(From USCHO http://uscollegehockey.com, the best source for college
hockey on the internet)
 
Dave Hendrickson's weekly preview..
 
#8 Maine (0-0-0, 0-0-0 HE) at #7 Minnesota (0-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA)
Friday, 7:30 p.m. CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN MSC, WABI-TV5
Saturday, 7:00 p.m. CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN MSC
 
Maine opens its season with a road trip to Minnesota, where the Golden
Gophers lost to the forget-the-rebuilding-let's-reload
Michigan Wolverines in the annual Hall of Fame game. The Gophers led
2-0 before the Wolverines came back to win, 3-2.
 
"I'm concerned about the fact that they've played a game," said Maine
coach Shawn Walsh. "Much like Michigan State had an
advantage over BU [in the Ice Breaker tournament], I see a similar
advantage for Minnesota. They know a lot more about
their team than we know about ours right now.
 
"They also have terrific speed up front and that concerns me."
 
The Gophers do return four of their top five scorers in forwards Ryan
Kraft (25-21--46), Casey Hankinson (17-24--41),
all-rookie selection Dave Spehar (20-17--37) and Reggie Berg
(11-26--37).
 
However, they lost WCHA Player of the Year Mike Crowley, the defenseman
who made their offense go. They also lost
number two defenseman Brian LaFleur. Although the Black Bears also lost
their top two defensemen, Jason Mansoff and Jeff
Libby, the Minnesota blue line losses cut deeper. All-rookie pick Ben
Clymer (7-13--20) is expected to pick up much of the
slack.
 
Minnesota's Steve ("Warm Up") DeBus (25-12-1, 3.15 GAA, .888 SV%)
earned first-team All-WCHA honors and could be
a critical advantage over Alfie Michaud (17-8-1, 3.09 GAA, .864 SV%),
who is expected to get the nod both games.
 
"I'm fairly pleased with how we've come through camp," said Walsh.
"We're still not where we really need to be, though. Our
freshmen especially are thinking a lot. Until they can start to play
naturally it's going to hurt us. We're probably going to rely on
six of them, although I'm not sure all six will play the first game."
 
Penalties could prove the decisive factor. Last year, Minnesota led the
WCHA in penalty minutes (26.4 per game); Maine
finished last in Hockey East (15.71 per game) and first in the nation
in power-play efficiency (30.2 percent). If those
tendencies haven't changed with the the personnel, Maine could reap the
benefits.
 
(For a more detailed look at Minnesota from a WCHA perspective, check
out this week's WCHA Preview.)
 
PICK: The safe pick would be a split, especially with already
battled-tested Minnesota taking the opener, while Maine
scrapes off the rust. But when your editor is a Minnesota fan, it pays
to go for the jugular. Maine sweeps 4-3, 4-2.
 
--
Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]
University of Maine