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Friday, January 30, 2004
Black Bears get true test with UNH
By KEVIN THOMAS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
The University of Maine hockey team is ranked fourth nationally and sits in second place in Hockey East. If the NCAA tournament began today, the Black Bears (17-6-1) would be one of the top seeds.
But is there reason for concern in Orono?
Maine is 9-4-1 in league play, but only 2-2 in its last four games. It is somewhat reminiscent to when the Black Bears started hot last season, but went 9-9-3 after December, including a 4-8-1 mark in February and March.
Black Bears Coach Tim Whitehead said he is not worried. He will get a good measure of his team this weekend, when rival New Hampshire (15-7-3, 7-3-3) visits. The No. 8 Wildcats are only two points behind Maine in Hockey East, with a game in hand.
UNH has already defeated Maine once, 6-3 in November, in Durham. Maine scored three early goals. But the Black Bears were missing two top defensemen, and goalie Frank Doyle struggled. It is Maine's worst defensive performance so far this season.
"We had breakdowns and actually got beat 1-on-1 on several occasions," Whitehead said. "We're a sound defensive team now. Even in our losses, I can still come away with pride how we played defensively."
Maine's last three defeats have been 1-0 scores, to Notre Dame, Massachusetts two weeks ago, and Boston University last Saturday.
After UNH beat Maine, the Wildcats looked poised to stay in the Hockey East lead. But the Wildcats began to stumble, with the lowlight coming in December and early January. UNH went 1-4-2 in one stretch, including a 7-2 home defeat to lowly Merrimack.
"It's rare for a team top go through an entire season without some bumps in the road," Whitehead said. "They are a very dangerous team and they are certainly back on track."
UNH is riding a four-game winning streak, including two shutouts and a 9-1 revengeful rout of Merrimack. And now they skate into Alfond Arena.
The Wildcats always feature a high-powered offense, and the line of Steve Saviano, Sean Collins and Nathan Martz is hot, having totaled seven goals in the Merrimack game. But UNH's defense is also settling down, led by goalie Mike Ayers. He has been hot and cold against Maine.
UNH may be the hotter team, but Whitehead is not worried.
"We feel we're playing real well, too," Whitehead said.
Maine is trying to improve in two areas - generating chances and scoring on the power play. Maine's offense can become stagnant in close games, and Whitehead said Maine is working on driving to the net and creating rebound opportunities.
As for the power play, Maine ranks last in Hockey East, with only an 8 percent success rate in league games. New Hampshire leads the league at 25 percent.
"We're always tinkering," Whitehead said.
This weekend would be a good time for the Maine power play to break out.
Maine's strength is its defense, anchored by goalies Doyle and Jimmy Howard, and defensemen Prestin Ryan and Troy Barnes, both of whom missed the last UNH game. Maine's most productive line of late is center Michel Levielle and wings Colin Shields and Greg Moore.
Whitehead is also counting on the home-rink advantage. To generate even more noise in the sold-out Alfond, Maine is copying a UNH promotion and giving out free ThunderStix to fans.
"This will be a classic Maine-UNH series," Whitehead said. "The crowd should be in fine form."
Both games will be televised, although tonight's 8 p.m. audience will be limited to Direct TV customers and selected Adelphia cable outlets that are picking up the College Sports Television broadcast. Saturday's game is on Channel 8 in southern Maine.
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:
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