Weekend Preview Vs Colgate

The Black Bears look to keep their win streak alive, dropping the puck at the Alfond for a set with Colgate.

2023 ended on the highest of high notes for the resurgent Maine Black Bears.

A sixth straight win for Maine put their hands on the Ledyard Bank Classic trophy and shot the Black Bears up the national rankings, now polled at #7 in USCHO's poll and #1 in the pairwise.

But these Black Bears are not getting ahead of themselves. Maine is well aware that their biggest challenges are yet to come this New Year. Starting off this weekend with a date at the Alfond against the stout and structured Colgate Raiders.

Maine, coming into their first game at Alfond Arena in over a month, has refound their stellar play not seen since the Black Bears last played in Orono, where they stomped both UNH and UConn out of the building with dominant, statement performances.

They've refound their identity and then some.

With wins over RIT and Dartmouth last weekend, Black Bear Nation should be ecstatic about the next-man-up mentality present in Barr's dressing room. While the Nadeau brothers have rightfully shined in the spotlight, both having a tremendous start to their collegiate careers, the team's sheer bounty in depth is what's taking the Black Bears to the next level.

Opposition sides, now well aware of the danger the Nadeau's pose, have focused tremendous efforts in halting the star-forwards and their centerman Lynden Breen's success in front of the net of late.

But, this focus on the New Brunswick natives has only allowed the rest of the Black Bears to take advantage. And have they ever.

While the injury bug has begun to bite the Bears, it hasn't seemed to slow down Maine, who is utilizing their embarrassment of riches in team depth to a plum.

Injuries to key contributors junior forward Nolan Renwick and sophomore defenseman Grayson Arnott have not hindered Maine's momentum. It has allowed younger players to step up, find their feet, and begin to really make an impact on the team.

This increased team depth could not have been more noticeable last weekend in Hanover, New Hampshire. Twelve different Black Bears put their names on the scoresheet over the two games, picking up either a goal or an assist. At the same time, every player on the ice for Maine had a noticeable impact on the team's performance.

There was no weak link for RIT or Dartmouth to exploit.

Each line provided an attacking threat and stuck to their defensive assignments well, especially young forwards who have stepped up to play important roles.

Freshman forward Sully Scholle had his best weekend of the season, picking up two goals and an assist over back-to-back performances that saw his elite hands and offensive ability shine. Sophomore forward Reid Pabich also had his most consistent performances of the year. His tireless effort and energy were rewarded with a highlight reel one-timed goal Saturday night after scoring an equally impressive goal earlier that was ruled out for offside.

Junior transfer Nicholas Niemo has really started to find his rhythm through a balance of hard work and skill that has seen the Vermont native create really quality scoring opportunities. Félix Trudeau has gotten continually stronger with each game is becoming a stalwart at third-line center with an ever-increasing offensive threat.

The list of quality forward options goes on. While spots in the lineup are limited, this depth in talent breeds competition among teammates and pushes each other on to improve day by day, getting the best out of each other and the team. For Maine to stay successful, contributions from all must continue.

The same can be said for Maine's defensive depth. The defense's inexperience was probably the Black Bears' biggest question mark coming into the season. But the young blueliners have excelled on both sides of the puck this season, playing with a maturity well beyond their years.

Led by co-captain David Breazeale, Maine's defensemen have made up for their lack of experience with strong leadership. While only a junior, the eldest defenseman has quickly become irreplaceable since his arrival on campus. A vocal tone-setter who leads by example, Breazeale has been integral to creating and, more importantly, maintaining the team's culture of hard work and constantly striving for improvement that is seen across the team and is clearly paying dividends in the win column.

The sophomore d-men of Brandon Holt, Brandon Chabrier, Luke Antonacci, and Grayson Arnott have not only all been highly effective on the ice but are also putting themselves in leadership roles for the freshman defensemen who have followed suit, also playing really well this year. Freshmen Ryan Hopkins, Bodie Nobes, and Liam Lesakowski have all been trusted with important minutes for Maine and have not looked out of place for a second, a credit to the bountiful leadership present in the Black Bears' dressing room across the team. Top to bottom, the defensemen are noticeably improving every game as their maturity and experience are beginning to catch up with their skill.

Already solid, the group is only getting better with every game under their belt.

This has made life easier for the club's backbone, Victor Ostman, who looks like the best version of himself in recent games. Solid and calm in net, the junior goaltender never looks frazzled between the pipes and excels in making the difficult, athletic, scrambling saves with as much routine as the simple ones. Superbly reliable, he never lets his team down and always gives them a reliable platform to build off of.

One of the most exciting aspects of this Black Bear club is their ability to score goals in spades. The team uses the momentum they build to quickly execute multiple times in a matter of minutes, further putting their opponent on the back foot.

On five different occasions this season, Maine has scored two goals in just under two minutes apart as the Black Bears have excelled at executing on chances while the momentum is in their favor.

When the Bears have smelled blood in the water, they've ruthlessly capitalized on it.

This has quickly made the Black Bears one of the nation's most prolific attacking teams. Ranked #9 in goals-per-game ratio, Maine has been able to flex its mighty offensive muscle against every opponent this year, only failing to score more than one goal once this season (Oct. 28th @Quinnipiac). They can quickly put teams away in an instant with a blitz of offensive pressure they can generate.

While the power play's numbers haven't matched up to this production yet, only at 18%, the man-advantage units has looked the best we've seen it all season. Last weekend, while frustratingly not scoring a goal on the power play, the Black Bears were able to keep a tremendous amount of pressure in the opposition zone, firing off a considerable number of shots on goal, just narrowly missing twine in the process. Ben Barr, in the midweek Black Bear Coaches Show, made sure to emphasize that he was pleased with how the unit was looking of late, especially the amount of zone time generated, quality chances created, and the effort and hard work he saw from his team while up a man.

If the power play keeps playing the way it did last weekend, the dam should break, and Maine's reward should start to flow.

And Maine will need their power play to execute against a well-structured Colgate Raiders side that will limit grade-a chances and who thwarted the Black Bears this time last year down in Hamilton, New York.

Barr described Colgate as a well-coached side that is strong structurally and doesn't beat itself with mistakes. He likened this weekend's matchup to Maine's early December set with Union and Bentley, both of which Maine struggled to play to their identity and looked offensively stagnant for significant periods of time.

Colgate is stoutly solid defensively and will make sure to keep all five players behind the puck, clogging Maine's passing and shooting lanes. The Black Bears will need to be careful not to make mistakes with the puck so they don’t allow the Raiders to spring an attack on transition up-ice with speed and numbers.

Barr stressed that the Black Bears must make simple plays, whatever Colgate gives them, all while playing to their identity of a grinding, wear-you-down team that will keep constant forechecking pressure from top-to-bottom. Putting pucks deep in smart areas of the ice, driving to the net, and battling away for greasy goals in dirty areas will take precedence this weekend over the intricate passing and silky skill that has resulted in the Black Bears' highlight reel goals of late. The Raiders will be working hard to leave Maine no space or time on the puck around the net.

Barr also emphasized the importance of playing with an edge this weekend. The cat is well out of the bag by now. The entire country knows how dangerous the Black Bears are, and every team will be gunning to get a result against one of the nation's best. Maine should expect to routinely face the opposition's a-game every night.

The Black Bears have a target on their back.

In return Maine must also give their best performance every game. It was good to hear Barr and the leadership group highlight the Black Bear's understanding of sticking to their guns. Through hard work and out-battling the opposition, Maine's prominent skill and overmatching compete level should carry the Black Bears over the line.

The two games against the Raiders will undoubtedly be hurdles for Maine to surpass. To make matters more difficult for the Black Bears, the usual raucous Alfond atmosphere that has turned the arena into a fortress this season will be missing its x-factor: the noise from the students away on winter break.

It's no secret that the boisterous noise only the Alfond can produce pushes the Black Bears on and weighs down the opponents. Last week, Jason Fortier mentioned on the Coaches Show that it is noticeable how much better Maine plays in front of the adoring Alfond Faithful. However, the team is working on generating this spark and energy when playing without it. This weekend will be the perfect test as the Alfond, while still noisy, will be without its rowdiest bunch.

Colgate, with a record of 6-8-2, is ranked in the pairwise at #42. The defending ECAC Tournament champions have gotten off to a slow start under first-year Head Coach Mike Harder. The Raiders haven't played since the first week of December and will be full of fresh legs for Maine to keep up with.

The Raiders have struggled at home this season and have been superb on the road. Away from campus, Colgate is 5-2-0, including a big win over local rival Cornell at the always-imposing Lynah Rink. Demonstrating the Raiders' experience of not being intimidated and performing well in the most hostile of rinks.

These are two must-win games, as even a single loss would massively hurt Maine's pairwise ranking. Maine must stay patient and trust in the process and their game plan to see them to victory.

Every team in college hockey is tough, and the Black Bears have struggled with opponents in Colgate's style so far.

Not an inch of complacency can afford to be given. The Bears need to be ruthless.

Once again, Maine must be focused right from the opening puck drop for a sixty-minute battle that will look to see if any of the Black Bears' weaknesses could be turned into fatal flaws.

Don't let this momentous wave be stopped.

Time to finish non-conference play in style before moving on to league play brimming with confidence.

Full steam ahead for 2024.