The University of Maine’s men’s 3-1 hockey team appears to be continuing its ascendancy from 2021-22 Hockey East cellar-dweller to a possible top five finisher.
There are question marks but this team has the potential to be one of the best since the 2011-12 team made the school’s 18th and last NCAA Tournament appearance. That was also the last Hockey East semifinal appearance for UMaine.
Third-year head coach Ben Barr has continued to upgrade his roster and the biggest area of improvement has been team speed, especially along the blue line.
Having an entire group of defensemen who can skate the puck out of the defensive zone on their own makes a world of difference.
It means less time spent in the defensive zone, which reduces your goals-against average.
It also provides the team with another source of offense since all are capable of chipping in a goal or an assist off the rush or on the forecheck.
And it is an extremely young defense corps with junior co-captain David Breazeale being the only one who isn’t a sophomore or a freshman.
So the future is bright on the blue line.
The addition of mobile freshmen defensemen Brandon Holt, Brandon Chabrier, Luke Antonacci and Grayson Arnott a year ago, coupled with the emergence of goaltender Victor Ostman, helped the Black Bears reduce their goals-against average from 3.4 to 2.6 per game.
And the Black Bears went from a 7-22-4 team (5-17-2 in Hockey East) two years ago to a 15-16-5 squad (9-11-4 Hockey East) last season. They also went from 11th (last) to sixth in the standings.
They have allowed nine goals, with one being an empty-netter, and they find themselves ranked 20th in the country in both major polls.
After sweeping Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Black Bears upset defending national champion Quinnipiac 2-1 in overtime before losing to the Bobcats 4-1 the next night last weekend in Hamden, Connecticut.
A national ranking which was a weekly occurrence during the glory days of UMaine hockey has been a rarity since the 2011-12 campaign.
“We have the team to do some things if we keep improving,” said Barr. “If we don’t we will be average.
“We have the people and the character in the locker room to succeed. Hockey East is tremendously difficult this season so we need our (veterans) to be better than they have been,” Barr said.
UMaine should be stingier this season but the question mark will again be goal production.
That has been an underlying issue during the past 11 seasons.
UMaine has had only six players reach double digits in goals the past five seasons albeit one was the COVID-19 shortened 2021-22 season in which the Black Bears played only 16 games.
The addition of newcomers like the Nadeau brothers, Josh and Bradly, and Bentley University transfers Harrison Scott and Nicholas Niemo should combine with better seasons from the returning forwards and provide a noteworthy jump in goal production.
UMaine’s 2.56 goals per game last season was just 44th best among 62 Division I teams.
The Nadeaus flank senior co-captain Breen on a line comprised of New Brunswick natives and Breen, a 21-goal scorer in ‘22-23 and an All-Hockey East second team selection. That line is dangerous every time it is on the ice.
It is a creative and very entertaining line.
The highly-skilled and speedy brothers, who were the leading regular season and playoff scorers in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League with champions Penticton last season, have a terrific chemistry and Breen has complemented them nicely.
Eighteen-year-old Bradly, a first round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes (30th overall) in June, has an NHL shot along with great hands and ice vision. Josh Nadeau, who turned 20 on Oct. 22, is two inches shorter than his 5-foot-10 brother and is an excellent passer who can also shoot the puck. Josh Nadeau is strong on his skates thanks to his low center of gravity and ice balance.
Breen’s tenacity and high-end talent make him a perfect fit for them.
The Nadeaus each have two goals and two assists so far and Breen has a goal and three assists.
This line will be productive and can take over a game but it is going to take the Nadeaus time to adapt to the rigors of college hockey and the attention they will receive from checking lines and the opponents’ top defense tandems.
The Nadeaus are potential 15-20 goal scorers and 30-40 point producers but it won’t be easy.
The veteran line of junior Nolan Renwick between graduate student Ben Poisson and Donavan Houle is a power forward unit with a combined 283 career games between them. It is the team’s most experienced line.
Each had nine goals a year ago and all should be in double digits in goals this season. It is a physical line with speed that is especially effective on the forecheck, using their big bodies to protect the puck and get to the net front.
Houle has a pair of goals already and the others each have one. Poisson has three assists, Houle has two and Renwick has one.
They can also serve as an effective shutdown line.
UMaine has scoring potential on its third and fourth lines for the first time in several years.
“Those are the guys who can make or break your season,” said Barr. “It’s your depth that can determine whether you succeed or don’t in this league.”
Thomas Freel was an impactful all-around freshmen left winger a year ago and had two goals and 13 assists in 36 games. He already has four assists in four games. Center Cole Hanson scored six goals and Barr will be looking for more production from sophomores Felix Trudeau and Reid Pabich, who had three and two goals a year ago, respectively.
Junior center Scott has a goal and an assist and appears as though he is going to be a useful supplemental scorer. Niemo and freshman Sully Scholle have good upsides and sophomore Aidan Carney’s return from off-season surgery will give UMaine a physical presence. Sophomore Parker Lindauer, who played in 15 games last season, and freshman Anthony Calafiore could also earn some ice time.
Breazeale, who was chosen to the Hockey East All-Rookie team two years ago, has emerged into an elite-level defenseman. The co-captain is an exceptional skater, particularly for someone who is 6-foot-4, 205 pounds. He is a constant threat offensively and is also a one-man breakout who wins a ton of puck battles in the defensive zone.
Holt was having an impressive freshman season with four goals and seven assists in 24 games before he broke his finger and missed the last 12 games. He played the RPI games but missed the Quinnipiac series with an ankle injury.
He provides an offensive flair and is also rock solid, defensively.
Chabrier had the overtime game-winner against Quinnipiac and continues to improve along with Antonacci and Arnott.
Antonacci (3 goals, 10 assists), Breazeale (1 & 12) and Arnott (2 & 9) all had double digit points last year along with Holt.
Freshmen Ryan Hopkins, Bodie Nobes and Liam Lesakowski haven’t looked out of place and all have promising futures.
“They aren’t flashy but they’re all pretty solid,” said Barr.
Ostman was the All-Hockey East second team goaltender a year with his 2.21 goals-against average, five shutouts and .918 save percentage and is off to a good start with a 1.98 GAA and .899 save percentage. Freshman Albin Boija and senior Connor Androlewicz will back him up.
The UMaine power play is in an 0-for-15 funk and is 4-for-26 on the season but Barr expects it to be productive. UMaine is a stellar 14-for-15 on the penalty kill.
The Black Bears have created a major buzz in Orono with the second RPI game being a sellout. A sell-out in October in a non-conference game is almost unheard of even in the rabid hockey environment at Alfond Arena.
The Black Bear players have extra motivation after being picked ninth among 11 teams in the Hockey East preseason hockey poll.
UMaine will open Hockey East play at Merrimack on Friday and Saturday nights before hosting Boston College for two and visiting Boston University for a pair. BU, BC and Merrimack were one, two, three in the preseason poll.