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Monday, March 24, 2003
Black Bears pack their bags
By GLENN JORDAN, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
ORONO -- As the NCAA men's hockey tournament brackets were revealed Sunday evening on a big-screen television in Dexter Lounge at Alfond Arena - first the East, then the Northeast - more than a few mouths dropped open, and not to insert pizza or potato chips. Maine will be heading west - to Ann Arbor, Mich., as it turns out.
The Black Bears drew the second seed in the Midwest Regional and will play the host team, third-seeded Michigan, at Yost Ice Arena Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Top-seeded Colorado College will play No. 4 Wayne State of Michigan at noon, with the winners advancing to Sunday's 3 p.m. national quarterfinal.
"We were a little surprised we weren't in Providence (R.I.) instead of Boston College," said Maine Coach Tim Whitehead after seeing the Eagles seeded second in the East Regional and matched up against Ohio State in the first round. "But at the same time, we are fine with going out west. It ends up just being the team - us against Michigan, us against the crowd. We don't mind those circumstances."
The Frozen Four is scheduled for April 10 and 12 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Maine (24-9-5) will be playing after a three-week layoff following its early exit from the Hockey East tournament. A March 7 quarterfinal loss to Massachusetts dropped the Black Bears to 4-7-1 in their last 12 games. By contrast, Michigan (28-9-3) has lost only once in its past 10 and is coming off a four-game sweep of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association tournament.
Joining Boston College and Ohio State in Providence will be top-ranked Cornell and Minnesota State-Mankato.
In the Northeast Regional at Worcester, Mass., New Hampshire will play St. Cloud State and Harvard will play host Boston University. The feeling in Orono was that the selection committee would keep Maine in the East in part because its large and loyal fan base would help fill either arena.
"I think we should be thanking our lucky stars we're in the tournament no matter where we go," said senior forward Martin Kariya, "considering how poorly we've played the last couple of months."
Kariya remembers the last time Maine played Michigan, a 5-2 victory for the Black Bears in a 2000 NCAA quarterfinal at Albany, N.Y.
"They're something else," he said of the Wolverines, "one of the most physical teams I've played."
Goalie Jimmy Howard and forward Greg Moore, both freshman, spent last season in Ann Arbor, Mich., playing for the national development program under-18 team.
"The ice (rink) is basically the same as ours," said Moore, a Lisbon native who attended St. Dominic High for two years before joining the under-18 team. "It's a darker building with the fans right on top of the ice. It's a great hockey building with great atmosphere."
Howard said he's looking forward to a reunion with some of the folks he met in Michigan and knows enough about some of the Wolverines to give Maine assistant coach Grant Standbrook an early scouting report.
"We're just chomping at the bit to get back out there and play again," Howard said.
The West Regional, to be held in Minneapolis, will feature North Dakota against Ferris State and Mercyhurst against host Minnesota, which beat Maine 4-3 in overtime for the national title last April.
Should Maine advance to Sunday's quarterfinal, the Black Bears may have a chance to avenge their only shutout loss of the season, 3-0 to Colorado College in an October tournament in Alaska. They have never played Wayne State.
"If we do get past that first game," Whitehead said, "I think we're going to be a very dangerous team for the rest of the tournament."
Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:
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