Weekend Preview Vs RPI

New-look Black Bears to drop the puck at a new-look Alfond Arena in a highly-anticipated matchup with Rensselaer.

It’s been seven months since Alfond Arena last hosted the Men’s Hockey team. A heartbreaking 4-2 loss to Vermont in the first round of the Hockey East Playoffs in early March made the offseason feel even longer. The disappointing defeat left a bitter taste in the mouths of players, coaches, and fans alike.

218 days later, the Alfond will be packed to the rafters once again as Maine plays host to Rennsaelaer. The first game of the two-game Thursday-Friday series will open a busy Homecoming Weekend of sports in Orono and break the ice on the new season for the Men’s Hockey team.

UNH Exhibition Review

Before we look ahead to the weekend, let’s look back on Maine’s only dress rehearsal for the new season. 

The Black Bears skated to an exciting 3-2 victory over rival New Hampshire at sold-out Colby College’s Alfond Arena in Waterville. The top line of New Brunswick natives Lynden Breen, Bradly Nadeau, and his brother Josh Nadeau stole the show last Saturday night. The line contributed to all three of Maine’s goals. Josh Nadeau scored two and assisted one, Breen scored the other and assisted Josh’s two goals, and Bradly Nadeau ended an impressive collegiate debut with two assists.

After dominating and scoring early in the first period, Maine doubled their lead just twenty seconds into the third. A couple of bad breakouts with odd puck bounces put the Black Bears on their heels, as New Hampshire, with new momentum, responded with two goals in the third to even the game. But late third-period heroics resulted in the Black Bears securing the exhibition win.

While the first line was excellent, and Maine showed off their deep lineup — the second, third, and fourth forward lines left a certain amount to be desired. Head Coach Ben Barr admitted during the midweek Black Bear’s Coaches Show that while he was pleased with his squad’s effort level and competitiveness. He wants more substance and execution from lines two through four. He noted that the team’s depth in all positions is a strength of the squad; however, he would like to see this depth of forward talent translate into more goals from all lines and not rely on the star top line to put the puck in the back of the net.

Special teams-wise, the Penalty Kill looked really strong as Maine only allowed one New Hampshire shot during the PK as all four penalties were successfully killed. Barr noted that the PK was so successful because Maine did not allow UNH to easily enter the zone and get many good looks on the Maine net. Because of this, UNH could not keep sustained pressure or time in the zone during their Power Plays to pass the puck around and get good shots off.

The second Maine goal came from the Power Play, which Barr hoped would give them some confidence after going only one for seven in the contest. The top Power Play line saw a setup of the Nadeau brothers-Breen line with the addition of Nicholas Niemo and Defenseman Brandon Holt. Bradly Nadeau set himself up alongside Holt at his favorite spot on the left point — Alex Ovechkin style — while the rest of the line moved the puck well, looking to set up the forward’s dangerous one-timer. The second Power Play line consisted of the Poisson-Renwick-Houle line with the solid offensive Defenseman David Breazeale and Grayson Arnott, inverting themselves to their off-handed side in order to get better looks on the man advantage.

Breazeale and Arnott also switched sides during even strength play when the face-off was in the Maine Offensive Zone. Bradly Nadeau would also change traditional positions to take the face-offs when the puck was dropped in the right side of the O-Zone as it seemed they wanted his righty stick to knock the puck to the right side closer to the boards rather than use Breen’s lefty stick which would angle the puck more likely to the center of the ice.

Overall, Barr seemed very pleased with this first competitive performance of the year, noting plenty of good things but also seeing lots of room for improvement for his team.

RPI Weekend Preview

The first set of games for the new season at a new-look Alfond sees Barr host his alma mater, Rensselaer. Barr played four seasons with the Engineers, captaining his Senior year, before starting his coaching career with the team.

Barr noted that the current iteration of Rensselaer is a well-coached team led by Head Coach Dave Smith. Entering his seventh season at the helm for RPI (who ended last season with an overall record of 14-20-1), Smith relies on his skilled forwards to find time and space to score goals. Forwards #18 Jakob Lee, #19 Sutter Muzzatti, and #12 Austin Heidemann will be the most dangerous threats for the Black Bears to keep an eye on.

Barr stressed that the key to defensive success this weekend against RPI’s skilled puck handlers will be to continue to limit the time and space given to RPI’s forwards, an attribute he was pleased about during the game against UNH. As long as Maine can limit this time and space, it will give Maine a strong chance to restrict the Engineers’ scoring chances and allow Ostman not to face too many dangerous shots.

On the offensive side, seeing an improvement from the second, third, and fourth lines in the offensive zone will be vital to a successful weekend. If all that went well for the skilled and dangerous Nadeau–Breen–Nadeau line that played so well together last Saturday continues, this line will see plenty of scoring chances. More of this substance and execution is needed from all lines, especially, in my opinion, from the Poisson—Renwick—Houle line. Who, on paper, provides a lethal threat of a combination of power, speed, and skill — but against New Hampshire, was unable to sustain much pressure and offensive threat expect and rely on from them.

Substance and execution were the main points of improvement Barr made midweek. While the team looked much faster on the ice, the execution of breakout passes, quick passes through the Neutral Zone, and one-touch passes in the Offensive Zone will need to be better from all lines if Maine can consistently sustain pressure all weekend. Execution through speed to get into the Offensive Zone, execution in the O-zone to create a good substance of pressure, and execution to put the puck in the back of the net were my primary keys for this series from watching last weekend’s game and listening to Ben Barr speak during the week.

Substance and Execution.

Seeing how Barr lines up the third and fourth forward lines will be fascinating. I would like to see the equally hard-working and skilled third-line of Freel, Scott, and Niemo play together again as the two Bentley transfers with the ever-energetic Freel could surprise many people this weekend with both their offensive and defensive play. The depth of the squad really shows in the difficult choice Barr will have in picking his fourth line. Which could see any of Trudeau, Hanson, Pabich, or Scholle play.

I cannot wait to get into the Alfond with the rest of Black Bear Nation this weekend. Not only is it the first game in Orono in seven months, but it will be Maine’s only home game until mid-November.

It will be up to us to keep the Alfond rocking for both games. As long as we can keep up our end of the bargain and the depth of the team can sustain pressure and execute in front of both nets, I think a weekend sweep is very much a possibility. Anything less will be disappointing for this highly-anticipated Homecoming Weekend series against an on-paper inferior RPI team.

Let’s fill the Alfond and shout until it’s rafter’s ring. It all starts now, and I cannot wait.