Here's an Ohio State/Maine/ND notebook that also appeared in
Wednesday's paper.
So, maybe they're strangers, but if you ask the University of Maine
hockey team, that suits them just fine.
"Our team is excited to play Ohio State," said Black Bear forward Dan
Kerluke, who is fourth on the team in scoring with 38 points. "It's
nice to get away from the BCs and UNHs for a change."
Maine (27-6-4) will be in Worcester, Mass., this weekend in need of
two wins to reach the final four for the first time since the 1994-95
season.
Should the Black Bears string some wins together in the NCAA
Tournament, a future match-up with a Hockey East rival is feasible.
The University of New Hampshire is the No. 1 seed in the East while
the Boston College Eagles anchor the fourth seed in the West regionals.
"It's nice to play a new opponent," senior forward Marcus Gustafsson
said. "It's the national tournament now and playing a new team makes it
feel that way. It just shows it's a national tournament."
Who are they?
This season, whenever they come off a full weekend of hockey, the
Black Bears usually run a skills day of practice every Monday. Without
looking at the opposing team, Maine will work on the fundamentals and
work to iron out the kinks from its previous games.
And, despite playing an unfamiliar foe, Maine stuck to its game plan
and didn't begin preparations for the Buckeyes until [Tuesday].
Ohio State, which finished third in the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association behind Michigan and Michigan State, is doing the same thing.
Although the Bears will take three days to accustom themselves to the
play of the Buckeyes, the players are rather candid on how much they
know about their counterparts right now.
"I don't know much about them personally," junior center Ben Guite
said. "We know they have a Hobey Baker candidate and a good goalie."
"Personally, I don't know too much about them," said Gustafsson, who
has 25 points this season. "They have a few French guys and a pretty
good goalie."
That goalie is Jeff Maund, and he is a CCHA first team member, putting
up All-American-type numbers this year.
Last season, as a freshman, Maund helped carry the Buckeyes to the
FleetCenter, before falling to BC in the national semifinals.
However, the unfamiliarity issue works both ways.
"In all honesty, I don't know anything about Maine," Maund said. "I
know we're two similar teams in that Maine is back and we're just
getting there."
By the numbers
A quick glance at the two teams has Maine outscoring Ohio State this
season 151-119 while allowing 11 fewer goals than the Buckeyes.
Each team features a Hobey Baker finalist who has racked up at least 50
points this season. For the Black Bears, it's Steve Kariya, who has 56
points on the year. The Buckeyes, who enter the tournament having lost
three of their last five games, are led offensively by Hugo Boisvert,
who has 51 points.
The Buckeyes have committed almost 100 more penalties (367-275) than
Maine has this season and is averaging 21 minutes in penalties a game.
However, the Black Bears are struggling on the power play, having
scored just 38 goals in 202 chances for a dismal .188 clip. Ohio State
is also averaging around 30 shots per game as well.
Matching up without No. 13
Twenty minutes before he was scheduled to appear on ESPN2 to help
analyze the NCAA Tournament on selection Sunday, Dave Poulin found out
his Notre Dame squad was bypassed in favor Northern Michigan.
The Fighting Irish, who were a top-10 team for much of this season,
slipped out of contention for a tournament bid when Northern Michigan
upset Michigan State in the CCHA semifinals.
Poulin and his players watched that game as their season slipped away
before their eyes.
"We watched Northern Michigan and Michigan State as a team that
night," Poulin said, "and that was difficult.
"We made a lot of stride this year. We were a top-10 team for 13 weeks
but a top-13 team at the end of the year. We need to take another step
but it's a tough road."
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