ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine men's hockey team will battle the No. 10/11 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs this weekend, facing off against the 2017 NCAA National Runner-up on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Friday's contest will be streamed live on GoBlackBears.com while Saturday's match-up will be streamed and broadcast
on WVII/WFVX/WPME/FOX College Sports. Additionally, the call of both games can be heard online or on
103.9 WVOM-FM.
GAME INFORMATION
Game #5: Maine Black Bears vs. Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
DATE: Friday, Oct. 27, 2017
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Alfond Arena – Orono, Maine
2017-18 RECORDS: Maine 2-2-0 (1-1-0 HE), Minnesota Duluth 2-2-2 (0-0-0 NCHC)
Game #6: Maine Black Bears vs. Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Alfond Arena – Orono, Maine
Maine game notes
UMD game notes
About the Black Bears
• UMaine split a non-conference series with Miami (Ohio) last weekend, dropping Friday's contest, 7-5, before storming back for a 6-3 win on Saturday.
• In Friday's game, four different players earned their first points at the University of Maine while 10 different skaters total tallied at least one point.
• On Saturday, the Black Bears erupted for five goals in the first period and ended up with six different goal scorers in the game while
Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves for his first career win.
• The Black Bears won the season-opener against UConn, 4-3, on the strength of a
Nolan Vesey goal just 28 seconds into overtime while
Rob McGovern made 35 saves for the win; the Huskies used a strong first period in the second game to get a 5-1 win.
• The Black Bears return with 74 percent of their goal-scoring from 2016-17 and 63 percent of the total offense with seven of the top 10 point-getters from last year overall.
• Last year's freshmen class finished with 36 goals, good for second overall in Hockey East behind Boston University's rookies, and had the most face-off wins in the conference at 581.
• The 10-member Class of 2021 includes defensemen
Alexis Binner,
Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi,
Brady Keeper and
Cameron Spicer, forwards
Jack Quinlivan,
Kevin Hock,
Adrian Holesinsky,
Emil Westerlund and
Eduards Tralmaks and goaltender
Jeremy Swayman.
About Minnesota Duluth
• The Bulldogs took on a Hockey East squad this past weekend in Merrimack, battling to a 5-5 tie on Friday and skating to a 7-2 win on Saturday.
• Nick Swaney, who led the Bulldogs with four points in the two-game series against Merrimack and was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week, leads the team with seven points on two goals and five assists.
• Nick Deery (2) and Hunter Shepard (1) entered the 2017-18 season with three career starts between the two of them and have each seen action in three games this year.
• Deery is 0-1-2 with a .871 save percentage, 2.86 goals against average and one shutout while Shepard is 2-1-0 with a .847 save percentage and a 3.01 goals against average.
• UMD's other win this year came in a 4-3 overtime tilt against Minnesota in the Ice Break Tournament.
• UMD returned 16 lettermen from a team that went 28-7-7 last year and advanced all the way to the NCAA Championship game before falling to Denver, 3-2.
The Series with Minnesota Duluth
• The Bulldogs hold an overall edge of 6-4-0 in the series with the Black Bears.
• UMaine and UMD first met in 1984, with the Black Bears traveling to Duluth for a two-game series, dropping the games 6-2 and 7-2.
• UMD and Umaine last met on Dec. 28, 2012, with the Black Bears taking the Florida College Hockey Classic semifinal, 1-0.
• These two teams also squared off in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs defeating the Black Bears, 5-2, in the Northeast Regional Semifinal.
About Head Coach Red Gendron
•
Red Gendron, who enters his fifth year behind the bench of the Black Bears, has won two NCAA Hockey National Championships and a NHL Stanley Cup as an assistant coach.
• He assisted head coach Shawn Walsh with the UMaine 1993 NCAA Division I National Championship team.
• Before being named the head coach of the Black Bears, Gendron was associate head coach at Yale University; the Bulldogs earned the 2013 NCAA Division I National Championship.
• Prior to Gendron's two seasons at Yale, from 2005-11, he was an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts.
• Gendron spent 11 seasons in professional hockey with the New Jersey Devils organization.
Formidable Foe(s)
• This marks the 18th time in program history that UMaine will face-off against the NCAA national runner-up from the previous season.
• The Black Bears first did it against none other than the UMD Bulldogs with a two-game set in 1984-85 season.
• This is the third-straight year that UMaine faces the national runner-up and fourth out of the last five.
• UMaine has battled the previous season's champion on 14 occassions.
• Five times, the Black Bears have played both the reigning national champion and the national runner-up in a season.
Offensive Output
• The UMaine offense exploded last weekend, scoring five goals on Friday night and then six in Saturday's 6-3, with both nights producing some impressive marks.
• On Friday, the Black Bears had five different goal-scorers and 10 different point-getters.
• The next night, UMaine notched five goals in a single period for the first time since the first period in a 7-3 win over North Dakota on Oct. 22, 2010.
• Also notable in the 6-3 win was that each goal came from a different player (
Eduards Tralmaks,
Patrick Holway,
Brady Keeper,
Patrick Shea,
Mitchell Fossier and
Tim Doherty).
• The last time UMaine had six different goal scorers came in a 7-0 win over Boston University on Nov. 14, 2013.
Balanced Attack
• So far this season, the Black Bears have received goals from 11 different players and points from 17.
• Eleven different goal-scorers ties UMaine with Providence for third most in the conference behind UConn (13) and New Hampshire (12).
• The 17 different point-getters for the Black Bears is tied with Providence and Vermont for second-most in the conference, with UMass (18) leading the way.
• All 19 skaters that suited up for the Black Bears in the two-game season-opening series against UConn recorded at least one shot on goal, with
Chase Pearson's 10 leading the way.
First Points
• Through the first four games of the season, seven skaters have registered their first point in a Black Bear uniform.
• After sitting out last season after transferring,
Tim Doherty and
Canon Pieper have each found the scoresheet for UMaine, with Doherty tallying two goals and one assist for three points while Pieper has two assists.
• Five rookies have also tallied their first points, with
Eduards Tralmaks,
Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi and
Brady Keeper scoring their maiden goals and
Alexis Binner and
Emil Westerlund dishing out helpers.
Home-Heavy Start
• UMaine is in the midst of a six-game home stand to start the 2017-18 season, which ties for the longest home stand to start a season in program history with the beginning of the 1981-82 season.
• This is the 11th time ever that the Black Bears have had a six-game home stand on the schedule.
• The longest home stand overall in program history belongs to a 10-game slate during the 1989-90 season.
Fresh Faces
• The Black Bears welcomed 10 freshmen to the fold this fall, making it the third largest freshmen class in Hockey East this year behind UMass (13) and Vermont (12).
• The 10 new Black Bears are tied for third largest NCAA freshman class, joining Cornell, Minnesota Duluth and Quinnipiac.
• The new group includes one goaltender, four defensemen, and five forwards.
• It marks the second-straight year the UMaine has had 10 freshmen on the roster.
• The last time that the Black Bears had more than 10 freshmen on the roster came in the 2007-08 season, which marked the rookie year of the likes of Brian Flynn, Scott Darling and Gustav Nyquist.
Clark Cup MVPs
• Freshman
Eduards Tralmaks was named the 2017 Clark Cup Most Valuable Player after tallying 12 points on 10 goals and two assists in 14 playoff games – and leading the Chicago Steel to the Tier 1 National Championship.
• Tralmaks – whose 10 goals tied for most all-time in Clark Cup playoff history – becomes the third Clark Cup MVP to become a Black Bear.
• Goaltender
Matt Morris '17 was bestowed the honor after leading the Dubuque Fighting Saints to the title in 2011.
• Former Black Bear goaltender Matt Lundin earned the award with the Sioux Falls Stampede in 2007.
Feeling the Draft?
• The 2017-18 UMaine roster includes five NHL draft picks, including three in 2015.
•
Nolan Vesey went to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014.
• In 2015,
Patrick Shea was selected by the Florida Panthers while
Patrick Holway and
Chase Pearson both went to the Detroit Red Wings .
• This year,
Jeremy Swayman went to the Boston Bruins in the fourth round.
NHL Rosters
• Six former Black Bears will start the 2017-18 season on National Hockey League rosters.
• Three former UMaine net minders will stand in an NHL crease, with Scott Darling named to the Carolina Hurricanes roster, Ben Bishop to the Dallas Stars roster and Jimmy Howard to the Detroit Red Wings roster.
• Joining Howard on the Red Wings will be forward Gustav Nyquist while Devin Shore will be joining Bishop in Dallas.
• Ben Hutton will patrol the blue-line for the Vancouver Canucks.
• In all, 70 alumni of the Hockey East Association were named to opening day rosters, a new conference record.
-UMaine-
