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After a rough end to what was expected to be a promising season, the remaining members of the University of Maine men’s hockey team looks to make the season a distant memory.
That work starts right now.
Leading that march are two of the four 2011-12 captains, defenders Will O’Neill and Mike Cornell.
“I think disappointing is a good word [for last season],” Cornell said. “I don’t think we accomplished everything we had in mind. That’s how hockey goes sometimes and it will be a good learning experience for some of our younger guys.”
“It wasn’t what we hoped for. We wanted to go deeper but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” O’Neill said. “We’re excited for next season. I think you learn from it and take [what you can] from the season because we had a good team and knew we could win games.”
The Black Bears did win games — 17 in all — though they stumbled down the stretch and fell quietly out of the Hockey East Playoffs in the first round to Merrimack College.
Heading to next year, team members look to improve individually, which will help the team as a whole.
“In the summer it’s difficult to improve as a team, but everyone has their own individual areas they need to improve on,” Cornell said. “This week we’re doing strength testing to see where we’re at and our strength coach will give us a summer routine.”
“If everybody works as hard as they can and everybody improves then indirectly that will make us better,” O’Neill added. “If a freshman comes in next year in better shape than this season, it’s an improvement for the team.”
In the offseason, Cornell is looking to improve his conditioning, as an abundance of defensive minutes are left on the table after the graduation of Josh Van Dyk and Jeff Dimmen.
“My biggest thing is to be in the best shape I can physically,” Cornell said. “We’re losing a lot of minutes so I need to come in to put myself in a position to play as much as I can. Hockey-wise I need to get more confident with the puck and use my [defensive] partner.”
After the season ended, questions were raised as to which returning players would stay and which ones would go onto the NHL. Star forward Gustav Nyquist represented the latter, while O’Neill opted to return for his senior season.
“I wanted to come back and be a leader on this team,” O’Neill said. “Education’s important to me. Another year’s going to help my game and when I get [to the NHL] I want to be ready. Your first opportunity could be your only opportunity and I want to make the best of it. I want to be as strong, as fast and as good as I can be when I get there.”
As far as deciding on new captains, head coach Tim Whitehead said the team voted, and the votes reflected what they already assumed.
“We felt it would be ideal to have a captain and an assistant at the offensive and defensive end, and the voting worked out that way,” Whitehead said. “We’re very confident in them and I’m very excited to work with them as they develop their leadership skills. They’ve benefited from watching a great group before them.”
“It was definitely a nice surprise,” Cornell said of the announcement. “With guys like Will and [offensive captains] Spencer [Abbott] and Brian [Flynn], I wasn’t really expecting anything like that. We had a team meeting one afternoon and he announced those three guys and said there was a fourth. I couldn’t be happier. I’ve known Will for a long time and Brian from before [UMaine] so it was a real treat for me.
“For me it’s an opportunity to be a better leader,” he continued. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be a captain on other teams I played for. It meant a lot to me coming from the coaches and players.”
Born in Canada, Cornell moved to Massachusetts in his early years, bringing his love of hockey with him from the Great White North.
“Up there [in Canada] it’s bred into you. My father played and I started skating on frozen tennis courts at two years old,” he said. “We moved to the U.S. when I was seven. My dad was a goalie so we eliminated that early. I stayed with defense because I like seeing the whole play in front of me.”
O’Neill expressed gratitude toward being named the defensive captain.
“I had a smile on my face you couldn’t wipe off,” O’Neill said. “It means a lot; these are some of my best friends here. I want to keep on gaining more experience and pass that on to the younger guys and lead by example.”
