The Search Continues

By Matt Booth

Orono, ME - The former University of Maine men’s ice hockey head coach Tim Whitehead had been under heavy fire the past few seasons despite having brought the Black Bears to two Hockey East championship games in the past four season.

Whitehead was formally released from the university in early April. Since then, Maine has assigned Robert Corkum as the interim head coach until a formal search committee can find a permanent and suitable replacement.

The Black Bear faithful have been shouting from the mountain tops for weeks, months, and even a few years for someone to replace Whitehead.  Now that the search is officially on, no name has been said more loudly  than former Black Bear great Jim Montgomery.

Montgomery has been making a name for himself in the coaching  world with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. The Fighting Saints and Montgomery managed to burst onto the scene as a recent expansion team and won the USHL championship over the Green Bay Gamblers in the 2010/2011 season.

Montgomery was on the top of many people’s short list in the Orono area, but the Maine fan base weren’t the only ones looking at the former Maine standout. Come to find out, in the midst of the search in Orono, the University of Denver reached out to Montgomery and he accepted.

Well, there’s no point crying over spilled milk.

Montgomery may be taken, but Maine still has a few solid options to mule over.

Greg Cronin is a name being kicked around by the administration and people around the program. Cronin is the former assistant head coach of the Black Bears under the legendary Shawn Walsh. Cronin was named interim head coach when Walsh was banned from hockey for a season.

Coach Cronin left Maine after the 96/97 season, and returned to coach college hockey nearly ten years later with Northeastern University.

With the Huskies, Cronin inherited a team depleted of most of their top players and finished his first season back with a 3-24-7 record. The team turned around over the next few years until the breakout 08/09 season were the Huskies finished with a 25-12-4 record, second in Hockey East, and the first sweep of Maine in 25 years and a NCAA tournament appearance.

The Huskies started to slightly decline and Cronin was suspended for six games due to recruitment infractions. Cronin made it back for the Hockey East quarterfinal series against Boston University. The Huskies beat BU and then fell to Boston College in the semifinals. Four months later, Cronin became an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Despite having no ties to the University of Maine, George Gwozdecky is another name being mentioned to fill the position. Gwozdecky may be the wildcard in the pool of head coaches to replace Whitehead, but the former University of Denver coach is the most qualified.

Gwozdecky has spent the past 19 years  with the Pioneers  in Western College Hockey Association. Denver and the Gwozdecky managed a pretty remarkable run over the past two decades. The Pioneers won three WCHA regular season championships, four WCHA tournament championships, 11 NCAA appearances and two National Championships. Over his span with Denver,  Gwozdecky pulled together 13 seasons with more than 20 wins. In that time the Pioneers only fell below .500 for the a season only twice.

Among all active college hockey coaches, George Gwozdecky (592-390-85) is the fifth most winning coach.

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Scott Pellerin is also rumored to be a contender for the job. Pellerin is another former University of Maine great player from the 1993 national championship team.

Whoever the university decides, they will be expected to turn the switch on and hit the ground running. 

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Maine Starts Strong, But Falls Flat

By Matt Booth

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team fell 4-2 to Hockey East’s No.1 seeded University of Massachusetts – Lowell in the Tsongas Arena Thursday night.

Scott Wilson’s two-goal night was enough for the River Hawks to takedown the pesky Black Bear’s. Maine started the game the way they wanted, but halfway through the second period penalties and a superior Lowell offense took charge and ran away with game one of the Hockey East Quarterfinals.

The Black Bears struck first, 13:52 into the opening period.  Sophomore defensemen Jake Rutt blasted the puck through the Lowell defenders , hitting it off crossbar to beat the freshman netminder Connor Hellebuyck.

Rutt’s goal was the only one of the first period allowing Maine to hold the lead over the River Hawks through the first intermission.

Lowell came out with a little more energy at the start of the second period allowing them to push the Black Bears back on their heels.  Maine was able to slow the River Hawks’ potent offense through more than half the second period.  However, as the period wore on, Maine became sloppy committing three penalties in a row.

Maine was able to kill the first two penalties, but the third was too much for the Black Bears to handle. 

Maine’s Kyle Beattie went to the penalty box for his second tripping penalty of the period. On the ensuing faceoff, Lowell won the puck and quickly found sophomore Scott Wilson.

Wilson buried the puck under Maine’s Martin Ouellette for the game-tying goal. Wilson’s teammates Derek Arnold and Chad Ruhwedel were credited with the assists.

With the final goal of the second period going in Lowell’s favor, the complexion of the game completely changed as the teams headed into the third and final period.

Less than two minutes into the period, Wilson would answer for the River Hawks with his second goal of the evening.

The onslaught began 21 seconds after the go-ahead goal from Wilson 1:52 into the last 20 minutes of the play. This time, it was Lowell’s leading scorer Joseph Pendenza who beat Ouellette for the eventual game-winning goal.

Lowell’s Josh Holmstrom tallied his 12th goal of the season putting the Black Bears down for the night by taking a commanding 4-1 lead.

The Black Bear’s Devin Shore didn’t care that the game was already in hand for the River Hawks, because Shore was able to go coast to coast with the puck beating all of Lowell’s defenders and Hellebuyck for highlight reel goal with 47 seconds left on the clock.

Maine trails 0-1 in the best of three series .  The teams will meet again Friday night with the season on the line.

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Maine Tries to be Party Crashers

By Matt Booth

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team will have a tough mountain to climb, but is it the tallest in Hockey East right now?

The Black Bears will head to Lowell to take on the Hockey East regular season champions, the River Hawks. 

Lowell has been on a terrific journey to end the season having won eight of their last nine games. Maybe the most important piece the River Hawks put into place was establishing the Winnipeg Jets prospect Connor Hellebuyck as their No. 1 goaltender.

The switch came on after the overtime loss to Maine back in early February. After the loss to the Black Bears, Lowell’s head coach Norm Bazin let the freshman take over and it’s been pretty much all W’s ever since.

Even though the River Hawks have been on a hot streak, the No. 1 and 8 match-up the Black Bears drew may be one of the best ways they will be able to make it to championship weekend at the Boston Garden.

Maine holds a winning record against the River Hawks (2-1-0) this season, but in none of those games did Hellebuyck see a single minute of ice time. That may scare some since the freshman is having such a great end of the year.  However, that also means that Hellebuyck hasn’t gotten a sense of how the Black Bears run their offense.

Maine’s Joey Diamond started his senior season trying to adjust his game to a new and much younger Black Bear team. As of late, Diamond has been sparkling once again. The senior captain finished the regular season with 24 points, 14 of which were goals.

Diamond’s game is unlike anyone’s in Hockey East today. The scrappy Long Islander knows how to crawl under the skin of almost anyone and has an uncanny gift to be in the right place at the right time when the game is on the line.

With players like Diamond, Devin Shore (4G, 19A, 23pts) and Martin Ouellette finding their best game at the end of the season, it will prove an uneasy task for coach Bazin and his freshman goaltender to dispatch this No. 8 seed.

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Maine Breaks Losing Streak With Big Win

By Matt Booth

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team (2-9-0 overall) (1-5-0 Hockey East) broke a seven game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the University of Massachusetts Lowell Saturday night in Tsongas Arena.

Maine’s own Kyle Williams ended the streak with his game-winning goal in the third period. Williams scored the lone third period goal off a Mike Cornell blast from the point. Cornell’s shot ripped toward the goal. Williams was able find the puck and redirect it to the back of the net.

With the one goal lead, the Black Bears played their best defense of the night. Maine’s goaltending was at its best in the pinnacle of the third period. Martin Ouellette saved all thirteen shots in the closing period. 

Ouellette’s 27 save night kept the River Hawks at bay and allowing Maine to walk away with its first Hockey East win of the season.

Just after the midway mark in the first period, the River Hawks capitalized on a Ouellette hooking penalty. Lowell’s Derek Arnold scored on the power play taking the game’s first lead. Joseph Pendenza and Chad Ruhwedel each picked up an assist.

The Black Bears relinquished another man advantage to the River Hawks in the first period, but Maine was able to turn this one to their favor. The Black Bears Connor Leen increased his team high in goals to three with a shorthander, his first of the season.

Leen scored the shorthanded goal after slipping into Lowell’s end. The sophomore fired the puck on the River Hawk’s goaltender Doug Carr. Carr was unable to reposition himself in time to stop the streaking Black Bear, allowing Maine to even the game at one.

Before the end of the first Maine was able to take the lead over Lowell.

In the closing minutes, Maine’s Adam Shemansky scored his first goal of the season. Shemansky found the back of the net with a big one-timer beating Carr for the go-ahead 2-1 goal.

In the second period, the Black Bears started right where they left off.

Maine’s Devin Shore scored his first colligate goal after finding the loose puck off a Carr rebound. Shore put the puck past the Lowell’s netminder and the Black Bears seemed to be finally gaining their offensive legs.

Just as Maine’s offense started gaining ground, their defense began to crack. 

The Black Bear captain Mike Cornell went to clear the puck, but Lowell’s Riley Wetmore picked off the puck and fired it past Ouellette for the 3-2 goal.

The River Hawks then really took the wind out of the Black Bears’ sails when they scored with only :29 seconds left in the second period. Pendenza picked up his second point of the night with the game-tying goal after breaking into the Maine zone and beating Ouellette gloveside.

The Black Bears were forced back  to the locker room after forty minutes of hockey tied 3-3 to the River Hawks with one period left in regulation.

Note: The Black Bears will be back in action next weekend when the will host the UMass Minutemen for a one game series.

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The Black Bears Inch Closer

By Matt Booth

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team (1-7-0) (0-3-0 Hockey East) fell 4-2 to the No. 1 Boston College Eagles. Despite the outcome, the Black Bears should walk away with their heads held high and look at Friday’s loss as a victory and turning point.

“I’m proud of the way the boys [Maine] played,” expressed Maine’s head coach Tim Whitehead after the game. “We had every opportunity to win.”

Maine stepped up in the first period by shutting down the potent Eagle offense. The Black Bears outshot Boston College 9-to-7 and managed to tilt the tables in their favor.

After the first intermission, it did not take long for the Eagles to steal back the slight momentum that the home team built.

Only 54 seconds into the second period, Boston College’s Kevin Hayes scored his fourth goal of the season, a power play goal, to beat Maine’s Martin Ouellette for the 1-0 lead.

The Black Bears clawed right back in to the game less than a minute later.  Freshman Will Merchant received a perfectly placed pass from Devin Shore in the far side slot and buried the game-tying goal past BC’s Parker Milner.

It was not until the final minutes of the second period that the Eagles took their second lead of the night. Boston College’s Junior Isaac MacLeod tallied his first colligate goal with a blue line wrister beating Ouellette for the 2-1 go-ahead goal.

Maine was quite literally able to bounce right back less than 30 seconds after the second BC attempt to pull away from the Black Bears.  This time, the offense came from Maine’s top line. Steven Swavely fired the puck on Milner. The rebound was mishandled by the Eagle’s defense sending the puck off a crashing Connor Leen to the back of the net.

With the game tied at the start of the third period, the momentum was ready to swing either way, but unfortunately for the hometown crowd the Black Bears again fell on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

4:52 into the final period of regulation, Boston College’s Johnny Gaudreau regained the lead for the nation’s top ranked team. Ouellette stopped two quick shots, but it was Gaudreau’s second shot that the netminder could not come up with. The Eagles took a 3-2 advantage over the Black Bears.

Maine kept the Eagles on their heels for the rest of the third period, but they were unable to find the all-important equalizing goal.

“We almost had that equalizer a couple times,” said Whitehead. “But, we just couldn’t do it”

In the end, it was the Eagle’s excellent special team’s performance going 3-for-6 on the power play and killing all of Maine’s three chances.  

“We talked before the game, that we needed to have incredible intensity to win loose pucks,” stated coach Whitehead. “We also needed to stay out of the box. We just need to find that balance.”

Ouellette finished the night with 19 saves and was one of the main reasons Maine was able to stay in such a tight game against a difficult Boston College team.

We will find out Sunday afternoon at 4PM against the New Hampshire Wildcats if the Black Bears will be able to take the next step on their quest to a more successful season.

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A Month of Horror

By Matt Booth

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team (0-2-0 Hockey East) was swept out of Schneider Arena in Providence, RI Saturday night. The Providence College Friars finished off the Black Bears with a 3-0, Jon Gillies shutout.

Providence wasted little time, scoring 1:27 into the opening period to take a 1-0 lead over the Black Bears. The Friars’ Ross Mauermann tallied the goal with his team’s first shot of the night.

The Friars struck again in the first period with a Shane Luke goal. Luke was able to break past Maine’s defenseman Bryce O’Connor, find open ice in the slot and bury it past goaltender Dan Sullivan.

Providence’s second goal of the period really took the wind out of the Black Bears. Maine was able to keep the Friars at bay for the last nine minutes of the opening 20, but they were unable to generate any real offense.

In the middle frame, the Friars were able to capitalize on one of their four power plays of the period. Cumberland, ME native Kevin Hart crippled the Black Bears with the 3-0 goal, firing a bullet under the crossbar and over Sullivan.

The Black Bears were not able to find the rally they so desperately needed in the final period. Providence kept the Black Bears from finding the back of the net to finish the weekend with a very important two-game sweep of Maine.

Despite allowing the three goals, Sullivan had an above average night, stopping a career high 39 saves. The goaltender’s performance was the only reason the Black Bears were able to stay in the game until the end. Maine was outshot 42-26 and failed on all six power play chances. A power play record that now stands at 1-for-36 on the season.

It has been over 15 years since the Black Bears have seen a worse month of October than their current 1-6-0 start to the new season. Maine has already been shutout three times (school worst 6 shutouts) this season and a -14-goal differential. The Black Bears have a lot of young and energetic talent, but they just haven’t been able to come together on the ice yet. Something needs to change, and quickly, if they want to see any success this season.

NOTE: The Black Bears will travel back home for a huge two game home stand. Maine will face the nation’s No.1 Boston College Eagles Friday night and then will meet school rival New Hampshire for a Sunday matinee. 

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Black Clouds Remain Over Orono

By Matt Booth

ORONO, ME-The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team (1-4-0 overall) remains winless at home, dropping another lopsided, 5-1, defeat to St. Lawrence (3-1-0) in Alfond Arena Saturday night.

Kyle Flanagan, the Canton, NY native and the Saints’ captain, clearly had the Black Bears’ number as he ended the weekend with 6 points (3G, 3A) against Maine. Flanagan added two goals Saturday night along with teammate Greg Carey.

The Saints struck first for the second straight night over Maine. In game two, it took 28 seconds less than it did the night before.

Only 7:20 into the opening period, St. Lawrence’s Greg Carey had an open shot in the slot after a Mark Nemec turnover. Carey ripped a laser beam over Sullivan’s blocker into the top of the net for the 1-0 go-ahead goal.

Flanagan scored his fourth goal of the season with snipe of a wrister, blasting the top of the net for the two-goal advantage over the Black Bears.   

The second period was not any kinder to the Black Bears. Maine’s starting goaltender Dan Sullivan, for the second straight night, needed to be relieved by freshman Matt Morris.

Carey ended up scored his second goal of the night forcing the Black Bears even further back on their heels.

Maine’s offense almost doubled their shot output from the first period, but it didn’t stop the Saint’s Matt Weninger from shelving all 14 of them.

The Black Bears best chance at scoring in the first two periods came in the final moments of the second. 

Maine managed a barrage of shots on Weninger, including multiple open-mouth opportunities, but the goalkeeper found a way to stop each attempt and Maine walked into the locker room empty-handed after two periods.

After more than 100 minutes of hockey, the Black Bears finally found some offense 4:29 into the final period of the weekend.

Maine’s captain and defensemen Mark Nemec broke Weninger’s six period goalless streak with a big slapshot from the point, beating the goaltender under the blocker for the 3-1 goal.

The Black Bears began to show signs of life after the Nemec goal.

A few of Maine’s players managed to get a couple grade A shots on Weninger causing the netminder to begin mishandling the puck.  This gave Maine and their fans energy and, more importantly, hope.

A sizable amount of time remained on the clock as the Black Bears began to surge in the right direction. Ryan Lomberg was a crossbar away from bringing the deficit to a single goal and the Alfond was at its loudest in months. Maine looked as if they were on the verge of turning it around.

The momentum in the building, and in the Black Bears, slowly trickled away as the seconds on the clock in the third period began to tick down.

Maine seemed to slip back into their hibernation daze and the Saints took advantage.

Flanagan added to his impressive weekend with his second goal of the night, bringing St. Lawrence’s total to 4-1 over the stumbling Black Bears.

The Saint’s added another goal before the final buzzer rolling to a 5-1 victory over the home team.

The Black Bears will need to go back to the drawing board this week and try to mend their wounds before they make the trip to Providence, RI next weekend for the start of their Hockey East season.

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