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Friday, February 28, 2003
Maine in good position, but needs momentum
By KEVIN THOMAS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
UMAINE HOCKEY
UMAINE HOCKEY Who: Boston University vs. Maine
When: Today and Saturday, both at 7 p.m.
Where: Alfond Arena, Orono
Tickets: About 100 remain (on sale one hour before the game).
Television: Channel 13, local CBS affiliate (tonight only)
Radio: WLOB, 96.3 FM and 1310 AM (Saturday only)
HOCKEY EAST LEADERS
Boston College: (16-5-1, 33 points)
New Hampshire: (14-5-3, 31 points)
Maine: (13-5-4, 30 points)
ORONO -- It's a good thing the University of Maine built itself a sizable cushion to start the 2002-03 hockey season. The Black Bears' 15-1-2 beginning helped secure home-ice advantage in the Hockey East quarterfinals next week and has almost assuredly guaranteed them a berth in the NCAA tournament, which commences a month from today.
But since New Year's Day, the Black Bears appear to be crawling to the postseason, going 8-5-3 in 2003, including 3-4-2 in their last nine games.
If Maine needs a little fire lit under its skates, this final weekend of the regular season should do it. Rival Boston University is coming to Alfond Arena tonight and Saturday.
"These two games are huge," Maine senior Tom Reimann said. "If we come out and play like we can, we know we'll be ready for the playoffs."
Oh, that two-letter word: if.
Maine has slumped for several reasons - defensive breakdowns, an inability to move the puck out of its own zone and special teams that are not as special.
But in last Saturday's 4-0 win over Massachusetts, the Black Bears not only ended a three-game winless streak, they patched up their problems - at least temporarily.
"It was a strong team effort," Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said. "Now we need to turn that into a roll so we can enter the playoffs with some momentum.
"Every team in the league has gone through what we're going through right now. The timing for us is unfortunate. We obviously want to get back to playing at our best as soon as possible."
Just for the record, momentum is not essential for the playoffs, evidenced by Maine losing two games at New Hampshire to end the 1998-99 regular season. The Black Bears celebrated their second national title a month later, with a win over UNH.
But charging into the playoffs is always preferable.
There is also a possible regular-season championship at stake.
To share the Hockey East regular-season title, Maine would have to sweep BU and New Hampshire would have to take three points (a win and a tie) against Boston College this weekend. That would force a three-way tie for first.
In case of a tie, Maine would get the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament because it has the best head-to-head record against the other two teams.
BU is also battling for one of the top spots in the standings. The Terriers are tied for fourth with Providence. The Friars have only one game remaining, tonight with UMass-Lowell. If Providence and BU finish tied for fourth, the Friars get the No. 4 seed (and home ice in the quarterfinals) in the Hockey East playoffs because they have a 2-0-1 record against BU this year.
Maine has been a BU nemesis lately. Since BU took an overtime win at the Alfond on Nov. 9, 2001, Maine is 4-0-1 against the Terriers, including wins in the Hockey East and NCAA playoffs last year, and a 7-3 decision last November in Boston.
In the last meeting, BU goalie Sean Fields was yanked after allowing five goals on 17 shots in the first 35 minutes. Lately, Fields has played much better (2.45 goals-against average). With Fields backing them up, the Terriers went on a six-game win streak until a loss and a tie to Providence last weekend.
BU is a team that likes to apply pressure, forechecking heavily and putting the puck on the net. The Terriers can also get nasty, with a league-leading 18.65 penalty minutes a game. Maine, which averages 12.53 penalty minutes a game, needs to keep its discipline against the pressure.
The Terriers may be without one of their leaders, defenseman and captain Freddy Meyer, who separated his shoulder last Saturday.
Maine is healthy, although Whitehead has been changing lineups looking for a solution for his team's slump. In Saturday's game against UMass, he put Reimann, a forward, back on defense to help the Black Bears move the puck up. It worked and Reimann will stay on defense tonight.
If Whitehead sticks to his goalie rotation, Jimmy Howard (2.23 goals-against average) will start tonight. He has allowed 14 goals in his last three games. If Howard goes tonight, Frank Doyle (2.13) will start Saturday. Doyle has been hot, giving up four goals in his last three games.
NOTES: If Maine earns the No. 1 seed, it would play host to either Northeastern or UMass-Lowell in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. If Maine is the second or third seed, the Black Bears will host either Massachusetts or Merrimack in the first round of the league playoffs. The best-of-three series will start next Thursday at the Alfond Arena. UMass and Merrimack are currently tied for sixth place; Northeastern and UMass-Lowell are tied for eighth.
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at: [log in to unmask]
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