The Alfond celebrates a Lynden Breen goal in last season's home opener, a 4-1 victory over RPI.

‘Twas the night before puck drop, when all through the rink, the Black Bears were stirring, taping their sticks. The Zamboni had put down a fresh sheet with care in hopes that the Alfond Faithful soon would be there.

Saturday evening, a night that will have been marked on many Mainer’s calendars for months now, brings the eagerly awaited opening game of the 48th Maine men’s hockey season.

A season that is as highly anticipated as any in recent memory.

Hopes and expectations are buzzing among Black Bear Nation after a year that saw the state’s most beloved team churn out its markedly best season in over a decade.

With 23-12-2 record in 2023/24, Maine reached both its first Hockey East championship weekend and National Tournament appearance in twelve seasons.

But back-to-back semifinal losses in one week, the first to Boston University in the Hockey East semifinal and then to Cornell in the NCAA Regional semifinal, broke Black Bear hearts.

“That left a sting. We felt we were right there.” Said Maine Head Coach Ben Barr, now entering his fourth season at the helm. “But we didn’t get the job done. It was disappointing, and we had to sit on that.”

When the Maine Black Bears take to the ice against the American International College Yellow Jackets this weekend, it will have been a long 203 days since Central Maine’s last regularly scheduled gathering at Alfond Arena. It isn’t just the fanbase that’s been itching to put the disappointing end of last season behind them for the promises a new year can bring.

“We’re fired up. I think everybody is ready to hit someone else besides our own guys; it’s going to be an absolute blast.” Said Black Bear co-Captain defenseman David Breazeale. “We’re all just looking forward to getting to the rink on Saturday.”

Much of the team stayed in Orono throughout the summer, eager to hit the new season in stride well before full team practices with the coaching staff were allowed to begin September 3rd with the formal start of the Fall.

“The boys are just excited to play hockey.” Barr said on the weekly Black Bear Coaches Show on Wednesday. “It’s been six months [since last season ended]. A lot of practice, a lot of training against each other, and a lot of training in the weight room.”

It’s a remarkably unique experience playing in front of the Alfond Faithful and in the swirling cauldron of atmosphere they create as senior Breazeale knows well by now.

“It’s going to be sweet to come out to hopefully a packed Alfond and have a full student section going. Every time you go out there, you get chills. I’m excited to experience my last first-game as a senior. It's pretty crazy how fast it’s gone, and I’m also excited for the new guys to experience what it’s like playing at the Alfond.” Breazeale said.

There will be plenty of new faces soaking in the Alfond from the ice on Saturday night. While some, such as graduate student forward Ross Mitton and senior forward Taylor Makar, were on the opposing bench for games at the Alfond last season before transferring to Maine in the summer, for the rest of the transfers and incoming freshman class, it will be a first-time experience they are sure to never forget.

“I think we’re all itching to play this game and get things going.” Said Markar, who came to Maine from UMass in the transfer portal.

There will be plenty of new fan favorites for Black Bear Nation to get to know. Many of them, in particular those coming through the transfer portal, will bring invaluable collegiate experience crucial to taking their new team to the next level.

“These players, a lot of them, have a lot of experience. They’re very hard-working, high-character guys that have been very good players at this level.” Barr said about his incoming transfers on the Black Bear Coaches Show. “You’re not starting from scratch as freshmen with some of these guys; you're just trying to get them acclimated to how we’re doing things.”

While this years’ edition of the Black Bears has plenty of experience on its roster, there may still be a lot of figuring things out as they go. Saturday night will not only be Maine’s first competitive game of the season, but their first game non-stop as the team had no preseason exhibitions scheduled this year, which Coach Barr noted is somewhat rare in his experience.

Will Maine’s fresh faces be thrown into a baptism by fire, acclimating to new systems, teammates, and environment in the pressure-packed cauldron of a competitive game at the Alfond? Or might it be as straightforward as a simple ironing-out process?

For Barr, it will all come down to execution in this early season matchup as AIC also did not have an exhibition test before their trip up to Orono.

“Both teams are in the same boat. It’s all going to be down to who goes out and executes.” Barr said.

The leap straight into the regular season has Black Bear Nation swinging at thin air, trying to figure out line combinations and lineup spots. While Barr made sure not to give away any secrets during the midweek Coaches Show, he did note that these decisions are still fluid in the lead-up to Saturday as spots in the lineup are still being contested in practice.

“We have an idea on what things are going to look like. But once the game starts, sometimes it becomes completely different. We have a lot of returners that have been here a while, so we have a pretty good idea of what things will look like on Saturday.”

One question that has been on the minds of Black Bear fans this off-season is how last year’s second-leading scorer on the team, Josh Nadeau, will fare playing without his brother and linemate Bradly Nadeau for the first time in three seasons. The two had a near-telepathic chemistry last season in their freshmen campaigns at Maine that shook opposing goaltenders in their skates. Bradly, who signed professionally with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Spring, led the Black Bears with 46 points, one point ahead of older brother Josh’s season total.

But Barr isn’t worried about Josh becoming the lone Nadeau on the team and believes it may help the New Brunswick native.

“He is a really dynamic player at this level. I think it will be a really good experience for him to build his own thing.” Barr said. “I think it will actually be a really good growth year for him to step out on his own and make his own legacy here, and he is fully capable of doing that.”

There is no question that this season, the Nadeau show will still be shining in Orono.

While speculations on line combinations for Saturday, including Nadeau’s, are as vast as the Maine woods, it seems as though the starting job in net is Albin Boija’s. But only for now.

Boija had a breakout freshman season between the pipes for the Black Bears, taking over the job down the stretch from veteran and now-graduated Black Bear Victor Ostman, posting an impressive 2.01 GAA and .917 save percentage 

Freshmen goaltender Patriks Berzins will compete for the starting job this season, which, like the rest of the team, will help bring the best out of each player.

“Patriks is a very good goaltender, and him and Albin, we imagine he will be competing every week for that starting spot; that’s a good competition to have in net. Hopefully, just like last year, one of those guys becomes a very elite goaltender.” Barr said.

Whoever ends up in net Saturday night will have to be up for the task of taking the sting out of the Yellow Jackets.

AIC Head Coach Eric Lang took over a Yellow Jackets team consistently in the basement of College Hockey back in 2016. During his eight seasons steering the ship, Lang has only gone and turned his program into not just the most consistent teams in its conference in the past decade — winning three Atlantic Hockey championships in six years — but perhaps the greatest perennial threat on the national stage to come out of the Atlantic Hockey Conference – newly named Atlantic Hockey America this season.

“He’s one of the best coaches in the game, regardless of who comes and goes from their program,” Barr said about Lang.

While Lang has taken the Yellow Jackets to the top of their often overlooked conference, they have also become nationally recognized for shining the brightest on the biggest stages against the best teams.

Nowhere was their giant-killing status more on display than in the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament when they upset the #1 ranked team in the nation at the time, St. Cloud State.

“He’s very good at getting his teams ready. Obviously, they do well in their league, but also in getting his guys to be ready in non-league games. We’ve had an intense last couple of days trying to get our guys ready for that. We’ll see what that looks like on Saturday.” Barr said.

It has been an off-season full of change for the Yellow Jackets, who lost their star goaltender, Nils Wallstrom, to Merrimack in the portal this summer.

AIC is led by senior defenseman Eric Stella #37 (3-5-8), one of the most underrated defensemen in the college game, who will anchor the Yellow Jacket blueline. The most threatening Yellow Jacket goalscorers Maine will need to keep at bay are expected to be graduate forward Jordan Biro #19 (7-16-23), sophomore Alfred Lindberg #28 (11-11-22), and junior John Lundy #21 (14-8-22).

While an array of changes to AIC leaves some aspects of the Yellow Jackets game in question, this is nothing new to Eric Lang.

“We’ll have our hands full.” Barr warned.

Maine and AIC last faced off two years ago when the Black Bears came away from the Alfond with a 5-1 victory on the first Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving.

That game isn’t noteworthy just for the date. For Barr, then in his second season as Head Coach, it was one of the first signs of a notable turning point for the program.

“I remember it was one of the first times our team really played the right way for the complete game.” Barr remembered.

But that was then, and this is now. Maine, will need another complete sixty-minute performance from his entire team, who can ill afford a sluggish start to the contest, risking a slow start to this season full of early season expectation. The opening few minutes of the game will be important for the Black Bears to start their season off on the right foot.

“Just getting those first five minutes in. You work all summer for that first game and for the entire season, so to get out there and kinda just skate around and soak it all in for a minute and then really dial it in and get ready for puck drop and experience the awesome atmosphere here, it’s so unique here, and we’re all fired up.” Breazeale said.

Barr understands that AIC will be coming into the Alfond licking their lips at the opportunity to make a statement start to their season. Maine will see the Yellow Jackets' best performance. This will become a regular theme this season, now that the Black Bears are one of the marquee teams to beat in the country.

“It’s always harder because teams will now come up here, and if they can get a win at the Alfond, that’s something they'll remember the whole year, and that’ll be a huge boost for them. So we’re going to get everybody’s A-game every single night.” Barr explained.

For Barr, ruthless execution that relies on the team’s strong culture of mental fortitude, endless hard work, and relentless focus will be key to overcoming this challenge not just when facing an AIC side whose crosshairs will be aimed squarely at Maine’s back, but a season-long mental battle in which every team will be be gunning for the Black Bears.

No matter the opponent, no matter the challenge, for Maine this season is all about getting the job done.

“We’re going to do our thing every single night and almost sort of in a ruthless way, for lack of a better word.” I think we have the right leaders and people to do that.”

Drop the puck. It’s time to go.