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Subject: Black Bears battle for top spot in Hockey East
Date:    Thu, 28 Feb 2002 12:01:37 -0500


Black Bears battle for top spot in Hockey East
By: Jeff Mannix


02/28/02
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And it comes down to this: two games, four points up for grabs. All to decide
who finishes third in Hockey East, and who, possibly, finishes first.
After two convincing wins over Massachusetts in its final two regular season
home games, the University of Maine men's ice hockey team (19-9-6, 13-5-4 in
Hockey East) will head to Boston University to take on the Terriers (23-7-2,
15-5-2 in Hockey East) in the final two games of the regular season.
"It's going to be a bloodbath," goalie Mike Morrison said last weekend in
anticipation of this series. "They hate us and we hate them. It's an important
battle for positioning in the league, so everybody better bring their lunch
pails and be ready to go."
"I don't think there's going to be a letdown," said UMaine interim head coach
Tim Whitehead after Tuesday's practice. "When you win big, it's sometimes human nature to let down. But we've kept practices short this week, and worked them
hard when they're out there. They know how good BU is, so I'd be surprised if
there was a letdown."
UMaine and BU will be battling for playoff positioning in the two-game set at
Walter Brown Arena. Boston University is currently in second place in Hockey
East with 32 points, one point behind New Hampshire. UMaine sits in third, two
points behind the Terriers. The Black Bears will need a lot to happen this
weekend in order to move up in the standings.
The Black Bears will need a sweep at BU to move out of third. If the two teams
ended tied in the standings, BU would hold the second tiebreaker with more
league wins. For the Black Bears to win the Hockey East Regular Season
Championship and secure the top seed for the tournament, UMaine will need to
sweep BU and have Boston College sweep New Hampshire in their home-and-home
weekend series.
Should the Black Bears and Wildcats tie, the Wildcats would hold the third tiebreaker over the Black Bears, which is head-to-head record against the next
highest-ranked team, which would be BU. UNH went 2-0-1 against the Terriers this
season, which would be better than UMaine's 2-1-0, should the Black Bears sweep.
A sweep will be no easy task for the Black Bears because Walter Brown Arena is
comparable to Alfond Arena; it's a loud building with hostile fans that are
close to the ice. Add that to Boston University's nine game winning streak and
UMaine's task looks almost impossible.
"They're playing very well, and they are a good hockey team to begin with,"
Whitehead said. "And it's in the rink. When you look at all those things, we're
going to have to go down there and play our best and look to steal some points
in their rink. If we can do that, I'll feel that we've really accomplished
something."
Whitehead said that discipline is a key to winning this weekend.
"Discipline will set the tone on how we play this weekend," he said. "We've been very consistent with that through the second half of the year. They are the most
penalized team in the league. Hopefully, we can use that to our advantage."
He also thinks that protecting the net, special teams and transition play will
be important for the Black Bears to eek out wins at BU.
A few UMaine players have gotten hot over the last few games. Lucas Lawson has a
four-game goal scoring streak intact, the freshman line has finally begun to
produce offensively, Colin Shields broke out of his funk with a three-goal
weekend and Matt Yeats is playing solidly in net again. Yeats is playing so
well, Whitehead doesn't rule out playing him this weekend.
"He's answered the bell when he's been called," Whitehead said. "He'll be ready
to go if we call on him this weekend. We know that we have two goaltenders that
can help us win on Friday night."
Peter Metcalf also played well against UMass last weekend. His two goals and
three assists over the two games made him the Hockey East Player of the Week.
"It was a great weekend for Peter," Whitehead said. "Especially since it was
Senior Weekend, I'm real proud of him. It's nice to see him get the award."
Boston University is not going to be an easy team to stop offensively. Senior
Mike Pandolfo is the leading scorer (20 goals and 15 assists for 35 points), but
the Terriers have many other weapons that can easily burn a team. Players such
as Frantisek Skladany (11-12-23), Brian McConnell (10-12-22) and Jack Baker
(11-10-21) have also been big at key times.
"You can't really key on one guy with BU," Whitehead said. "They have a balanced
attack and that helps them. We don't want to focus on one or two guys and then
get burned by a different line."
The defense is a veteran group and will also be tough to penetrate. Seniors
Chris Dyment (6-12-18) and Pat Aufiero (2-10-12) have helped the development of
the young defenseman, such as freshman Ryan Whitney (4-12-16).
"The defense is the same," Whitehead said. "All of their defensemen are solid. There isn't a single pairing that you can't exploit."
BU's sophomore netminder will be key. Sean Fields is 20-5-2, with a 2.50 goals
against average and a .906 save percentage.
Whitehead thinks that the team knows the importance of the weekend and will be
ready to go.
"The situation itself will provide a lot of motivation," Whitehead said. "We'll
make sure that we put our best foot forward next weekend. It will be great
hockey. I like our chances."
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Story Source: Maine Campus