The University of Maine Men’s Ice Hockey team is only 21 days away from their home opener against Holy Cross to kick off the 2025-26 season.
Ben Barr looks to lead his team to another Hockey East championship for his fifth season as head coach, but is also looking to finish first in the regular season, something that has not been done since 1988. Since Barr’s first season in 2021-22, the Blackbears have slowly climbed up the leaderboard each year, ending with a record of 13-5-6 in-conference play, earning second place behind Boston College in the 2024-25 season. Shortly after, they achieved a Hockey East Championship with a 5-2 victory over UConn. This win and their #4 national ranking gave them a ticket to the NCAA tournament where their season quickly ended after a 5-1 loss to Penn State.
Third-year defensemen Frank Djurasevic will be a key player this season for the Black Bears. With a career-high of seven goals and 21 assists, he was one of only 10 players nationally to have at least 45 shots blocked and over 25 points. He hopes to defend the Hock East title with the much younger roster.
“We got a lot of new and young players but all of them are coming in with skill and the ability to hold on to pucks and enter the zone with possession,” said
Djurasevic. “Our team’s pretty deep, which will be great competition for practice and not expect to have the same spot every game, you have to work for it.”
The Black Bears picked up 12 first-year players and only one transfer, Max Scott, who was a captain at Brown as a second-year. His brother Harrison Scott led the team in points last season and is now signed with the Dallas Stars NHL team. Max Scott will look to fill in his shoes and be a big piece as a center after losing key players such as Nolan Renwick, Captain Lynden Breen and Ross Mitton. Coach Barr has also recruited the first-year keeper, Mathis Rousseau, from the Quebec league and was team Canada’s goalie in the world juniors last year. He will be a great addition to push returning goalie and Second Team All-American Albin Boija.
Returning for another season is fourth-year alternate captain Thomas Freel who had a career high of 11 goals in the 2024-25 season and was a force in the attack. Third-year forward Josh Nadeau is also back on the ice as one of the skillful playmakers.
As usual, the Black Bears face a tough schedule in the highly competitive Hockey East conference where every team is always improving. Maine was picked to finish fourth in the Hockey East pre-season poll behind UConn, Providence, and Boston University. Their first in–conference game will be at the infamous Alfond Arena on October 31 against the challenging Boston University.
One thing to anticipate is the grand opening of the fully renovated Shawn Walsh Hockey Center. The transformative $320 million commitment from the Harold Alfond foundation is a project that has been in the works for over a year to improve the hockey facilities and make them world-class. With state-of-the-art sports medicine, new strength and conditioning spaces, modern locker rooms and film rooms, the upgrades will add on to the already legendary building. The fan experience will also be enhanced during the game to add on to the vibrant atmosphere.
“It’s been great and has given us an edge to be able to train harder, recover faster at the rink with the resources and technology at hand,” said Djurasevic. “It’s a big step for us to show the position the team’s been moving in the past few years of building up since Coach Barr has been here.”
The young and talented roster look to defend their title as Hockey East Champions in the upcoming 2025-26 season with the preparation and hard work they have done in the off-season.
