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Sunday, March 9, 2003
UMaine: It's not over
By KEVIN THOMAS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
ORONO -- In the locker room down an Alfond Arena corridor, giddy University of Massachusetts hockey players chanted "Fleet, Fleet, Fleet." For the first time in the Minutemen's history, they qualified for the Hockey East final four at the FleetCenter. Sixth-seeded UMass has just beaten third-seeded Maine in two straight games, including a 4-2 decision Friday night.
In the Maine locker room: no chanting. Only looks of disbelief.
"I'd be lying if I said we're not shocked," senior defenseman Cliff Loya said. "Maine hockey traditionally goes to the FleetCenter."
Maine hockey traditionally wins playoff games on its home ice, too.
And Maine hockey usually does well in the NCAA tournament, which starts in three weeks.
(Normally, the NCAAs would be two weeks away, but the NCAA moved its postseason back a week. Most conferences then moved their league playoffs back a week, but Hockey East was locked into its dates at the FleetCenter and could not move them).
"We just have to regroup," Loya said. "We're lucky that we had a hot start so we can sneak in the back door of the national tournament. That's the big picture."
If ever there was a year for Maine to go into an end-of-season tailspin, this was it.
Not only has the NCAA tournament expanded from 12 to 16 teams - with as many as five Hockey East schools expected to qualify - but the NCAA tournament committee changed its criteria for selecting teams.
The committee still factors in such things as overall record and strength of schedule, but it no longer considers how a team does in its last 16 games.
Good thing. Maine (24-9-3) is 6-7-3 in its last 16 games.
"Hopefully, the team will come back mentally to where we were halfway through the season," senior co-captain Martin Kariya said.
Kariya thinks his team has panicked lately, and said the break before the NCAAs should help.
Maine Coach Tim Whitehead says the same thing. For weeks, he has said his players were trying to do too much instead of staying within the system. That has led to breakdowns and turnovers.
"I think we know the answer. We need everyone on the same page, executing the game plan," Whitehead said.
"Unfortunately we haven't always done that. We didn't do it (Thursday night, a 5-3 loss) and we didn't do it in the first period (Friday, trailing 3-0).
"Now we have an opportunity that we didn't want - three weeks to prepare for the nationals. But I think it's going to be good for us. We'll actually come into the NCAAs rested and ready to go.
"Honestly, I'm confident we'll bounce back."
Whitehead would not point fin- gers. His two goalies, Jimmy Howard and Frank Doyle, haven't been as stellar as early in the year, but Maine's defensive breakdowns haven't helped, either.
Even though Howard allowed three early goals Thursday, Whitehead went back to him Friday. Doyle replaced him in both games.
"I put (Howard) back in because he's a good goalie," Whitehead said. "I'll have to see the tape (to evaluate Howard). There were some deflections in there.
"I think our goalies are great players. They're not perfect. None of us are. Now they'll have an opportunity to prepare themselves.
"I'm really confident that our goaltenders are going to give us every opportunity to win in the national tournament."
The national tournament. It's the big prize. Senior co-captain Chris Heisten sat in a quiet Maine locker room Friday night. He thought of playing in the regionals and making it to the Frozen Four in Buffalo.
"If we win two games, then we're in Buffalo," he said, looking around at the gloom around him, "and no one will remember this."
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:
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