It’s a new beginning for the University of Maine men’s hockey team, and Lewiston’s Mark Anthoine is excited to be part of it.
With new head coach Red Gendron and a renewed interest in the program, the Black Bears hope this season is the start of something good.
“I think everyone is excited overall, just because it’s something new,” said Anthoine. “A lot of people are anxious to see how this works out and how things are going. We’re having great practices and workouts. It’s a great group of guys this year.”
The senior forward will see an increased role as one of the club’s three captains. Saturday night, the team met and voted on its leaders and Anthoine was chosen along with Brice O’Connor and Devin Shore. O’Connor is the team captain while Anthoine and Shore are assistants. Anthoine is the first Maine-born captain since Lisbon’s Greg Moore.
“It wasn’t something I was expecting, but it was something I was striving for, just trying to use my time here to help out some of the younger guys and just be a leader,” Anthoine said.
As an experienced senior with three years under his skates, Anthoine was a prime candidate to help lead a club featuring 10 new players. He has played in 93 straight games for the Black Bears, the longest streak on the team.
“I’ve been here for awhile,” Anthoine said. “I’ve wanted to be one of those guys leading guys in the right direction. Our philosophy is that we lead each other and take care of one another and lead by example for one another. We just kind of govern ourselves. Coach Red wants us to be a complete team together.”
Anthoine played in 38 games last year and scored four goals and added three assists. In the 2011-12 season, he had 12 goals and seven assists. He was tied for the lead in the nation with 11 power-play goals. As a rookie, he had a goal and three assists in 33 games.
He says now being part of the captaincy makes him even more determined to make this a year to remember.
“I’m really excited now,” Anthoine said. “It definitely gives you an extra boost. Now it gives me more reason to work hard for the players on my team and help lead them in any way I can.”
The Black Bears were picked to finish eighth in the preseason Hockey East poll. Boston College and UMass-Lowell were tied as the top two teams.
With UMaine hockey getting a fresh start under a new coach, the team is hopinig to set the tone with their work effort.
“We’re just trying to lay the ground work of what kind of a community of work we have here,” Anthoine said. “We don’t want to settle for anything less then the best. We want to keep getting better every day. We’ve got to keep building and growing.”
The Black Bears open the season Sunday at 4 p.m. by hosting Dalhousie. Fans as well as the players are excited to see what the new season brings.
“We don’t want to set expectations that are too big for ourselves right away,” Anthoine said. “We want to take every practice and every game one at a time. I think we’re as anxious as people on the outside. We’re anxious to get things going. We’re really excited for the season to start.”
Anthoine said that the diligent work that the team has been doing is an effort to start the season strong and dictate what it does on the ice.
“We don’t want to just show up for games and hope to win,” Anthoine said. “We want to have our foot on the gas pedal and start taking it to teams and that starts in practice every day. That’s kind of the mentality we have here now.”
Anthoine is hoping for improvement in his own game. He’s striving for a strong senior season and make an impact on the ice and in the locker room.
“Every year I want to keep getting better,” Anthoine said. “I want to stay in my role on the team. It’s my senior year and there are things I need to improve on to help the team. I want to continue to play with consistency. That’s the biggest aspect of playing at the next level. You have to be a consistent player. I just want to lead by example and push the guys around me.
“I think we have a great team from the looks of it. I’m anxious to help guide them and play with them by my side.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
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