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Wednesday, March 26, 2003
COLUMN: Mike Lowe
UMaine players facing their toughest opponents - themselves
Copyright 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
SCHEDULE
John Patriquin UMaine hockey coach Tim Whitehead, who has until Saturday to get his stunned team ready for the NCAA tournament, says the Black Bears didn't react well to being top-ranked in the nation.
SCHEDULE UMaine game on Channel 8
The University of Maine's first round NCAA hockey tournament game will be televised at 3:30 p.m. Saturday by WMTW, Channel 8.
The Black Bears (24-9-5), seeded second in the Midwest Region, will play No. 3 University of Michigan (28-9-3) at Yost Ice Arena - the Wolverines' home rink - in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Due to the live 3:30 p.m. starting time of Maine's game, Channel 8 will show the Boston Bruins' game against the New York Rangers, scheduled at 1:30 p.m., on tape delay at 11:30 p.m.
ORONO - They skated back and forth, quickly and aggressively, on the sheet of ice at Alfond Arena on Tuesday afternoon. Often they stopped in the middle of drills and listened intently to instructions.
The University of Maine hockey team is preparing for what Coach Tim Whitehead calls "a big challenge, a tremendous challenge."
Whether he's talking about the Black Bears' next opponent, Michigan, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, or his team's own state of mind is debatable.
For while Michigan will indeed present a formidable challenge Saturday - especially with the game on the Wolverines' home ice, Yost Ice Arena - the Black Bears have to overcome a much more serious enemy: themselves.
For most of the college hockey season, Maine was regarded as the best team in the nation. Over the last five weeks the Black Bears were merely mortal and now have to find a way to return to that rarefied air that champions breathe.
Maine lost seven of its last 12 games, including a pair of stunners at home to Massachusetts in the Hockey East quarterfinals. Those losses prevented Maine from getting a top seed in the regional round and staying in the East.
They also, said Whitehead, brought the Black Bears "back down to reality."
"We were a little uncomfortable (with the No. 1 ranking)," Whitehead said. "Everyone was out to knock us down a peg. We as coaches knew that we were certainly very far from being an invincible team and perhaps rose to that spot prematurely.
"We knew that as coaches. I don't know if our players recognized that. They do now."
They have not played since March 7. The first week after their stunning loss, Whitehead sent the players home to forget about hockey and recharge. Last week they concentrated on getting back to basics, on doing what they do best.
This week they will break down Michigan and put together a plan that hopefully will carry them onward.
According to Martin Kariya, a senior forward and captain, the Black Bears aren't quite there yet.
"We have an awful lot of work to do," he said before Tuesday's practice. "That's why we have until Saturday to get ready. We have four practices left and we have to accomplish a lot."
And, Kariya said, the preparation doesn't stop when practice ends.
He spoke of each individual taking responsibility for the challenge ahead.
"The players, on their own, have to make sure they prepare themselves mentally and they're back as close as possible to that nice state of mind we were in early in the season," said Kariya, whose final game will close an amazing family chapter in UMaine hockey history.
That was when Maine was regarded as the best team in the nation, when anything less than a victory was an upset. But somewhere around late January, Kariya sensed a shift in the team's mental approach.
Perhaps, he suggested, the early wins came too easily. Perhaps the Black Bears became overconfident.
But the losses mounted and the team swooned and the confidence waned.
How, Kariya was asked, do you regain that confidence?
"It's very difficult," he said. "As a captain, I've talked to the team a little bit. But I can only say so much; the coaches can only say so much. The players have to realize what kind of game they have.
"And we as a team have a very good game. We've proved it, the way we played midway through the year."
While some players suggested the Black Bears need to buckle down and become more serious now that the NCAAs have arrived, Kariya said otherwise.
This team, he said, plays best when loose, when it doesn't press. That's what happened late in the season. The players became tighter with each loss.
"People have to realize when they play the best, and that's when they're in a normal state of mind," Kariya said.
"If they were to try to really gear down and be really serious and focused, that's not our players, that's not how they're going to perform at their peak.
"When they're all calm and relaxed and confident, that's when they're going to play at their best. If it takes joking around to get them in that state of mind, go ahead and do it.
"If it takes listening to some kind of music then go ahead and do it. I don't know what guys do to get prepared but they need to get back to their normal routine."
Tuesday's practice was part of that routine: a little scrimmaging, some drills, some work on special teams, some mental preparation.
Whitehead likes what he sees in his players.
"This break has been good for us," Whitehead said. "It's accomplished what we hoped it would, it's recharged our batteries mentally and physically.
"Now we're feeling good about ourselves again. We know we're up against it a bit but again, why not get thrown right into it. You're going to be in these tough situations, like we were in last year's tournament.
"A lot of our players have been in these type of situations before. These are the type of challenges that are exciting."
Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:
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