Black Bear Nation is set to pack the Alfond for Maine’s quarterfinal battle with Lowell. Tickets for the playoff contest sold out in six minutes. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

The nights are shorter, the sun shines brighter, and the earth is beginning to be swamped in mud — it must be time for playoff hockey in Maine.

The Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks are coming to Orono for a Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal clash at the Alfond on Saturday, and the Maine Black Bears, leaking oil at the wrong time of the year, hope that the clean slate of the postseason can spark a reversal of their second-half fortunes.

After beginning the season at a scintillating clip with a 12-2-2 pre-Christmas record, the Black Bears have cooled down significantly during the long slog of the winter months, going 9-4-4 during the second half.

With 34 grueling regular-season games in the books, Maine’s 21-7-6 record ranks them #3 in the Pairwise and in second-place in the Hockey East Standings, earning them their second-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since reaching their sixth straight National Tournament in 2007. The Black Bears’ 50 Hockey East points also earned Maine the program’s highest-placed finish in conference play since 2004.

While Maine’s faltering February has exposed the Black Bears’ underbelly, their remarkable achievements in the regular-season showing shouldn't be discounted. 

“There’s a lot for the guys to be proud of. Sometimes, it’s easy to lose sight of that when you’re not playing your A+ games. We talked about that today, and now the next thing is, hey, can we go and win on Saturday and try and win a Hockey East playoff championship?” Head Coach Ben Barr said after Tuesday’s practice. “Trying to be clear-eyed about that and appreciate what the guys have accomplished already.”

In playoff hockey, regular-season records are wiped clean, statistics are thrown out the window, and each game is a complete toss-up. No opponent cares about what you did or didn’t accomplish during the regular season; all that matters is that shift, that game, those 60-plus minutes, moving on or going home.

“Once the playoffs start, it’s a completely different ball game; anybody can beat anybody,” Forward Charlie Russell said.

Moving on from Massachusetts

The last time the Black Bears took to the ice, Maine was humbled by a desperate group of UMass Minutemen playing must-win hockey with the continuation of their season on the line. Aside from a spurt here or there, during two games in Amherst to close the regular season, Massachusetts outplayed Maine for the entire weekend. Handed their worst loss of the season, falling 5-1 on Friday, Maine’s rebound on Saturday was inconsistent,  with immaturity and lack of discipline significantly handcuffing the Black Bears.  That said, Maine’s terrific tenacity and never-say-die attitude enabled them to scratch and claw their way back from a two-goal deficit in the third period, with Maine eventually coming out on top in the shootout.

“In both games, we were pretty average, and we were playing a really good team that’s playing really well. They exposed us early in the first night; the first night was actually analytically a closer game than the second night; we took way too many penalties the second night. Our guys have a lot of resilience to find a way to come back and tie that game and win in a shootout,” Barr said.

The weekend’s results reflected Maine’s season as a whole.

When performing second-best in the work ethic department around which their identity wholly revolves around, Maine will almost always end up second on the scoreboard. But when they are able to muster a superior jump in their step, not many teams can keep up with them, as seen during the Black Bears’ buzzing first half of Saturday’s third period. Consistently inconsistent throughout the second half, opportunistic scoring, and Albin Boija's heroics have paved the way for Maine to pick up results even when playing far from their best. 

That’s the supposed mark of a champion, although Maine has been far from playing championship hockey for quite some time now.

Finding ways to scrape over the line by hook or by crook has become part of this team’s identity and is almost completely due to the group’s enormous heart, effort, and attitude. But when it comes to life-or-death playoff hockey, where the difference between winning and moving on or losing and going home is razor-thin, playing a consistently better brand of hockey will be paramount if Maine is to make a deep run.

“We just need to focus on playing a better brand of hockey, and that really comes down to our effort and attitude. We need to make plays, but making plays starts with being confident and moving our feet with the puck. There’s not one area where we play well. We were just average in everything we did this weekend, and that obviously wasn’t good enough, and it won’t be good enough on Saturday,” Barr said. “We’ve got to find ourselves again.”

But the Black Bears won’t find themselves in the past and can’t dwell on their disappointing weekend in Amherst. They must quickly move on and put it all in the rearview mirror.

“I think it’s just having a short-term memory. You need it for every game in college hockey,” Russell said.

The weight of the world

Maine leaped out to the program’s best start to a campaign since the 2003/04 season. The resulting high national rankings, which have placed Maine in the top echelon of college hockey since the beginning of the season, seem to have taken a toll on the Black Bears’ familiar identity as the underdog.

The meteoric rise that shot Maine hockey back into national prominence last season and the continuing momentum establishing the Black Bears as perpetual contenders for college hockey’s biggest prizes in the first half of this season has meant that Maine has been playing with something to lose, rather than for something to gain.

No matter how highly the Black Bears are ranked, they are still a largely rag-tag group of ‘underachievers’ as Barr called them earlier in the season, one that has had to scratch and claw their way against all odds to everything they’ve earned individually and collectively in their careers.

“If we think we’re the #4 team in the nation talent-wise, that probably isn’t a real good thing. We got to that point because of how hard we work and the identity of our team and the character we can bring,” Barr said.

They play their best when the world is counting them out, their backs are pinned against the wall, and they have a chip on their shoulder. For Maine to make a deep playoff run, they must find a way to reconjure this underdog spirit, tapping into their core identity.

“We have to have that underdog mentality because that’s what we are, regardless of what our ranking is or where we finished in the Hockey East [standings], it doesn’t really matter. We have to take that underdog mentality into the playoffs every single night when we have that, and when we have that chip on our shoulders, we’ll play the game the right way. When we’re carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders because we think we’re a higher-ranked team or we’re this and that, that’s where things begin to be heavy. You play a heavy game; you feel like you’re carrying things around with you that make the game a little harder,” Barr explained.

Maine has clearly been playing with an added weight on their shoulders ever since they bested the defending National Champions, Denver, to begin the New Year. Since then, the Black Bears have disappointed plenty of times in how they’ve started games, falling behind in 11 of their 17 games played since New Year's, a sign of the team’s lack of mental focus when playing without a chip on their shoulders.

A slow start in the playoffs can quickly end a team’s season before they even realize what’s hit them.

“It’s a one-game season basically all the time. You don’t get to go out and be timid for the first five minutes, and then you’re down 2-0 or whatever the case was on Friday night. It’s easy to talk about those things, and we need to take control of our effort and attitude when it comes to how we’re ready to play the game. This time of the year, every night, a bad five minutes, and that’s all she wrote,” Barr explained.

With almost everything having been an uphill climb for the Black Bears these past few months, some of Maine’s top scorers have gone worryingly quiet, perhaps feeling the pressure of a postseason push and gripping their sticks more tightly.

Some scorers, such as Taylor Makar and Josh Nadeau, have come alive as the days have grown longer. However, a few of Maine’s most trusted producers have struggled to put the puck in the back of the net with as much efficiency as they had in the first half of the year.

Harrison Scott, a Hobey Baker Award nominee because of his boatload of production during the season’s first half, has scored 16 goals this season but only one since January 10th. Thomas Freel, who at one point in the Fall was the top power play scorer in the country, has also scored only one of his ten tallies this season since January 10th.

Maine will desperately need Scott, Freel, and others to re-find their scoring touch for the Black Bears’ playoff dreams to be realized.

“In the playoffs, your best players have got to be your best players, and your older guys have got to lead the way for the group,” David Breazeale said.

The man behind  Maine’s bench is a perfectionist, demanding flawless play from his players night in and night out. Even when the team was playing superbly, Barr has constantly demanded more out of his team, trying to squeeze every last ounce out of them and continuously pushing them to be the best versions of themselves they can be.

“I’m not always that roses and rainbow kind of guy,” Barr said.

With the playoffs comes an attitude adjustment from the top down, with Barr acknowledging that his vocal perfectionism may have played a role in the Black Bears’ heavy shoulders of late. The past is the past, the team is where it will be, and from here on out, Barr hopes that approaching the games with more positivity and enjoyment in embracing the opportunity will allow Maine to relax, refocus, refind that underdog mentality, and simply play their game in the way at which they excel.

“For me and our staff, it’s important for us to help our guys with that [pressure], and a lot of that comes from us. It comes from me expecting perfection all the time and the staff expecting perfection all the time. That may weigh on the guys a little bit, too,” Barr admitted. “You’ve got to play the game a little free, and that starts with the message from me and our staff to the guys to go out and play. The yelling and the screaming and the criticizing is probably over; it’s just that we have to go out and have fun and play.”

Barr may feel that the team has been feeling extra pressure and expectation over the past month or so, but according to David Breaeale, the Black Bears’ dressing room is positive, confident, and hungry for the challenge ahead.

“We haven’t played the best brand of hockey that we’ve wanted, but it’s a new season now, and we’re able to learn from those past experiences. The locker room is positive. We’re fired up to play a home game at the Alfond in front of the best fans in the country, and obviously, there’s so-called pressure, but we’re just going out there and playing a hockey game, doing the thing that we love, with the guys that we love so we’re pumped about that opportunity,” Breazeale said. “We feel very confident going into this weekend; I don’t think that’s an issue.”

As Breazeale said, there may be added hoopla around every game from here on out, but it's still the same game they all grew up playing on backyard rinks and ponds across the globe. During these childhood skates, they imagined themselves in the same pressure-packed scenarios they will face over the next few weeks.

With the season on the line and the game on their sticks, these are the moments hockey players live for.

“The mental process and routine that our guys have individually and as a team is really important because it’s just a hockey game, and hockey is hockey. The game will come and go, and we’ll either have fun doing it and put our best foot forward, or we won’t. At this time of the year, you’re just trying to play your best game, and whatever happens, happens,” Barr said. “Pressure is whatever you think it is; it’s all a matter of perception.”

Some, like Charlie Russell, believe that the intensity and do-or-die nature of the postseason brings out the best in themselves.

“Personally, I think I’m a player that plays their best in the biggest moments, so it's something I’m pretty excited about,” Russell said.

Pressure produces diamonds, after all.

Looking into Lowell

As a reward for defeating New Hampshire 3-2 in overtime in the opening round on Wednesday, UMass-Lowell has earned the pleasure of a trip to Orono and a date with a feral Alfond playoff crowd that is foaming at the mouth to see their Black Bears tear into some River Hawks.

The sheer noise of last season’s quarterfinal triumph over UNH at the Alfond is still echoing off the old barn’s wooden roof. This Saturday’s atmosphere is expected to be just as boisterous, with tickets selling out in as little as six minutes. If there’s anything that can jolt the Black Bears into refinding their game and confidence, it’s the cauldron of the Alfond and the fanaticism of its clamoring crowd.

“Coming out to a sold-out Alfond would be pretty special for Saturday night and would definitely be a thing to get us back on track for this playoff run,” Breazeale said. “It’s going to be awesome. Any game at the Alfond is special, and for some of us it’s our last game at the Alfond. Every single one of us is going to go out there and leave it all out there.”

It worked last season, as Maine limped into the playoffs before turning in their best performance of the season, erupting to a 5-0 quarterfinal win over UNH at the Alfond in an electrifying performance that continued at the Garden. A rip-roaring Alfond victory to send the Black Bears to Beantown could be just what the doctor ordered for Maine to springboard back into the best versions of themselves.

The Alfond was a flaming cauldron of intensity in last season’s quarterfinal game, helping the Black Bears throttle UNH 5-0 in arguably Maine’s fiery performance of the season. (Photo: Dmitri Chambers)

“It was kind of a similar season where we had a really great start and then an up-and-down second half. We played well in that quarterfinal game against UNH last year, and then we actually played pretty well at the Garden but lost to BU. Hopefully, you learn from those experiences, and we have a lot of guys that are here on this team that went through those experiences last year and hopefully, you can take that with you and learn from it,” Barr said.

Maine and UMass-Lowell faced off twice at the Tsongas Center back in early January, with the Black Bears sweeping the weekend in two tightly contested games. Since that weekend, in which Lowell entered #8 in the Pairwise, the River Hawks have skidded down the stretch, going just 4-8-2 and now ranked #17 in the Pairwise, having to win in Orono, or their season is over.

Although the Black Bears won both contests this season against Lowell, both games were as even as you will find. Led by opportunistic scoring on Friday and Maine taking advantage of a first-period five-minute major during one of the Black Bears’ best frames of hockey this season the next night, Maine gritted out two mature road victories, sweeping on the road for the first time in over a year

Neither win was pretty, but seldom are any on the road in Hockey East.

During that weekend, the River Hawks gave everything Maine could handle. They utilized a rapid-transition game and capitalized on poorly-timed Black Bear pinches at the blueline  as well as Maine’s third forward getting caught out of position on the forecheck, all of which created too many River Hawk odd-man rushes for Maine’s liking.

Before Breazeale opened up the weekend scoring for the Black Bears on Friday’s game, UMass Lowell was outshooting Maine 16-9 at one point late in the second period. The next night, after Maine jumped out to an early 2-0 first-period lead, the River Hawks dominated most of the rest of the game, outshooting the Black Bears 22-15 in the final two frames.

Lowell made Maine suffer for large portions of both games and easily could have won had a few bounces gone the other way. As the postseason dictates for its competitors, Maine will have to be at it for a complete 60 minutes, a loss of focus here or there could spell disaster at the Alfond

After all, beating a team three times in a season is one of the most difficult things in sports to accomplish, especially for a team as talented as Lowell.

Lowell knows this well, having dropped their final two regular-season games to New Hampshire before turning around and ending the Wildcats season the next week in the first round.

The River Hawks play an abrasive, high-intensity, high-compete game that, at times in Lowell, put the Black Bears on the ropes. While UMass-Lowell’s second-half skid is notable, the River Hawks will travel up to Orono buoyed by their overtime victory and full of confidence and desire, licking their lips at the opportunity to shock the world.

Lowell’s biggest struggles this season have been on the offensive side of the puck. They’ve struggled to control the puck in tight spaces with defensemen pressuring and failed to take their opportunities to fire the puck on net, all too often passing up quality shooting attempts. Lowell’s 2.6 goals-per-game average (t-40th) and 28.6 shots-per-game average (37th) reflect a group that is not overly confident in themselves and whose arsenal lacks a reliable top-end offensive weapon.

Scoring by committee, the overtime hero against UNH, #24 Scout Truman (10g-8a-18pts), snapped a five-game goalless drought on Wednesday, scoring twice. Meanwhile, a wide cast of characters such as #10 Chris Delaney (9g-9a-18pts), #19 Dillan Bentley (9g-6a-15pts), #5 Owen Cole (8g-12a-20pts), #23 Lee Parks (8g-6a-14pts), #20 Libor Nemec (6g-6a-12pts), Mirko Buttazzoni (5g-14pts-19a), #29 Jal Vaarwerk (5g-11a-16pts), and #25 Matt Crasa (5g-9a-14pts) are all notable scoring threats.

The backend is where the River Hawks have been the most sturdy. A veteran defensive spine led by #14 Ben Meehan (3g-14a-17pts), #4 TJ Schweighardt (0g-10a-10pts), and #6 Isac Jonsson (2g-10a-12pts), has provided Lowell with a 2.7 goals-against average (t-23rd) and 27.0 shots-against average (16th).

Between the pipes, #33 Henry Welsch has taken over the job in recent weeks from #30 Beni Halasz. Welsch is a graduate student with a 2.48 goals-against average and 0.901 save percentage. He has played all five seasons at Lowell and will be fighting for his life to keep his collegiate career alive.

Much like Maine, Lowell is a team that prides themselves on the energy with which they play. The River Hawks play physical, fast, and with a ton of fight. Missed hits in the O-zone or neutral zone could spell disaster for Maine as the River Hawks' quick transition game in open ice caused the Black Bears issues down in Lowell. With the puck, UMass-Lowell enjoys a dump-and-chase game that looks to get pucks in behind the defenseman before utilizing their physicality to hound the puck free and create their scoring chances by quickly getting the puck unstuck from the boards and on net in a hurry with bodies crashing.

But Maine is solely focused on themselves and their game, believing that if they play Black Bear hockey with its suffocating forecheck, battering-ram offense, proactive defense, and underdog mentality, they are confident that they can beat anybody.

“We’ve got to find our game again, find our desperation and the identity of our team. That’s really just about being aggressive and playing an in-your-face kind of game,” Barr said. “It’s just going to come down to us playing the game the right way, taking care of the puck, finishing hits, moving our feet, that’s what this game is this time of the year, it’s easy to talk about, sometimes it’s tougher to do it.”

For Breazeale, physicality during the postseason takes on extra significance.

“A big thing for us is being physical and taking away time and space from the other team. When you get to playoffs, you don’t want to give teams time and space, so the more physical we can be, the more detailed in our systems, being the team that’s aggressive, on our toes, dictating the play that’s going to be the difference for us on Saturday,” Breazeale explained.

Maine can’t try and redesign the wheel to get out of their funk. They need to stick to what’s made them successful, playing a simple, clean game, while their superior energy levels and work-rate out-compete the opposition.

During the postseason, desire goes a long way. The Black Bears are overflowing with that.

“You just have got to go out there and keep it simple. The game’s going to be coming at you fast, bodies are going to be thrown all around. There’s not going to be any space, so it’s all about limiting mistakes, and when you get your chance, you’ve got to be able to bury it. Playoff hockey is what you dream about. It’s what you work for all year long, and it’s that opportunity that we’re all so fired up about,” Breazeale said.

Maine is focused on what they can control and is preparing for it just as they would any other game, trusting in each other that they have enough to send Maine to victory and Black Bear Nation to the garden.

“You’ve just got to control what you can control. I know it’s cliche,” Breazeale stressed. “What you do preparation-wise going into the weekend, that’s what it’s all about. And then trusting that process, trusting that preparation when you go into the game and just going out there and playing fearless and being able to trust the guy next to you that he’s going to go out and get the job done as well. The biggest thing is that we all care about each other so much, and we care about this place, and we want to win for each other, for our staff, for this whole state. There’s a lot to motivate us going into Saturday night, and we couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity.”

The Black Bears have all the pieces to be a championship team.

The goaltending, the special teams, the defensive core, the scoring depth, the timely scoring, the leadership, and most certainly the will and the want. The consistency has been what’s faltered, but consistency matters a lot less in the postseason.

The Black Bears have seven victories to go to make the unbelievable a reality, achieving the ultimate goal of becoming both Hockey East and National Champions. Seven of the hardest, most grueling, intense games of hockey that will take years off Black Bear Nation’s lives, but still just seven wins to go.

Take it one step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

The first step is capping off the Alfond’s season the way the old barn deserves: a pulsating cauldron and an emphatic performance to punch Maine’s ticket back to the Garden.

The hockey season is a marathon, but the playoffs are a sprint.

On your mark.

The second season begins.

This is what we live for. It all starts now.

The last time Maine faced Lowell, the Black Bears swept the early-January weekend series over two tightly-contested games. (Photo: UMaine Athletics)