A sold-out Alfond Arena was packed to the rafters before the opening puck drop to celebrate Senior Night. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

On an evening that celebrated some of the most important Black Bears in the program’s history, the building blocks of Maine’s renaissance under fourth-year Head Coach Ben Barr, it was the younger Black Bears and some of Maine’s depth players who stepped up and paved the way to a 4-3 victory and Senior Weekend sweep of the Vermont Catamounts.

At the beginning of the season, Barr stressed the importance of Maine’s depth if the Black Bears were going to have any chance at getting their hands on some silverware this year.

Maine is a complete outlier in how their team is built compared to the other top-five teams in the country, which are stacked to the brim with NHL draft picks and Hobey Baker favorites recruited to do all the heavy lifting for their teams.

#1 Boston College can routinely rely on Hobey Baker frontrunner Ryan Leonard and a star-studded cast of Gabe Perrault, Teddy Stiga, James Hagens, Aram Minnetian, and Drew Fortescue, all of whom represented the United States at the World Juniors and are NHL Draft picks (except for Hagens, who hasn’t even been old enough to be selected yet), to stir the Eagles' drink and provide all of the production.

#2 Michigan State has the most likely the runner-up for the Hobey Baker in forward Isaac Howard and arguably the only goaltender better than Albin Boija in US World Junior starting netminder Trey Augustine. On top of these big names, the Spartans can claim a total of eight NHL Draft picks at their disposal.

Perennial powerhouse #3 Minnesota, being the flagship university for the State of  Hockey, has an insane 16 drafted players on their team. This includes first-round picks with the elite talents of Jimmy Snugerud, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, and Matthew Wood, all at the Golden Gophers’ disposal.

The fact that #4 Maine, with their lone drafted player in Taylor Makar, is competing with the likes of BC (12 drafted players), Michigan State (8), and Minnesota (16), as well as being ranked ahead of teams such as #5 Western Michigan (8), #6 Providence (11), #7 Boston University (13) is an incredible feat in its own right. It is also a testament to Barr and his coaching staff as well as the remarkable work ethic and performance and the culture they’ve cultivated among Maine’s rag-tag group of lunch pail players.

“We’re built differently than really all those teams. BC and BU get all the attention because they’ve had so many high-end players coming in. Providence does the same thing and Northeastern. They have a lot of high-profile guys coming in, UMass is the same, 12-15 draft picks or something now. But I think we have a lot of similar players that, on paper, are that next level of guy that we believe can become that guy. I’ve seen this at a few different places where you get the right people, and those people can become better than what anybody thinks they can be. And I think we have quite a few of those players here right now that aren’t worried about what we’re going up against every single night,” Barr said back in September.

While just looking at which teams have the most drafted players on their roster is by no means a precise indicator of how good the team will perform — see #29 Wisconsin (8 drafted players), #32 Colorado College (9), #39 Harvard (12), #41 Minnesota-Duluth (10) — it does give a sense of the types of talent many other teams have at their fingertips.

Imagine having ten Taylor Makar’s on the team. That would feel unfair.

But that’s essentially what Maine is going up against, not just nationally but in their conference as well.

The Black Bears aren’t constructed in this mold, which only emphasizes the importance of having every player in the lineup carry their weight night in and night out. Maine relies heavily on their depth, which has been at times missing this season but certainly re-found itself this weekend.

“It takes an army,” Nolan Renwick said on Wednesday’s Black Bear Coaches Show. “We always talk about how we don’t want any passengers; you’re only as strong as your weakest link on the team.”

The Black Bears have to do things the Maine Way. Would we want it any differently?

Just as this state and its people are special, what the Black Bears are doing is remarkable in every aspect.

Unlikely scorers

Both of Maine’s forward and defensive depth has been hit or miss this season.

When the Black Bears are playing their best, it’s usually because they can roll all four forward lines and feel comfortable throwing out important minutes to all six or seven defensemen. When Maine has struggled, a large reason for that is because only one or two forward lines look like scoring, or two or three defensemen have off-nights.

On Saturday night, it was very much the former as every Black Bear on the ice showed a good account of themselves without anyone looking particularly brilliant.

“I don’t think anybody played bad,” Barr said. “That’s a big deal.”

With Aidan Carney injured midway through the second period on Friday, freshman Thomas Pichette replaced him, joining the fourth line alongside fellow first-year Oskar Komarov and junior Nicholas Niemo.

Maine got two goals from this line, including Pichette’s game-winner early in the third period.

“That was really good to see; two goals from the fourth line is a big deal. Those guys gave us positive minutes,” Barr said.

Maine’s fourth-liners got their memorable evening going early in the second period, with the game tied 1-1. The Black Bears’ third line of Lynden Breen, Sully Scholle, and Owen Fowler hemmed the Catamounts in their own end for a solid minute or so. The fourth line then followed their lead, continuing to pen Vermont back with a physical and tenacious forecheck. Eventually, a Catamount puck carrier looked like he would skate the puck out of the UVM zone, but with Niemo pressuring from the point, Komarov picked his pocket at the half-boards before sending an inch-perfect pass into Niemo’s wheelhouse in the high-slot. The puck jumped off Niemo’s one-timer, beating Vermont netminder Keenan Rancier high-glove side.

The Black Bears celebrate with their bench after Nicholas Niemo scores his second-goal of the season. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

“[Komarov] grabbed it and then slung it over to me, and I ripped it short side,” Niemo said about his second goal of the season.

The Alfond erupted, and the old barn literally shook apart as a section of plexiglass fell out of its stanchion next to Maine’s bench in the melee sparked by the celebration.

An energy line, the fourth line’s primary role is to provide important minutes to spell the rest of the forwards,  ensure defensive stability against some of the opposition’s top players, and play all-around hard-hitting and energy-sparking shifts. Getting scoring out of the fourth line is not its modus operandi, but nobody with a Black Bear persuasion is complaining.

“[Goals] are just the cherry on top for us. It’s not necessarily what the team is looking for us to do, but every once in a while, it’s going to happen, and we love that for us,” Niemo said. “Keep it simple, and you get a bounce every once in a while.”

The fourth line would find the back of the net once again early in the third, just 1:20 after Vermont’s Simon Jellus made it a 3-2 contest when Simon Jellus was left all alone at the netfront to receive a pass from behind the goal by Joel Maätä.

Pichette’s tally, which ended up being the game-winner, came from defenseman Luke Antonacci leaping up to glove down a Vermont clearance at the blueline before batting the puck out of midair toward the net. The knuckling puck ricocheted off of goalie Keenan Rancier, landing where Pichette had been left all alone to clean up the garbage on the doorstep to give the Black Bears a 4-2 lead.

Thomas Pichette takes a leap on the glass in celebration after scoring Maine’s fourth tally of the evening. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

“As our assistant coaches say, I might make the softball team. So luckily, I got it to the net, it was nice to see Piche put that in,” Antonacci joked.

Antonacci might want to head down to Fort Meyers for Spring Training, as the Red Sox currently need a second baseman.

The assist was the junior from Princeton, New Jersey’s second of the season, his first point of the year coming earlier in the game.

At the end of the second, that goal came from a long breakout pass up-ice from Antonacci to Scholle, who received the pass in the neutral zone before gaining the O-zone with Maine’s speed, creating a 3-on-2. With Vermont on their heels, Scholle cut inside, finding Fowler with a cross-ice pass. Fowler took the pass in one touch and got it into a shooting position before finishing off the rush with a low-hard shot that beat Rancier far-post glove side.

While Barr sees his top three lines as being interchangeable in the style they play and the minutes they log, the fact that the ‘third-line’ scored once and the fourth got two goals highlights the depth in production that Maine had on Saturday, calling it a “big deal.”

“It’s great when we’re this late in the season, and guys up and down the lineup are scoring,” Antonacci said.

Maine would get one goal from a more usual source as Josh Nadeau opened the game’s scoring 2:35 into the contest. Using his speed to blitz past the Catamounts and, from a tight angle at the bottom of the faceoff circle, he sniped a postage-stamp perfect shot that clipped off the underside of where the crossbar and post come together.

But other than Nadeau, who buzzed all over the ice Saturday night for one of his best games of the season, the fact that Maine was able to get a victory without relying on the likes of the main point producers such as Harrison Scott, Thomas Freel, Taylor Makar, Nolan Renwick, David Breazeale, or Brandon Holt, is a particularly positive sign.

All evening long, Maine’s speed outmatched the Catamounts and was the Black Bears’ biggest advantage. But Vermont outhit the Black Bears, which caused plenty of nervy moments at the back. Compounded by Maine’s overall defensive looseness, this led to UVM  responding to just about every Black Bear goal with a tally of their own, refusing to head back to Burlington without a fight. Barr saw his team’s defensive struggles as being down to a lack of details. When Maine was on the front foot attacking, their skill outclassed the Catamounts. But on the other side of the puck, Vermont’s more aggressive forecheck and overall better performance caused Maine a plethora of problems in their own end.

“I don’t think our details were as good as they were last night. We lost a man at the netfront a couple of times, and they scored. We missed a couple of hits, and they scored their third goal. Those are all detail things that we control, and we definitely weren’t as good as we were last night, but getting a win at this time of the year is good, Vermont’s a good hockey team,” Barr said. 

Defensive depth

Perhaps Maine’s biggest issue this year has been getting consistent performances out of their last couple of defenses. David Breazeale, Frank Djurasevic, Brandon Holt, and Brandon Chabier have been, for the most part, reliable night in and night out, but filling out those last two or three blueline spots has been a recurring frailty.

This weekend, it was very much not. In fact, it was a strength of Maine’s performances as Antonacci, Grayson Arnott, and Bodie Nobes were all tremendous.

Nobes has been consistent but only got his first start on January 3rd, playing in every game since. 

Arnott and Antonacci, who Barr called “unplayable” after a rough patch during that January 3rd game that ended in a 2-1 loss to Denver, have been in and out of the lineup and Barr’s doghouse all season.

Arnott had a very solid weekend and was rewarded with a goal on Friday.

But it was Antonacci who was immense, one of Maine’s best performers all weekend.

“That was his best game, best weekend of the year, probably of the last couple of years, so it was good to see,” Barr said.

When Antonacci has struggled, he hasn’t looked comfortable with the puck on his tape and the opposition pressuring him, often getting rid of the puck as quickly as possible, leading to turnovers and mistakes. But on Saturday, Black Bear Nation saw Antonacci at his fearless best, confident in possession, playing hard and fast, never second-guessing himself, and getting his feet moving, often carrying the puck through the neutral zone, gaining the redline and either putting it deep or finding a teammate.

After that Denver game, Antonacci sat out for five consecutive contests before being reinstated in the lineup on and off for the next couple of weeks. A junior who skated in all 37 of Maine’s games last season, it would have been all too easy for Antonacci to take the benching personally and give up all hope for a return to the lineup. Not only did Antonacci not do that, he did the opposite and saw the break as a time to reset and grow, a credit to his mental strength and persistence through adversity.

Junior defenseman Luke Antonacci had his best weekend as a Black Bear on both sides of the puck. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

“I think the important thing is to always stick with it, stick to the details, even through the hardships, you just have to stick with what you know until you get your shot again,” Antonacci said. “In my head I always try and say, move your feet and keep it simple, stay engaged.”

Like with its forwards, getting strong performances out of all of the D-men is incredibly important for Maine’s championship aspirations.

“If we’re going to make a run at this thing, everyone has to play well. It was really positive for everyone to step up,” Barr said. “Having those guys play as well as they [did] is a big deal for us. We’re not a team that can just rely on three or four D and two lines.”

Bittersweet farewells

After Maine closed out their 4-3 win, attention turned to the ceremony that many Black Bear fans dread, the bittersweet goodbye to the four seniors and two graduate students. While the Alfond will get to witness their heroes play at home one more time this season in a Hockey East Playoff Quarterfinal in two-weeks time, the ceremony left many teary-eyed.

Maine’s final-year Black Bears, minus the injured Ross Mitton, take an emotional lap of honor as the Alfond Faithful salute their beloved heroes. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

Hugely influential recent transfers Scott, Makar, and Mitton were joined by their families on the ice after their final regular-season home game. When tributes were made to stalwarts Breazeale, Breen, and Renwick, the roar from the Alfond crowd was deafening and pulled at the heartstrings., The r overwhelming importance these three Black Bears have had in creating the foundational culture and success that the Alfond Faithful have enjoyed over the last two seasons can never be understated.

“Tonight’s for those guys. They laid the foundation for us; we got the building rocking here this year and the past couple of years, and those guys are the reason for that. Obviously, it’s nice to get a W for them,” Niemo said.

“They are a big part of this team. Just personally, in the locker room they are great guys. It’s awesome to see a sweep for them over Senior Weekend,” Antonacci added.

The fact that it was younger Black Bears and depth players that stepped up and led Maine to victory on Senior night is the perfect testament to the program that these six incredible players and people are leaving behind. It felt a bit like a passing of the baton.

Their generational legacy is that they are leaving the Maine Black Bears exponentially better off than they found the team and can rest assured knowing that their fellow players following in their footsteps have the ability to carry that torch into the future.

The future has never looked brighter, but neither has the present.

Maine is on the march.

(Left-to-right) Taylor Makar, Harrison Scott, Ross Mitton, David Breazeale, Lynden Breen, and Nolan Renwick will go down as one of the most influential graduating classes in Maine men’s hockey history. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)