The Maine Black Bears ride into the new year cresting high on top of a wave of momentum.

Their dominant 5-1 win over the Dartmouth Big Green Saturday night in Hanover, New Hampshire, not only clinched the Ledyard Bank Classic championship but was their sixth victory in a row. Shooting the Black Bears into the #1 spot in the pairwise national ranking as 2023 came to a close.

In a year that has seen a monumental leap forward for the hockey program under third-year Head Coach Ben Barr, it has also taught the Alfond Faithful to dream once again.

The complete turnaround of the program, beginning at the end of last season and completely soaring to new heights this campaign, has catapulted the Black Bears into the stratosphere of the college hockey world not seen in these parts for decades.

It has given Mainers far and wide a belief that a new era of glory days is tantalizingly close on the horizon.

The best part?

These Black Bears seem only to be improving as the season progresses into 2024.

This momentous wave continues to grow with every challenge overcome. Full steam ahead.

Quiet concerns about how the long layover from the Christmas break would affect the team's rhythm and questions over team scoring depth were murmured by Black Bear Nation heading into the weekend tournament. Maine loudly dismissed these questions with two statement wins that perhaps saw the team's best all-around performances of the season to date.

The maturity of this group of Black Bears is what stood out to me the most on Saturday night. We've seen plenty of times that the team is more than talented enough to win, but now they are really showing an understanding of game management, clearly having a blueprint for getting through even the most difficult games with the desired outcome.

And the first period against Dartmouth was one of the most difficult Maine has had to endure this season.

The hosts put a Black Bear side that remained unchanged from the previous night's win over RIT under immense pressure in Saturday's first period.

Off the hop, the Black Bears carried on from Friday's energetic, physical, and direct play that is so core to their identity and success. While Maine thought they had jumped out to an early lead through a Reid Pabich goal, a lengthy Dartmouth challenge and video review overturned Maine's advantage.

The change of fortune seemed to have taken the wind out of Maine's sails as the rest of the first period was all Big Green.

Dartmouth, coming off an impressive 4-0 win over Lake Superior State the night before, picked up right where they left off, hindering Maine's attack and creating a swarm of their own offensive pressure.

Before the game, a Dartmouth fan described their win over Lake State as the closest to a perfect performance Big Green fans have seen in over three years. Saturday night's game was to be a clash of two teams, spurred on by recent momentum, squaring off for the chance to lift some hardware. The perfect recipe for a barnburner of a hockey game and as difficult a challenge as any for the Black Bears to overcome.

Against Maine in the first, Dartmouth looked dangerous on the attack and solid at the back. Similar to the Black Bear's identity, the Big Green used their pestering forecheck and aggressively pinching defensemen to stifle Maine from moving the puck up ice cleanly. Defensively, Dartmouth supported each other well and looked like a really cohesive and well-coached team that was well structured and organized. The high-energy Big Green didn't allow the Black Bears any time or space to create much offense, doggedly backchecking and suffocating Maine, not allowing them through the neutral zone with much success in the first frame.

Maine's netminder Victor Ostman was called upon to make plenty of important saves early on in the game, including a Big Green breakaway. Dartmouth created constant pressure, attacking in number and putting the Black Bears on their heels, unable to wrangle control over the contest. The first frame was a whirlwind of white and green attack.

This is where I thought Maine's improved maturity and game-management skills really shined. With their backs against the wall and all the momentum in Dartmouth's favor, the Black Bears knew that they just needed to get through the first period with the game still scoreless. Using the intermission to regroup and reassess.

During the week, Assistant Coach Jason Fortier explained that one aspect the team could improve upon was controlling their emotions and keeping them consistent during the highs and lows of a game. This was clearly worked upon as Maine showed great attitude and resilience while being put under so much pressure.

It would have been so easy and natural for the Black Bears to panic and start straying from their systems and game plan. Instead, Maine stayed calm and composed, understanding that at this moment in the game, the Black Bears had to absorb the pressure before they could begin to chip away at Dartmouth's momentum.

The many Black Bear fans spread throughout Thompson Arena were relieved to see their team make it into the dressing room, allowing for a regroup with the game still scoreless.

Perhaps Dartmouth had blown themselves out with their high-intensity first-period performance as the second frame saw the roles reversed, with Maine the much better side, able to control the game and keep the hosts at stick length. The momentum pendulum swung in favor of Maine early on in the second, where it stayed firmly for the rest of the contest.

Maine established their identity of overwhelming, constant offensive drive and dynamism to wear down the Big Green and begin to dictate the game's tempo on their terms through an overload of grinding offense and stringent defense.

Junior center Harrison Scott, who has been a revelation in his first year with Maine, broke the scoring open for the Black Bears early in the second. Scott's line with wingers Thomas Freel and Donovan Houle has proved to be a spark plug for Maine's offense this season. Their relentless energy and effort force turnovers, which the trio can capitalize on with their direct, powerful play, especially through the energizer bunny of Thomas Freel, who may be Maine's best forechecker, constantly pestering and probing Dartmouth's d-men. The line always seems to generate chaos and commotion in front of the net as opposing sides struggle to cope with their strength and presence, proving so effective. Superbly exemplifying the team's style of play and identity.

Saturday night was no different as Houle, charging down from the point at the net, rifled a heavy shot, which rebounded kindly to Scott, who was positioned perfectly to lift a saucy backhand into the top corner of the net.

The Big Green fought back gallantly, as even while under tremendous pressure in their own zone, they could break up the ice with good team speed in numbers at a moment's notice. Usually unable to break through Maine's defensemen at the blue line, Dartmouth tried their hand at dumping pucks in deep and trying to beat Maine down-low in hotly contested board battles. But the Black Bear defensemen used their physical superiority to win these duels, quickly coraling control of the play, and effectively breakout themselves back down the ice.

Sophomore defenseman Luke Antonacci has quietly become one of Maine's most important pieces. Undersized for a defenseman, Antonacci can be best described as quietly efficient. He isn't the flashiest player, and you may not notice a lot of his excellent work, but his role alongside the more prominent presence of captain David Breazeale has resulted in an effective, top defensive pair for the Black Bears this season. The Maine blueliner from Princeton, New Jersey, always seems to be in the right place at the right time to negate the opponent's attack and rarely puts a foot wrong. Antonacci is a strong skater who excels at scampering back into the corners to retrieve pucks put in deep and uses great balance and core strength to roll off opposing hits and calmly find teammates up ice.

The great switch of play-up-ice and puck movement from Maine's defense kept the Bears in control, with the Big Green always chasing. Allowing the Black Bears to establish their grinding style of game to wear Dartmouth down.

A critical cog this season in the Black Bear grinding machine that has proved so successful has been sophomore forward Reid Pabich. The Wisconsin native has used his energetic nature and tireless spirit to solidify himself in Maine's lineup this season with reliable defensive performances. Particularly in recent games, Pabich's offensive output has begun to heat up.

With five minutes left in the second period, Pabich, on the ice to kill off a Dartmouth power play, helped force a turnover just as Maine's penalized player was granted freedom back onto the ice. Lynden Breen raced up the ice and over the attacking blueline on a 3-0n-1 rush. Once Breen gained the zone, he had the awareness to make a nifty, no-look drop-pass to Josh Nadeau fresh out of the box. Taking the puck to the top of the faceoff circle, Josh fed Pabich with a patient, inch-perfect, cross-crease pass, which was buried into the Dartmouth net with a scorching one-timer.

At first glance, I was certain that it was Josh's brother, Bradly Nadeau, who had rocketed home the goal from Josh's pass. A formula Black Bear fans have gotten quite used to seeing this season. But the goal scorer was Reid Pabich, who deserved all the plaudits as he imitated Bradly's scorching one-time shot from the left faceoff circle on a Josh Nadeau pass to perfection.

Pabich hit a great goal celebration while skating back to the bench, throwing his arm forward in a signal that refs used to deem a good goal, hinting at the questionable off-side decision that led to Pabich's first-period goal being disallowed.

Redemption for Reid.

The two second-period Maine goals from a dominating Black Bear performance and an overturned Dartmouth goal that was ruled out because of a hand-pass looked to have deflated the Big Green, who was noticeably slower and less sharp than their opening-period blitz. The Big Green sticks were reaching more, and legs were moving less, as Maine looked physically fitter than Dartmouth.

Less than a minute after Maine's second goal, Pabich's linemate lit the lamp for the Black Bears.

Sully Scholle, who played his best game of the year Friday night against RIT, had an even better performance the following night. Scholle, a freshman forward hailing from the rich hockey state of Minnesota, used his quick hands to ring the iron a couple of times against RIT.

Saturday night, however, he was finally rewarded for his on-fire play with a coming-of-age performance. An intelligent bank pass from Pabich to break Maine out of their zone allowed Scholle to gain speed up the ice and charge toward the Big Green goal on the rush. Coming down the right side, the left-handed Scholle cut in towards goal to evade a desperate sliding Dartmouth defender's outreached stick. Scholle used his quick mitts from the slot to roof a wrist shot under the bar, blocker side to put the Black Bears in the driver's seat, up 3-0 heading into the final frame.

But the red-hot Sully Scholle and on-fire Maine Black Bears would not slow down in the third period.

Only a couple minutes back on the fresh ice, Sholle and the Bears added on. The ever-offensive-minded defenseman, Brandon Chabrier, at the Maine goalline, had the awareness to spin around, look up, and execute a long pinpoint pass that put Scholle in all alone on the breakaway. Bearing down on the Dartmouth net with speed, Scholle again found twine, sneaking a quick wrister five-hole between the goaltender's legs.

Up 4-0 with the majority of the final period still to play, the Black Bears once again showed their improved game management skills with a mature performance to see out the victory. Simple, smart, and positive plays with the puck by Maine made sure to limit any chances at a Dartmouth comeback and preserve the shutout by clogging up the center of the ice.

Victor Ostman, who came up with a plethora of important saves back in the first period, had much less to do as the game wore on. Dartmouth had thirteen shots in the first and only had eleven throughout the rest of the game, highlighting Maine's control and ability to dictate the game as the contest wore on.

In front of their goaltender, the Black Bears made sure to keep their energy and effort level up, determined to close out the game cleanly and earn Ostman his first shutout of the season. Maine's bodies did an excellent job of diving and sliding in front of Dartmouth shots, sacrificing their bodies and only allowing the Big Green four shots to break through towards the net. Unfortunately for Maine and Ostman, a Big Green stick poked the puck into the goal on a weird rebound that the Black Bears couldn't clear, their only blemish on an excellent team game from Maine. The goal that put the hosts on the scoreboard was met by a relatively muted celebration from the home fans.

Louder cheering came from the Black Bear traveling faithful just minutes later. A strong defensive play by Josh Nadeau at center ice stopped a Dartmouth attack. Josh quickly maneuvered into Maine's attacking zone and dished a pass to a charging Lynden Breen in the slot. The senior co-captain deked to his forehand before rolling a backhand between the wickets of the netminder, closing out Maine's excellent weekend in style with a 5-1 win and their hands on the Ledyard Bank Classic trophy.

Four Black Bears were singled out for their play over the tournament, showcasing Maine's excellent team depth and all-around great play from top to bottom. Sully Scholle, Donovan Houle, and Victor Ostman were named to the all-tournament team, while Harrison Scott was awarded as Ledyard Bank Classic MVP.

The absence of any of the New Brunswick line's star players from this list highlights how deep this team has become since the start of the season. Seeing an abundance of Black Bears get on the scoresheet is so positive, silencing any critiques of Maine's overreliance on the Nadeau brothers for getting Maine on the scoreboard.

Seven of Maine's ten goals this weekend came from a different player.

Talk about offensive depth.

Every member of this group plays a vital role in this year's success.

Now ranked as the #1 team in the country by the pairwise, with their sixth win in a row, Maine is riding high off momentum.

And this team is only getting better.

Winning is addicting, and winning silverware is as well. The Ledyard Bank Classic may pale in comparison to the other honors Maine will be competing for this season, but it helps to create a culture where winning championships becomes the norm for these Black Bears. If anything, it only adds to the continuously increasing momentum Maine is generating.

Momentous Maine.

While progress is never linear, and there will be plenty of challenges and bumps in the road during the new year, 2024 has every chance to become the Year of the Bear.