Weekend Preview @ Northeastern & UMass

Fresh off a bye week, Maine heads to Mass to begin the final regular season stretch as the Black Bears push for the playoffs.

Getting hot at the right moment.

It's no secret that this factor has been a crucial recipe for every championship-winning team, no matter the sport or the level.

Season after season, we've seen heavy favorites struggle to replicate their same level of play when the games matter the most, while those who squeak through the regular season suddenly look unbeatable come playoff time.

Take last year's Los Angeles Dodgers, for example. The Dodgers coasted to a 100-win regular season without breaking a sweat before going ice cold and failing to win a single playoff game.

Or last year's Boston Bruins, who tore apart the regular season, earning a historic 135 points before being bounced in the first round by a Florida Panthers side who finished the regular season 43 points behind Boston.

The difference: one team was hot, having had to fight to the end to make the playoffs, while the other knew they were postseason-bound halfway through the season.

Momentum makes all the difference when the jeopardy and peril ratchet up.

For the Maine Black Bears — currently residing as the 5th best team in the national pairwise rankings, #6 in USCHO's poll, and 3rd place in Hockey East standings — it will be the next dozen or so games that will determine how the history books remember this rendition of Maine hockey.

After all, last year saw the wheels completely fall off the Black Bears' wagon late in the year when the games mattered the most.

Tantalizingly close to earning their first NCAA Tournament bid in over a decade, these next six straight weekends will determine if Maine enters the conference playoffs cresting high atop a wave of momentum or scrambling to reignite their game when the pressure rises.

Like all years, this season has had its peaks and valleys — although the valleys haven't felt nearly as bottomless as in recent times, and the peaks have been through the stratosphere.

From kicking off the season with a blistering start that included big wins over the likes of BC and Quinnipiac the pendulum swung to being stuck in first gear at times and having to grind through games against the likes of Union, Colgate, and UConn. In light of this, Maine's most recent series sweep over UMass-Lowell is especially positive because it showed Black Bear Nation that Maine has its mojo back.

Saturday's big win against Lowell, a side with all the necessary characteristics to torment the Black Bears, showed that Maine was finally able to get over the hump. They put together a complete sixty-minute performance against a heavy and physical style of team that the Black Bears had struggled to play to their identity’s full potential.

Head Coach Ben Barr said it was Maine's best performance since the Black Bears beat UNH on December 1st. While Maine did manage to win eight of the next ten games, opposing sides were able to find chinks in the Black Bears' armor, making life extremely difficult for Maine, who was suddenly treading water.

Concerns that Maine perhaps peaked too early in the season festered but were quickly squashed with the Bears' 7-2 battering of the River Hawks. Maine's early season buzzing returned to Orono for the first time in 2024; now the question is if it can continue.

While I'm sure the team would have rather played last weekend, not wanting to lose their refound momentum, the bye week allowed the Black Bears to rest, hone their skills, tweak their systems, and attack the stretch run with the energy and freshness that is so key to their identity and success.

It's not how you start. It's how you finish.

The University and Ben Barr ensured the bye week didn't allow for a loss of enthusiasm and excitement around the hockey program. This past week saw Barr, to the delight and relief of the Alfond Faithful, ink a contract extension through 2028.

The commitment from UMaine to Barr and vice versa is telling. The third-year head coach has not only turned the program on its head but also created an excitement throughout the fanbase not seen since the Tim Whitehead days. The culture of hard work that we see manifesting itself on the ice trickles down from the top, where Barr has undoubtedly earned the right to be the captain at the helm.

Barr and the Black Bears will look to carry this wind in their sails down to Massachusetts this weekend, where they are set to battle against the red-hot Northeastern Huskies on Friday before heading west to face off with the always-difficult Massachusetts Minutemen on Saturday.

The bye week allows the previously battered Black Bears to return to action close to full strength with the return of key players, defenseman Grayson Arnott and forward Nolan Renwick. The news of these returnees should give the team a big jolt just in time for the most pivotal two months of Black Bear hockey in years.

The Black Bears' first hurdle will be as difficult an opponent as any.

Northeastern, who struggled miserably in the first half of the season due to a rash of injuries, is now as hot a team as any in college hockey. Healthy and straight off the back of a weekend sweep over Merrimack followed by an overtime thriller against Boston University earlier in the week, the Huskies will welcome Maine to Matthews Arena as one of the most in-form teams in the nation.

Brimming with confidence, the Huskies are stacked top-to-bottom with as much skill and speed as any team in the league. Their own pair of brothers, Dylan and Justin Hryckowian, rival the Nadeus, while Northeastern also possesses the reigning Hockey East Player of the Week in forward Jack Williams. The Biddeford native recorded three goals and three assists in the last three games, while defenseman Vinny Borgesi has been equally hot with eight assists in his previous six games.

The Black Bears must ensure the bye week doesn't hinder the offensive traction that exploded against Lowell. The Huskies, fighting for their lives, will play Maine as tight and hard as any opposition the Black Bears have faced this season. Staying poised and executing on their chances will be vital if Maine is to waltz out of Boston with a Friday night victory, especially considering the Northeastern netminder.

Freshman goaltender Cameron Whitehead has picked up his game massively in recent weeks. Possessing the unique qualities of being both big and athletic, Whitehead negates any open space by aggressively and quickly coming out of his crease to close down the shooting angle. Rapid and precise puck movement will be critical in beating Whitehead as the Black Bears hope to snap their fourteen-game winless streak at Matthews Arena, dating back to 2012.

Playing back-to-back nights against different opponents in different buildings will be a unique challenge for the Black Bears. Always focused on the game in front of them, the quick turnaround to Saturday in Amherst against an equally good UMass team will test Maine's physical and mental sharpness coming off the bye week.

The Minutemen, who have stagnated a bit since their 2021 National Championship under then Assistant Coach Barr, are right back in the midst of things this campaign. Both polled and pairwise ranked at #11, UMass has had a quietly efficient season, which has seen them beat the likes of heavyweights Michigan and Providence. But recently, UMass has struggled, losing their last three games, being swept by Merrimack, and losing 2-1 to Northeastern. But like Maine, UMass will come out with plenty of energy after also having a bye week.

Similar to Northeastern, UMass is a skilled and fast team, but one that can throw their weight around a bit more than the Huskies. Forwards Jack Musa and Ryan Lauterbach lead the Minutemen's scoring, while UMass can generate plenty of offense from their impressive defensemen Scott Morrow and Ryan Ufko.

From listening to Coach Barr and some of the players speak in the past few weeks, there is a general confidence that as long as the Black Bears focus on their own game and play to their identity of outworking their opponents, the results will follow. Barr stressed that although this weekend allows Maine to play a more open, back-and-forth, speed-focused game, they don't want to start trading open shooting chances with each other that would enable the opposition's skill to shine. Barr wants his team to focus on their defensive details by finishing hits, staying on the right side of the puck, and utilizing a solid defensive structure to be the stable platform for creating their offense.

This is a massive test for the Black Bears, as is every game from here on out, but would we have it any other way?

Maine is in complete control of their own destiny; they don't have to worry about anybody but themselves.

The playoff push starts now.

Time to Bear down.

Are you ready for the best two months of your life?