ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine men's hockey team's long wait for the start of the regular season finally comes to an end at 7:30 p.m. Friday when the Black Bears welcome the UConn Huskies to Alfond Arena for some Hockey East action. The teams will also do battle on Saturday, with puck drop set for 4 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
Game #1: Maine Black Bears vs. UConn Huskies
DATE: Friday, Oct. 6, 2017
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Alfond Arena – Orono, Maine
2016-17 RECORDS: Maine 11-21-4 (5-15-2 HE), UConn 12-16-8 (8-10-4 HE)
GAME NOTES: Maine |
UConn
Game #2: Maine Black Bears vs. UConn Huskies
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017
TIME: 4:00 p.m.
SITE: Alfond Arena – Orono, Maine
GAME NOTES: Maine |
UConn
About the Black Bears
• The Black Bears took on Acadia University in an Oct. 1 exhibition contest and came away with a 3-1 victory.
• UMaine got goals from
Tim Doherty,
Alexis Binner and
Rob Michel while
Rob McGovern and
Jeremy Swayman split time between the pipes, making three and 14 saves, respectively.
• UMaine is coming off a 11-21-4 overall record and a 5-15-2 mark in Hockey East play in 2016-17.
• The Black Bears return with 74 percent of their goal-scoring from 2016-17 and 63 percent of the total offense, including seven of the top 10 point-getters.
• 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.
• Swayman will be joining a goaltending trio that includes
Rob McGovern, who went 9-15-13 last year in 29 appearances with a 2.99 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and one shutout, as well as
Stephen Mundinger, who saw action in three games.
• The UMaine roster includes five NHL draft picks, with
Nolan Vesey going to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014,
Patrick Shea being selected by the Florida Panthers in 2015,
Patrick Holway and
Chase Pearson both being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 2015 and Swayman being taken in this year's draft by the Boston Bruins.
• The Black Bears are 22-16-2 all-time in regular season openers and 25-13-2 in home openers.
About UConn
• UConn took on St. Francis Xavier in exhibition action on Sept. 30 and came away with a 2-1 win.
• The Huskies, tabbed to finish seventh in this year's Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll, return 72.7 percent (189) of their points from the 2016-17 season but will be without Tage Thompson, who had 32 points last year on a team-high 19 goals and 13 assists.
• UConn does return Maxim Letunov, who was second with 27 points on seven goals and a team-high 20 assists, as well as Spencer Naas who was second on the team with 15 goals.
• In the crease, Adam Huska is coming off a freshman season in which he went 7-9-4 and posted a .916 save percentage and 2.87 goals against average in 21 appearances while splitting time with the now-graduated Rob Nichols.
The Series with UConn
• UMaine and UConn, who first squared off in 1977, are tied at 3-3-3 in the all-time series.
• The squads split the series last season, with the Huskies taking the first match-up, 6-3, and the Black Bears earning a 4-0 win over UConn at Frozen Fenway.
•
Rob McGovern made 31 saves for his first career shutout in that win while
Blaine Byron '17,
Cam Brown '17,
Nolan Vesey and
Rob Michel found the back of the net for the Black Bears.
• After the first meeting on Dec. 9, 1977 – a 10-2 UMaine victory – the teams played again in 1978 and then didn't meet again until the Huskies joined Hockey East in 2014.
Top Hat-Tricks
• The Black Bears had four different players register a hat-trick during the 2016-17 season, the most of any Hockey East school.
•
Mitchell Fossier,
Blaine Byron,
Nolan Vesey and
Chase Pearson all recorded one hat-trick for UMaine a season ago.
• Northeastern had five hat-tricks but from two players in Zach Aston-Reese (3) and Dylan Sikura (2) while Boston College had the second most players at three, with one each coming from Christopher Brown, Austin Cangelosi and JD Dudek.
Non-Conference Opponents
• In addition to the normal competitive Hockey East slate, the Black Bears have an exciting non-conference schedule in 2017-18 and have four games on the schedule against teams ranked in both the preseason USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll.
• A two-game series against 2017 National Runner-up No. 6/11 Minnesota-Duluth awaits the Black Bears in the final weekend of October while No. 14/13 Quinnipiac is on the schedule in early December.
Friendship Four
• UMaine will compete in the 2017 Northern Irish Connections Friendship Four Tournament to be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• The Black Bears will be joined in by RPI and Clarkson of the ECAC Hockey conference as well as Hockey East foe Providence.
• Maine and Providence will meet on Nov. 24 with the winner advancing to take on either RPI or Clarkson the following night for a chance to win the 2017 Belpot Trophy.
•The teams will square off at the SSE Arena, home of the Belfast Giants – a professional team that competes within the Elite Ice Hockey League – and host of the Friendship Four since 2015.
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 also tied for the 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 with 11, which marked the rookie year of the likes of Brian Flynn, Scott Darling and Gustav Nyquist.
Going the Distance
• The Black Bears will travel a total distance of 12,438 miles to get to opposing rinks during the 2017-18 season.
• UMaine's travel on the bus will total 6,466 of those miles – both in the United States and in Ireland – while 5,972 of them will come in the air when the team flies to Ireland for the Friendship Four.
• When UMaine begins an eight-game road-trip that starts on Dec. 8 at Quinnipiac and ends on Jan. 13 at Northeastern, the Black Bears will traverse 3,140 miles.
• Some of the places within 3,140 miles of Alfond Arena include freshman
Brady Keeper's hometown of Cross Lake, Manitoba (2,180) and freshman
Cameron Spicer's hometown of Erie, Colo. (2,205) – but not quite to freshman
Jeremy Swayman's hometown of Anchorage, Alaska (4,450).
Opening Night 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.
Black Bear Rewind
• Last season, UMaine went 11-21-4 overall and 5-15-2 in Hockey East play.
•
Blaine Byron '17 led the Black Bears in points with 41 on 18 goals and 23 assists while
Cam Brown '17 was second with 39 points on four goals and 35 assists;
Nolan Vesey (13-10—23) and
Chase Pearson (14-8—22) also broke the 20-point mark.
•
Rob McGovern went 9-15-3 between the pipes for the Black Bears, making 842 saves while posting a .912 save percentage, 2.99 goals against average and his first career shutout with a 31-save performance against UConn.
• In nine decisions,
Matt Morris '17 went 2-6-1 with a .883 save percentage and a 4.27 goals against average.
The 40th Season(s)
• With the start of the 2017-18 season, the men's hockey program is embarking on its 40th season of intercollegiate play and currently holds an all-time record of 823-593-119.
• It also marks the anniversary of the 40th season for Alfond Arena, as the rink had its first puck drop on Nov. 18, 1977.
• The very first game played at Alfond Arena was between the first opponent that Maine will battle on the ice this year in Acadia University.
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.
Standing in the Hall(s) of Fame
• This year marked the first time that an entire team was ever inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame, with the men's hockey 1993 National Championship team earning that honor while an assistant coach from that team in Grant Standbrook was also inducted.
• Additionally, Paul Kariya will become a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2017 on Nov. 13.
• That 1993 squad went 42-1-2 en route to the national title while averaging 6.5 goals per game and only allowing 2.4 goals per game.
• From that team, the late head coach Shawn Walsh, forwards Jim Montgomery, Kariya, goaltenders Garth Snow and Mike Dunham and defenseman Chris Imes have already been inducted into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame as individuals.
• Standbrook spent 21 seasons behind the bench at UMaine, serving as an assistant coach on Maine's 1993 and 1999 National Championship teams.
• In total over his career, he coached and mentored 34 All-Americans, eight U.S. Olympians and two Canadian Olympians and a pair of Hobey Baker Award winners (Scott Pellerin, Paul Kariya).
-UMaine-
