michel Leveille with 44 points, followed by Soares’ and Purcell’s 43. Streaking Billy Ryan has 33 points and could be the x-factor if he continues to flourish like he has in the month of March.
“I think we were more uptight going into the UMass series for Hockey East playoffs. Now we got those wins, we’ve loosened up a bit, we’re playing our game. We know we are playing well too, so that always helps out.”
It is this focus and renewed energy the Black Bears hope to ride all the way to head coach Tim Whitehead’s first championship [previously 0-for-3 in the Frozen Four] and team’s third. Having just snuck into the tourney it would be just like UMaine to save their best surprise for last.
“We’re just obviously really anxious to just play Michigan State,” said Johnson.
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