ORONO, Maine – The #7 University of Maine men's hockey ice team will host #6 University of Denver on Friday, Jan. 3 and Saturday, Jan. 4 at Alfond Arena.
 
Puck drop on Friday is set for 6 p.m. while Saturday's game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start.

Friday's game will air nationally on ESPNU and both non-conference tilts will stream on ESPN+, with an international stream available via Hockey East/Stretch Internet. The games can also be listened to via 92.9 FM or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.
 
Game 18 | #7 Maine vs #6 Denver
Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 | 6:00 p.m.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPNU / ESPN+
 
Game 19 | #7 Maine vs #6 Denver
Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 | 6:30 p.m.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
WHAT'S ON TAP
• The University of Maine men's ice hockey team will close out non-conference play with a two-game series against the University of Denver at Alfond Arena this weekend.
• These two teams last met in the beginning of the 2022 season, with Denver earning a 3-1 win to claim the Ice Break Tournament title.
• This is Denver's first trip to Maine since Oct. 14-15, 2005 ... Maine won its home opener, 5-1, and swept the next night, 4-2.

A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD. . .
• Move Maine to 13-3-2 on the year and 8-1-0 in non-conference games.
• Bump Maine to 13-9-0 all-time against Denver.
• Give Maine it's fourth ranked win of the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs DENVER
• Maine holds an all-time record of 12-9-0 in the series with Denver.
• The first ever meeting in the series came 30 years ago on Jan. 4, 1985 at Denver ... Maine dropped a 6-3 contest the first night and a 9-2 game the next night.
• The Pioneers and Black Bears last met on Oct. 8, 2022 in the Ice Breaker Tournament championship game at Magness Arena, with Denver picking up a 3-1 win over Maine ... current Black Bear David Breazeale recorded an assist in that game.
• Maine and Denver have met twice in the NCAA Tournament ... the Black Bears won a 1995 regional final, 4-2, but fell to Denver, 1-0, in the 2004 national title game.
 
ABOUT DENVER
• Denver closed out the first semester of play with an overall record of 14-4-0 with a mark of 4-4-0 in conference games (NCHC).
• The Pioneers played an exhibition game against an ACHA squad in UNLV on Saturday, battling to a 6-6 tie.
• Denver's last NCAA game came on Dec. 14 in the form of a 2-1 home win over #10/11 Colorado College.
• Jack Devine has an NCAA-leading 27 points on two goals and 25 assists … Aidan Thompson is tied for second nationally with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists.
• The Pioneers boast a 29.0 percent success rate on the power play while killing 90.2 percent of penalties.

IT'S WORTH NOTING
• Thirty-two percent of Maine's goals have come in the first two minutes or last two minutes of a period.
• Maine, Denver and Lake State are the only teams in the country to rank in the top 15 in both penalty kill and power play percentage.
• Harrison Scott is tied for second nationally in goals (12).
• With Thomas Freel (7) and  Scott (6), Maine is one of two teams in the country to have multiple players with at least five power-play goals each.
• Maine is tied for seventh nationally in face-off winning percentage (54.1).
• Maine is the only team in the country to rank in the top three in goals scored per game (3.9) and goals allowed per game (1.8), sitting third in both categories.
• The Black Bears have scored at least 65 goals in the first 17 games of the season for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
• The Black Bears have out-shot the opponent in 20 straight contests dating back to last season and in 46 out of 54 contests dating back to the start of the 2023-24 season.
• Josh Nadeau's 58 points in his first 53 games as a Black Bear mark the most by a Maine player since Michel Léveillé had 61 points in his first 53 games.
• Maine has scored at last five goals in eight of the first 17 games of the season for the first time since doing it eight times in the first 17 games of 1993-94.
• Albin Boija is tied for third nationally in goals against average (1.63).

UP NEXT
• Maine will return to Hockey East play with a pair of games at UMass Lowell next weekend, facing the River Hawks on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 at the Tsongas Center.