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http://www.pressherald.com/sports/college/hockey/020906umhock.shtml
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Friday, September 6, 2002
Back on ice, hot on trail of third title
By KEVIN THOMAS , Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
ORONO -- Tom Reimann could not escape the memory. He'd see a Minnesota license plate and his mind would flash back to April, with 19,324 fans crammed into the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, most of them celebrating Minnesota's 4-3 overtime win over the University of Maine hockey team. What made it more difficult for Reimann was that he spent his summer in his home state of Minnesota.
"It was a real long summer," said Reimann, a Maine forward. "It's good to be back with the guys."
The Black Bears began training Thursday, preparing for a new season with the same old expectations.
"We have only one common goal and that's to win the national championship," said senior forward Chris Heisten, the team captain.
"We were 52 seconds away from a national title last season. This year, if we're in that situation again, we have to win those 52 seconds. And it all (started Thursday) with our training."
The Black Bears' preseason program starts with off-ice workouts. They move into the rink next week and the coaches are allowed to join the whole squad by the end of September. The season starts Oct. 11-12 with the annual Black Bear Classic.
In Alfond Arena, Maine plays its games beneath two national title banners, won in 1993 and '99. A third championship was within the Black Bears' grasp last year. Maine led the Minnesota 3-2, but the Gophers tied the game with 52 seconds left and went on to win in overtime.
"I watched a tape of the game this summer with my parents," said Robert Liscak, an alternate captain this season. "It still does not feel good."
Liscak had scored the go-ahead goal with 4:33 remaining in the third period of the title game, but Minnesota rallied.
Five of the players Maine lost from last year's team are in, or expected to be in, NHL camps this month: forward Niko Dimitrakos (Sharks); defensemen Peter Metcalf (Bruins) and Michael Schutte (Coyotes); and goalies Mike Morrison (Oilers) and Matt Yeats (still negotiating with the Kings).
"A small group, but a real good group," said Coach Tim Whitehead. "All of them were difference makers. We need some guys this year to elevate and become difference makers."
Whitehead lost one other player, forward Paul Falco, who was dismissed during the summer following a drug arrest in Massachusetts.
Dimitrakos and Metcalf were the team's leading scorers last year, but the next six scorers return: Colin Shields, Martin Kariya, Liscak, Reimann and Lucas Lawson. Reimann is coming off shoulder surgery but could be ready for the opener.
Plus, there are incoming freshmen, including Greg Moore of Lisbon. After playing two years for St. Dominic High School in Lewiston, Moore was selected by USA Hockey for the U.S. developmental team. He has played for the Michigan-based team the past two years and was part of the world-champion under-18 team.
"It will be challenging in his first year to get a ton of ice time," Whitehead said. "But I wouldn't bet against him. He has a ton of potential."
Moore, 18, said that "as a kid, I grew up watching Maine hockey. I idolized them. It's a dream to come here."
Jim Howard, who played with Moore on the developmental team, will be one of Maine's new goalies. He will join Frank Doyle, who sat out last season after playing major junior hockey.
Maine returns six defensemen, four of them starters. Two freshman join them: Steve Mullin and Travis Wight, both from Manitoba.
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:
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