Weekend Preview @ BU

The red-hot #9 Black Bears are set to square off with the #8 Terriers in huge Beantown tilt.

The Maine Black Bears are shipping down to Beantown for a weekend date with last year’s conference champions and long-time rival, the always formidable Boston University Terriers.

Maine is hot off a tremendous series showing last weekend. Behind an electric Alfond atmosphere, the Black Bears pounced all over the — at the time — #1 ranked Boston College Eagles, winning the first game and tying the second — taking four out of six possible points against the heavily favored Eagles.

The Black Bears must carry their momentum down I95 to keep their fast start to the season going. Against BC, they were sparked by a sturdy penalty kill, excellent goaltending, and the best depth a Maine squad has seen in years. On top of this, their top players stepped up in big moments; Maine knows that their game must not drop an inch if they are to have any shot at causing another upset.

Lineup-wise, Ben Barr and the Bears seemed to have found a formula that has worked so far to contain the nation’s best offenses and provide plenty of lethal danger to the opposition. Against BC, Maine lined up with the usual Nadeau brothers on either side of fellow New Brunswicker Lynden Breen, a creative and oh-so-dangerous trio on the puck while equally hard-working and defensively sound off of it.

The second and third lines have been tweaked and now seem to give the Black Bears more balance between offensive output and defensive reliability. On one, Harrison Scott centers Thomas Freel and Donovan Houle, creating a line that does not lack the constant energy and directness that makes them such an offensive threat. On the other, Cole Hanson plays wing next to Sully Scholle, two solid players on both sides of the puck, while veteran power forward Ben Poisson supplies the line with the offensive scoring impetus it needs.

But the fourth line galvanized both of Maine’s strong showings last weekend. The two wingers, Reid Pabich and Nicholas Niemo, are both players who can generate countless energy and momentum for the rest of the squad through their hard-nosed plays on and off the puck. They both played, along with the rest of their team, out of their skates last weekend.

But the sophomore from Québec stole the show from his linemates. Félix Trudeau, who has struggled so far in his Black Bear career with injuries, lack of confidence, and identity, played extraordinarily well against BC and was vital to Maine’s success. Playing center for the first time in years, Trudeau’s spirited play led to the fourth line being Maine’s most important of the weekend, according to Barr during this week’s Black Bears Coaches Show. Not only did the line’s success provide plenty of positive energy for the rest of the team to feed off, but they had the most success of any Maine line at keeping the play in BC’s half of the ice — eventually leading to a goal scored by Trudeau Saturday night.

The defensemen’s showing was more of the same. Terrific in anticipating BC’s breakouts by stepping up and disrupting the play, the front-foot Black Bear blueliners can also provide plenty of offensive threat. David Breazeale, Brandon Holt, and Brandon Chabrier all like to jump up in the play and can be relied upon to score goals and make plays with the puck. Meanwhile, much of the young defense has slotted well into playing big minutes for their team. Luke Antonacci, Liam Lesakowski, Ryan Hopkins, and Bodie Nobes have all stepped up and so far look capable of holding their own against some of the nation's best forwards. They have all been quietly efficient, rarely putting a skate wrong.

Grayson Arnott left Saturday’s game with an apparent arm injury and did not return. He will be missed this weekend, as I thought he had his best games of the season last week. It will be a ‘next man up’ mentality for a defense that has been highlighted by its young and promising depth already.

As for goaltending, Victor Ostman was the same old Victor Ostman, as his success against BC earned him Hockey East Goalie of the Week honors. Still, with the accolades, he may be one of the nation’s most underrated goaltenders, and without him, this season’s results would look a lot different.

The Black Bears will look to these to carry success down to Boston. Now ranked #9 in the country, a feat that has shocked the college hockey landscape, Maine knows they won’t be able to catch anyone sleeping on them anymore.

The secret is out of the bag, and Boston University won’t take these Bears lightly.

Last year, BU was by far the best team in Hockey East. Winning the Hockey East regular season and tournament, they fell short of their ultimate goal in the semifinals of the Frozen Four.

This year, Boston University is expecting much of the same. The team is returning most of their talent, including the Hutson brothers. #17 Quinn Hutson is a forward who has already tallied eight points this season, while #20 Lane Hutson was a Hobey Baker finalist last season and totaled a whopping forty-eight points during his Freshman campaign, unheard of for a defenseman.

But the Terriers started their season slowly. After being picked 1st in both the preseason national polls and the Hockey East regular season predictions, BU stumbled out of the gates, losing a couple of early games, including a particularly poor showing against UNH. Since then, they have returned to their best self, with big wins against North Dakota, Notre Dame, and UMass, while most recently sweeping UMass-Lowell to come into this weekend on a roll.

So far the story of the Terriers season has been the sensational freshman #71 Macklin Celebrini. The Vancouver native is still only seventeen years old, yet he looks like a shoo-in at becoming not only the unanimous Hobey Baker winner this season but also the #1 pick in the NHL Draft this spring. His extraordinary pace, vision, and shot make him the most dangerous player the Black Bears will have faced this season. Shutting him down will be critical to Maine’s chances.

According to Barr, BU doesn’t have any weaknesses. Maine will have to excel in every aspect of the game to be successful. Last season, Maine got crunched over two games against the Terriers at Agganis Arena. Barr mentioned midweek that last season, he may have made the mistake of hyping up the talent of the Terries to his dressing room too much, causing Maine to play cautious and within themselves, straying from their identity and gameplan. But this time, the Black Bears will have to trust that the way they play and their personnel are good enough to win against a team that, on paper, is miles above them.

Barr emphasized the importance of his team playing to their strengths. Seeing a grinding game below the hash marks and in the corners is their best way forward. Made a massive challenge when against a BU team that is physically one of the biggest in college hockey. But the size of the Terriers doesn’t mean they are slow. BU is great at racing through the neutral zone and creating offense off the rush. If Maine is to compete, they cannot try and beat the Terriers in a footrace all game.

Although simplified, Maine will need productivity in similar areas of the ice as they had against BC to succeed. But unlike last week, the Bears will be without the extra boost that the support from the Alfond provides.

Although BC was the #1 ranked team, they were a young team that had never played in a cauldron of a rink like that before. On the other hand, this BU side is well experienced and mature, containing a collective lived memory of whooping Maine last season.

This trip to the heart of the big city to face off against the #8 ranked team could undoubtedly prove to be Maine’s most challenging weekend of the year.

Because of this, my expectations for the weekend remain cautiously optimistic. While taking any of the six points from BU this weekend would be good, escaping Boston with a split would feel like another accomplishment for the improvement of the program. After all, the Black Bears haven’t won at Agganis Arena since the fall of 2018.

But I wouldn’t put it past these Bears to wow us again. They’ve already done it time and time again this season.

You have to beat the best to be the best, right?

These Bears are ever so hungry, licking their lips after many years of hibernation.

Terrier is on the menu.