If you are a University of Maine hockey fan, get used to the roller coaster ride the team is going to put you on this season.
The series at Quinnipiac brought out the best and the worst in the team. When you have eight newcomers in the lineup on a nightly basis, you can expect that.
It is especially true when they are up against an elite program like Quinnipiac, which has earned six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and won the NCAA title in 2023.
On Friday night, the Black Bears turned in a solid performance over the first 57 minutes despite being heavily outshot.
UMaine jumped out 3-0 and 4-1 leads and still had a 4-2 advantage with three minutes left in regulation.
But the Bobcats scored two goals 46 seconds apart in the final 2:36 after pulling their goalie in favor of the extra attacker, and earned a 4-4 overtime tie.
UMaine was able to make only one clearance over the final three minutes and Charlie Russell iced the puck while shooting for the empty net.
The only reason UMaine escaped with a tie was junior second team All-American goalie Albin Boija stopped a breakaway with two seconds left in the 3-on-3 overtime.
Quinnipiac had flipped the table on UMaine after Black Bears had beaten the Bobcats 6-5 in overtime a year ago in Orono. Last year, UMaine defenseman Brandon Holt scored an extra-attacker goal with 28 seconds left to force overtime and UMaine defenseman David Breazeale won it with 36 seconds remaining in OT.
This year, the Black Bears are going to win games they probably shouldn’t and lose games they probably should win, especially over the first half of the season.
Quinnipiac cruised to a 4-0 win on Saturday as the Black Bears gifted Quinnipiac two five-minute majors and a total of 18 minutes of power play time. That meant UMaine spent almost an entire period on the penalty kill.
Quinnipiac went 3-for-8 on the power play while UMaine went 0-for-2.
“When you do that, you have no chance,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr.
He added that “we got beat by a more mature team.”
If there is one thing players can control, it is their discipline. And that is the lesson that should be learned after Saturday’s loss.
It’s tough enough to beat a perennial national contender in its rink without taking penalties.
On Friday night, Barr said Quinnipiac did to his team what his 2024-25 team did to its opponents.
“They kept coming and they wore us down,” Barr said.
Barr knows there are going to be plenty of growing pains. And he knows that it is up to him and his coaching staff to make sure the players keep improving and stop making the same mistakes over and over.
The positives from the weekend include the goaltending of Boija and freshman Mathis Rousseau, who made his debut on Saturday.
Boija made 35 saves on Friday as his team got outshot 39-22 and Rousseau had 29 on Saturday as Quinnipiac had a 33-19 edge.
Each member of the fourth line already has a goal through four games. That hard-working, grind-it-out unit is composed of sophomore Oskar Komarov between freshman Will Gerrior and sophomore Thomas Pichette. Pichette also has two assists so far.
Seven of UMaine’s top 11 point-getters are newcomers and the UMaine coaching staff isn’t afraid to use them in critical junctures in a game.
The freshmen defensemen have certainly made mistakes as they get used to the speed and physicality of their opponents. But they have also made plays and shown the ability to break the puck out of the defensive zone on their own. However, they are also learning that you can’t over-stickhandle in the defensive zone, and chipping it out of the zone off the boards or glass is often required.
The Black Bears were without injured co-captain and left winger Thomas Freel on Saturday and junior right wing Josh Nadeau sustained an injury late in the second period and didn’t return.
Barr listed them both as “day-to-day” on Monday for the non-conference series against Colgate at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Freel is the team’s top returning goal scorer with 11 and Nadeau’s 29 points last season (10 goals, 19 assists) is most of any returnee.
They are also two players who get a lot of ice time as they are valuable assets in all situations.
If either of them or both can’t play, that will give someone else an opportunity which will improve the team’s depth.
Barr alluded to the fact some of his veterans have struggled in the early going.
The team’s most experienced line featuring Russell, Owen Fowler and Sully Scholle has combined for just one goal and no assists. That was a Fowler goal against Holy Cross.
Defensemen Frank Djurasevic and Holt combined for 48 points and 152 shots on goal a year ago but have just one assist and nine shots on goal between them.
However, Holt, being a co-captain, and Djurasevic, who is an assistant captain, are in leadership positions and have the responsibility of nurturing the newcomers along with Freel.
There is plenty of talent on the team. Once the system employed by the coaches becomes second nature to the newcomers and the struggling veterans begin playing up to their capabilities, the team will be capable of going on some winning streaks.
The goal is a third straight NCAA tournament appearance, and it is a realistic goal.
But there are going to be plenty of ups and downs along the way.
