The University of Maine men’s hockey team has taken the Alfond Arena faithful on a roller coaster ride during the first semester.
On the positive side, the 7-9-3 Black Bears are only one win from tying last season’s win total (8-24-6). On the negative side, they are in last place in Hockey East (1-6-1).
All of UMaine’s wins last year came over teams with losing records, and the Black Bears already have victories over last year’s NCAA runner-up, Quinnipiac, and perennial NCAA tournament team UMass Lowell.
However, after a 3-0 start, UMaine has gone 4-9-3. Two of the four wins came against American International College (3-8-6), and another came at the expense of Brown University (3-9).
The Black Bears haven’t won a road game since Jan. 30 (0-12-3).
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this team has been inconsistent.
In UMaine’s 7-2 win over AIC on Saturday night, the Black Bears had 14 freshmen and sophomores among the 19 players who played in the game.
With youth comes inconsistency, and UMaine has been inconsistent in every aspect of the game.
However, the freshman class has the potential to be the building block for future success.
It is the second-highest scoring freshman class among the nation’s 60 Division I teams with 27 goals. The freshmen have scored 47.4 percent of UMaine’s goals and 36.1 percent of its points.
Center Chase Pearson, who has six goals in his last three games, is tied for second among Division I freshmen with 10 goals. He also has five assists. Winger Mitch Fossier has eight goals and six assists, winger Patrick Shea has four goals and six assists, and defenseman Patrick Holway has two goals and six assists. Winger Ryan Smith has two goals and four assists, and center Peter Housakos has scored a goal.
The sweep of AIC should help the Black Bears’ confidence. The resurgent power play, which has scored in five straight games at a whopping 44 percent success rate (11-for-25), should also give UMaine a boost.
The Black Bears have scored 17 power-play goals, just two fewer than they scored all of last season.
“The sweep was huge for our confidence,” said UMaine senior center and captain Cam Brown.
“We need to take a look at everything we’ve done, positive and negative, and figure out how to be more consistent,” said Brown. “If we do the right things more often and become a little more consistent, we’re going to start to win more hockey games.”
UMaine hasn’t reached the point where it is good enough to win if there is a breakdown in one component of its game, like successful teams can. It hasn’t developed a winning culture or swagger yet.
UMaine’s climb up the standings has to start with discipline.
When UMaine’s opponents have an edge in power-play chances, the Black Bears are 2-5-3. When the Black Bears have more power plays, they are 5-2.
UMaine is the nation’s sixth-most penalized team with 17.1 minutes per game.
There is no excuse for the Black Bears to take some of the needless penalties they took during the first half.
Last weekend, they gave AIC only four power plays over two games while converting on 7-for-13 themselves.
“AIC still managed to score two power-play goals. The bottom line is if we had been undisciplined, we might not have been able to win two games easily,” said UMaine fourth-year head coach Red Gendron.
He feels his team has shown significant improvement.
“We’re infinitely better than we were when the season started,” he said. “We have to build on the positive steps we’ve taken. We’re a much better team offensively now. We need to maintain our discipline, and we need to maintain our focus on a consistent basis.”
They also need to receive more consistent goaltending.
Sophomore Rob McGovern, the No. 1 goalie, has held opponents to two goals or less seven times in 16 starts. But he also allowed four or more goals five times, including four times in his last seven starts.
McGovern was sharp in the victory on Saturday, making 22 saves, and the Black Bears will need similar performances moving forward.
He is 6-7-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
The defense corps is markedly better than a year ago. Junior Mark Hamilton (1 & 7) is much improved and sophomore Rob Michel (4 & 6) is one of the better young defensemen in Hockey East. Sophomores Keith Muehlbauer (0 & 1) and Sam Becker (0 & 2) have made strides, and redshirt freshman Stephen Cochrane (zero points) has been dependable.
Senior assistant captain Eric Schurhamer (1 & 6) is having his best season, and freshman Patrick Holway has made a smooth transition to college hockey. Holway possesses an excellent shot and is tied for second in points among the defensemen.
The defensemen tend to over-stickhandle at times in the defensive zone, as do the forwards. They would be better served using the boards and glass to chip the puck out of the zone.
UMaine ranks 43rd in the country in scoring defense (3.26 goals per game), and that needs to improve as does the penalty killing (80.9 percent, 42nd).
“Our defensive play is a huge piece to the puzzle in the second half as well as our discipline,” said Gendron. “All parts of our game can be improved, and everyone on the team needs to get better.”
Seniors Blaine Byron and Brown have come alive of late, and UMaine needs that to continue.
Right wing Byron has registered at least a point in 10 of his last 13 games (7 & 10) and already has one more goal (9 & 11) than he had last year. Linemate Brown has three goals and 12 assists in his last nine games, and he has 20 points (3 & 17) on the season, which matches last year’s point total.
Junior left wing Nolan Vesey (4 & 8) has added a noticeable step of speed and is dramatically better than last season when he had just 11 points. He needs to shoot more.
Sophomore left wing Dane Gibson (3 & 5) has already doubled his point total from a year ago, speedy sophomore left wing Brendan Robbins (1 & 6) has been productive, and junior Cedric Lacroix (3 & 5) continues to be a valuable checking line center and penalty-killer.
“We need to generate even more offense,” said Gendron. “We have to make good decisions with the puck and get more pucks to the net.”
The Black Bears will get some help as Robin Hoglund, a 6-foot-3 University of Minnesota transfer, and 6-7 freshman defenseman Oliver Herner become eligible.
“Robin can really skate, he’s physical, and he has a hard shot. Oliver has a pretty good shot from the point, he’s poised, and he has a long reach. He covers a lot of space,” said Gendron.
The Black Bears return to action on Dec. 30. UMaine will face the University of New Hampshire at Manchester.
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