Weekend Preview @ Quinnipiac

Maine travels to Connecticut for test against defending National Champions.

Hockey doesn’t feel important right now. It can’t. Not since the shocking horrors that transpired so close to home Wednesday evening.

The saying is that the State of Maine is a small town. Everyone knows everyone. This devastation affects every Mainer. The tight-knit community is the pride of our people, but it is also why this tragedy cuts so deep in our hearts.

It was our community that was torn apart.

But it will be through this same community that we will heal. That’s what Mainers do. Turn to each other, support each other, help each other get through.

The eerie uneasiness that lingers across the state during the ongoing manhunt puts into perspective how trivial and unimportant anything else is. Especially a couple collegiate hockey games taking place down in Connecticut this weekend.

But Maine Black Bears hockey is deeply ingrained in the community’s heart; while the product on the ice pales in comparison to ongoing events, it shouldn’t be lost the importance of this program in creating and fostering community. One that allows us to come together and support each other. And one day, perhaps help heal as well.

The Black Bears take the long journey down to the Nutmeg State for a weekend series against the defending national champions and perennial hardware contenders Quinnipiac Bobcats.

While we can expect heartfelt condolences, tributes, and a moment of silence Friday night from our hosts in Connecticut, once the puck drops, no sympathy will be shown from the nationally ranked 5th best team in the country.

Coming off a dominant series sweep of Rensselaer two weekends ago, the Black Bears will be eager to continue their early season momentum. But Ben Barr and his team will be well aware that this test is entirely different from those faced against RPI and the exhibition with UNH — both of which Maine dominated. In the two opening games against Rennsalaer, Maine scored 10 goals and peppered the RPI net with over 100 shots.

Over the opening set of games, the all-New Brunswick line of the Nadeau brothers and Lynden Breen were able to use their outstanding chemistry to provide Maine with constant and dynamic offensive success, stealing the show for the Black Bears. Barr praised Senior Lynden Breen’s ability to adjust quickly and fit his game into the Freshmen brothers’ already established connection and seemingly telepathic play in his midweek Black Bears Coaches Show. This threesome contributed to 6 of the 10 Maine goals over the RPI series, and the line totaled 11 points over the two-game set.

But Barr’s biggest positive takeaway from the series sweep wasn’t the star line’s dazzling performance but rather the team’s strong depth from all players in the lineup. Barr expressed that he was confident in putting any line out on the ice in any situation during the series against Rensselaer. He noted that this fortune in depth would be critical to any Black Bear success this weekend against the much more dominant Bobcats.

Success won’t be dictated by relying on the star players, especially not against a team as good as Quinnipiac.

Barr recognizes that the style of play in the two games down in Hamden will differ drastically from Maine’s two wins over RPI and their exhibition win over UNH. While Maine was the better team on paper and able to dominate the games in terms of shots and offensive pressure, they will play the role of underdog against consistently one of the best teams in College Hockey.

Not only will Maine play without their home rink advantage for the first time all year, but it will play in one of the loudest and toughest buildings on the East Coast. Maine will be tested, as the noise and commotion from Quinnipiac’s raucous student section, along with the skill and power of the well-coached Bobcats, could quickly overwhelm the Black Bears if Barr’s team is not at it right at it from puck drop. And if Quinnipiac does come out to an early lead, it will be an equally challenging task to put the puck in their net. The defending champs added a lot of transfer portal additions to their already-stacked lineup.

Led by BU transfer goaltender Vinny Duplessis, Quinnipiac possesses one of the best shut-down defenses in the game, with veteran defensemen #15 Jayden Lee and #5 CJ McGee leading the Bobcats blue line.

Barr noted that his team will have to be very careful with the puck, especially at their blueline, where Quinnipiac’s solid defensive structure will look to force Maine into mistakes that the Bobcats can quickly pounce on, rapidly taking the puck north and creating scoring opportunities of their own on fast, odd-man breaks.

Quinnipiac is deep in attacking threats, led by #11 Colin Graf, #17 Jacob Quillan, and #28 Sam Lipkin; the young Maine defense will be challenged against a dangerous and relentless Quinnipiac attack.

To limit these counterattacking opportunities, Barr stressed the importance of chipping the puck in deep, as the Bobcats are unlikely to allow Maine clean entrances into the zone during special teams and even strength play.

Playing against a much tighter defense means that Maine won’t get nearly as many scoring chances as they were used to in their first two games of the season. The expected lack of good looks on net means the Black Bear’s offense will have to be much more ruthless with their scoring opportunities. While Maine scored 10 goals in their past 2 games, Bar admitted they were often wasteful with their chances and should have put home many more goals.

Barr stressed that putting pucks in safe areas of the ice, being patient, and capitalizing on their scoring chances will be vital if Maine is to pick up any success this weekend.

Maine’s need to continue their success in depth from the previous series will be of equal importance. The detailed Quinnipiac Head Coach Rand Pecknold will have a game plan for his team to shut down Maine’s now-known top line of Nadeau-Breen-Nadeau. Add to this the fact that the home-ice Bobcats will have the last change and be able to match up lines to their liking. Maine will need a strong game from every player in the lineup, as all of them will be tested against Quinnipiac’s best.

The third line of Freel-Scott-Pabich showed tremendous potential over the weekend against RPI. With great speed, physical play, and puck support as a unit, this line will need to have an equally strong defensive and offensive weekend for their team to be successful.

But the second line of veterans Poisson-Renwick-Houle could be the x-factor for Maine. Still not having quite shown their full potential, their combination of size, heaviness, team speed, and puck-handling will be key to any Maine offensive success as the Black Bears will rely on their veteran presence to play to their strengths; getting the puck deep, supporting the puck, and grinding down the Bobcat defense in order to create a good scoring chance which will need to be taken advantage of.

Special teams will also play a huge role, as the Maine power play looked bright against RPI. At the same time, Quinnipiac’s penalty kill is excellent, killing 19 of 20 power plays this season. The top powerplay unit for Maine, which includes the Nadeau brothers, Lynden Breen, Thomas Freel, and Brandon Holt quarterbacking the play, will need to keep pace throughout the weekend with Quinnipiac’s own historically good powerplay unit if Maine is to find any success on the scoreboard.

Maine will need to play their absolute best for the entire two games to pick up any success from the weekend. Going up against one of the best teams in the country in a hostile and loud arena will test this young team’s composure. It could prove to be a significant opportunity for the Black Bears to build a collective memory of what road success takes.

The usually dominant Bobcats have been wounded this season. Losing to Boston College to open up the season before dropping a game to the lowly UNH — who Maine looked strong against in their exhibition win. Everybody can beat anyone in College Hockey. Quinnipiac will be well aware of this and will certainly not give Maine a complacent performance, determined to make up for a shaky performance last weekend by their standards. They will be at their usual strong self, but if Maine is also at their best, there’s a chance of a Black Bear upset in the cards.

And all you ever need is a chance.

Barr was adamant in the midweek that this challenge would allow his team to “make us better.” The early season set will provide a good understanding of just where this Black Bear team is at in its development.

Recent games against Quinnipiac have become a good marker for the program’s evolution. Ben Barr’s first game as head coach of the program saw Maine get thrashed 7-0 in an exhibition game before the 2021-22 season, which Barr said was eye-opening and could have been a much bigger blowout.

Then, this time last year, the Bobcats made the trip north to the Alfond, where Maine secured their best victory in years as they jumped all over Quinnipiac, at the time one of the top-ranked teams in the polls, leading to Barr’s first win over a ranked opponent for his Bear’s, a vital obstacle to overcome in the journey to becoming a top-ranked program yourself. However, Maine could not come up with a similarly consistent effort the next night as Quinnipiac got redemption on the Black Bears with a commanding 6-2 win.

This weekend will provide Maine with the opportunity of what could be another stepping-stone progression of the program, but expectations will need to be kept in check as Quinnipiac is absolutely dominant at home.

I think a successful road trip looks like Maine staying competitive in each game, never letting Quinnipiac run away with either matchup, and not letting the Bobcats a moment of comfort on the ice. Hopefully, Maine’s bye week doesn’t hamper the momentum and edge that saw Maine sweep RPI, as it will be essential for the Black Bears to start game one with the same focused energy that Maine played with against RPI. Suppose this edge is lacking, especially from the start. In that case, Quinnipiac can quickly take over the game and keep the Bears at a managed stick length away from producing any real opportunities of offensive substance.

One win or even a tie for the Black Bears over the weekend would feel momentous for the team’s progression, as Maine has still yet to show much success away from the Alfond under Ben Barr, especially against the nation’s best teams.

But again, the weekend results will be of minuscule importance to the people of Maine in light of recent events. But if anything, watching Maine hockey this weekend may provide a good and needed distraction to many across the state. It allows us to look forward to something and maybe even provide some light during these dark times.

Look after one another. We are all in this together.