University of Maine sophomore defenseman Bodie Nobes got his first look at Orono when he was in ninth grade.
“We were playing in a tournament here and we stayed in the dorms for a couple of days. I loved the place. It felt like Canada. It felt like home,” said Nobes, a native of Uxbridge, Ontario.
He retained that memory so when he received the opportunity to play at UMaine, he took it.
And he has evolved into one of those role players who have been important to the team’s success this season.
UMaine is 21-6-5 overall, 13-4-5 in Hockey East, and is fourth in the Pairwise Rankings which mimic the NCAA Tournament selection process.
UMaine is ranked fourth in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll and fifth in the United States College Hockey Online poll.
Nobes was a healthy scratch the first 14 games of the season but received an opportunity to crack the lineup as a forward for the two-game series against defending national champ Denver on Jan. 3-4.
He rattled a slap shot off the crossbar in the second game, a 2-1 UMaine victory.
He has played every game since and has been moved back to defense, where he has become a reliable and consistent performer.
“He is really good in our [defensive] zone,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “He’s strong, he doesn’t get beat one-on-one down low. He’s pretty good on the penalty kill and he’s a tough kid who will block shots and finish his hits.”
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Nobes is in his second season with the Black Bears.
“He has given us steady minutes which is what we were looking for when he came here. He has been solid for the most part,” Barr added.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well,” said Nobes. “I’m having lots of fun out there.”
Nobes said that he plays “a simple defensive game and that’s a role that’s needed on the team,” adding that he has tried to fill that role.
He was switched to forward early in the season and that experience was valuable, according to Nobes.
“It really helped me develop my hands,” said Nobes, who has two assists in his 15 games. “The speed of the game is different. You’re playing a different position. It brings out different skills and a different thought process.”
Nobes and his teammates take pride in the fact UMaine has the third-lowest goals-against average in the country among 64 Division I programs, allowing only 1.78 goals per game.
“It’s definitely fun being an annoying team to play against, for sure,” said Nobes. “When you are on the other end of that, it’s really annoying.”
When he wasn’t in the lineup, he didn’t dwell on it.
“You have to trust the process and trust what you’re doing,” explained Nobes. “Even if you aren’t playing, the coaches are still trying to make you better.”
Nobes played for Green Bay in the United States Hockey League during the 2022-23 season and had 10 goals and five assists in 62 games. He had spent the previous year with Ottawa in the Central Canada Hockey League, and had nine goals and 24 assists in 53 games.
“I stuck with it, trusted it and now I’m off and running,” Nobes added about trusting the process.
“He has been making great plays,” said senior left wing Taylor Makar. “His details are huge. He blocks shots and is great at rimming the puck around (the boards), reading pressure and getting the puck up the wall.”
Makar said Nobes’ game has “grown so quickly and it’s awesome to see.”
“He brings us a bunch of energy,” added senior center and alternate captain Harrison Scott. “He impacts the game positively,”
Nobes, who played in 19 games a year ago but didn’t register a point, has been on a nice roll of late.
Over his last four games, he has been plus-four in plus-minus and had an assist on Sully Scholle’s game-winning goal in a 5-2 win over New Hampshire.
Players receive a plus-one if they are on the ice when their team scores an even-strength or shorthanded goal, and a minus-one if the opponent scores one.
Nobes, who is plus-three on the season, said he is looking forward to this weekend’s regular-season-ending two-game series at UMass against the nationally-ranked 18-12-4 Minutemen (14th in one poll, 16th in the other).
UMaine beat UMass 3-2 in a physical affair in Orono on Feb. 2.
“That game was a blast. Everyone was throwing the body,” said Nobes. “Playing a physical game is to our advantage. We have success when we’re hitting.”
Nobes added that he loves playing at UMaine.
“It’s amazing. It’s a lot of fun,” he said about playing at the school he’s loved since the ninth grade.
