Weekend Preview Vs BC

The best atmosphere in college hockey is set to be at its boisterous best, welcoming top-ranked BC in a big weekend clash.

The Massholes are coming! The Massholes are coming!

For Mainers across the state, dealing with tourists and summer people from southern New England is commonplace. Through gritted teeth, we bear their invasion during the summertime before they close up their cottages and run away, fleeing Maine’s cold, dark winters when the going gets tough.

But Boston College will be hyper-aware that this will be no trip to Vacationland, being the first Hockey East team to come across the buzzing Black Bears at an always-atmospheric Alfond Arena. The Eagles have soared out of the gates this season and currently sit perched as the #1 team in the country. Their journey north to the eagerly awaiting Black Bears, full of their own early-season momentum, is sure to be two classic barnburners of hockey games as BC will be the first season Hockey East victim to feel the wrath of the Alfond Fanatical.

The young Maine Black Bears, coming off a weekend sweep on the road against a tough Merrimack, will be eager for yet another early-season test against a top opponent. After starting their campaign with a home sweep against low-ranking Rennsalaer, followed by splitting away at the home of the defending National Champions in Quinnipiac, and sweeping Hockey East rivals Merrimack, the Black Bears sit at #13 in USCHO’s polls with a 5-1-0 record.

Last weekend’s sweep against the highly-touted Merrimack Warriors shows that these Black Bears are already significantly improving from growing in experience. Following a poor second game showing the week before to Quinnipiac, the Black Bears clearly learned from their defeat. Head Coach Ben Barr mentioned Wednesday during the Black Bear Coaches Show that facing different scenarios is the only way to really learn how to handle the different problems different hockey teams will throw at you. Maine showed a vast improvement Saturday night at Merrimack, now knowing from lived experience that when following a game one win, the team must push even harder the next night to not let the momentum they worked so hard for drift away — and the proper way to do this.

The Black Bears showcased a gritty display last weekend at Merrimack. A relentless forecheck that pinned Merrimack back and an offense that worked hard in the dirty areas of the ice while excelling at making the simple plays proved to be a successful formula on the road. Maine was able to use their solid depth of talent to balance out their forward lines, which resulted in spreading the scoring riches around as all four lines contributed on the scoresheet over the series.

No Maine player was immune to the hard work required, no matter their star standing. Bradly Nadeau not only showcased his elite scoring touch over the weekend but pleasantly surprised many Black Bear fans with his work rate off the puck as well. The 18-year-old led the charge on the forecheck and didn’t back down from the opponents’ age and size advantage that saw some Merrimack players six years his senior. Bradly didn’t back down, flying into big hits and courageously sacrificing his body to block shots all weekend. This not only exhibited his exemplary personal spirit but an overall teamwide culture of hard work and sacrificing oneself for the group that radiates through the group under Barr.

Defensively, Maine’s depth was equally as apparent. Working in tandem with the forecheck, the defensemen succeeded at stepping up to pick off Merrimack’s breakout passes. The Maine blueliners were also much-improved in maintaining control of the puck and making smart plays to break the opponent’s press. David Breazeale, Brandon Chabrier, and Liam Lesakowski were all noticeably immense. At the same time, the rest of the defensemen were quietly efficient, a quality that is said in high praise when speaking of a team’s defense. Sometimes, the less obviously noticeable, the better.

The Eagles from Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts — technically not Boston — are also coming into the weekend full of confidence. With a record of 7-1-0 and big wins over powerhouses such as Quinnipiac and Michigan State, the Eagles will be the Black Bears’ most challenging test of the season so far.

While Ben Barr and his Maine team have had recent success over Boston College, sweeping BC over all three games last season, the Black Bears will know that this current rendition of the Eagles will provide a new challenge. After a disappointing first season without the legendary Jerry York behind the bench, Boston College has completely retooled and is led by perhaps the finest freshmen class in the college game.

Freshman forwards #6 Will Smith, #9 Ryan Leonard, and #34 Gabe Perrault were all first-round draft picks last spring. They will all prove to be a tall task for Maine’s defense and netminder Victor Ostman to stand up to. But the Eagles’ best player, who may prove to win the Hobey Baker at the end of the season, #19 Cutter Gauthiere, will have his number circled in bright red marker on Maine’s dressing room wall. The 5th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft has already scored eight goals in BC’s first eight games this season and will give Maine’s defense quite the scare all weekend long as he will generate plenty of scoring chances.

Boston College has fourteen players on their roster who have been drafted into the NHL. Maine only has one. On paper, Boston College should skate all over the Black Bears. But on paper, so should have Quinnipiac and Merrimack. And those two teams didn’t have to face what the Eagles will be tasked with this weekend. Playing in front of a feral Alfond Arena.

Maine hasn’t been ranked in the national polls this highly since 2012, the same year the Alfond last played host to the #1 ranked team. Needless to say, the anticipation for this weekend series hasn’t been seen in Maine in a long time. The atmosphere inside Alfond Arena should be the most raucous as it has been in the past decade.

While the support and sheer noise will give the Black Bears the edge, Maine must resist the excitement and eagerness to please from causing them to stray from their game plan and overperform. Boston College’s high-end attacking talent will stretch Maine. Still, Barr emphasized the importance of not trying to mirror their style of play but focusing on their own way of playing to find success. BC feeds off turnovers at the blue line and in the neutral zone as they wait for their opponents to make a mistake before beating them with their sheer quality in the transition game. Maine will have to be ultra-weary of keeping their focus up in order to make the right plays with the puck and not allow the highly talented BC forwards too many opportunities off the rush.

When Maine is without the puck, which will be often over the weekend, the Black Bears will need to feed off the energy in the Alfond to impose themselves physically but not become over-excited in the mayhem of the event and lose their focus. It’s truly a fine line to walk. Focused intensity will be crucial for the Black Bears to make the most out of the cauldron of noise the Alfond should create.

But while Maine will be well aware of all the ways the BC attack can hurt them, Barr emphasized that Maine will also be focused on imposing their own game onto the Eagles. Limiting mistakes, making precise decisions with the puck, finishing checks, being disciplined, and not giving BC any space or time on the puck will be keys to the Black Bear’s game plan of upsetting the Eagles. According to Barr, whichever team is most successful in playing their style of game will have the best chances to win.

Maine can’t beat BC at their game. Maine needs to be the best version of Maine. In your face and relentless.

For Maine to shock the nation and beat the best, the Black Bears will have to play their absolute best game, rising to the incredible challenge and opportunity that presents itself this weekend.

My expectations for the weekend? I don’t think anyone can have too many expectations. The best-case scenario is Maine shocks the college hockey world. In the worst-case scenario, Barr and his staff are provided important information, and his team gets the invaluable experience of testing themselves against the nation’s best. Showing themselves exactly where they need to be to play at the level they one day hope to achieve.

The only expectations Black Bear fans can have are expectations of themselves.

We, the Alfond Faithful, will also have to be at our very best if our team is to have a sliver of a chance at the upset. Not only do Alfond’s famed rafters have to ring, but they have to shake with noise.

We need to not only give the Black Bears the feeling of being immortal while on the ice, but we also need to make BC’s legs quiver in their skates, creating a daunting whirlwind of atmosphere they have never experienced before.

An atmosphere that they can’t live with. That no opposing team can live with.

Let’s send the Eagles running back home with their tail feathers between their legs.

It’s up to all of us.

This is what it’s all about.