The last time the Black Bears traveled to the Mullins Center on Feb. 2nd, 2024, Maine squeaked out a 1-0 win thanks to Brandon Chabrier’s first-period goal and Albin Boija’s first-collegiate shutout. (Photo: Dmitri Chambers)

Although the Maine Black Bears’ postseason won’t technically begin until next weekend with a Hockey East Quarterfinal tilt at the Alfond, this weekend’s two-game set with the Massachusetts Minutemen at the Mullins Center will be played with as close to playoff-like intensity as you will find in the regular season.

From the Black Bears’ perspective, the playoffs aren’t just around the corner; they have already begun.

“This will be two playoff games, and that’s exactly how we’re going into it this week. We want to treat [it like that], so it’s going to be exciting and fun to play,” senior forward Taylor Makar said before his first return to Amherst as a visiting player since transferring from Massachusetts to Maine in the offseason.

UMass is currently sitting in 6th place amidst the cluster of high-caliber Hockey East teams vying for a first-round bye in the conference playoffs (1st-5th place) and is also ranked #12 in the Pairwise rankings that will determine the field of 16 for the NCAA Tournament. While the Minutemen won’t necessarily have to win out to stamp their spot in the big dance, a couple of losses this weekend or in the Hockey East playoffs could send UMass to the outside of the bubble looking in. That would mean they’d miss only their second National Tournament appearance in the past five seasons, the Covid-canceled tournament aside.

The Black Bears will face a desperate group of Minutemen fighting tooth-and-nail to seal their spot in the NCAA Tournament and avoid having to play in the Hockey East First Round this Wednesday.

While it won’t technically be a win-or-go-home situation for either team, the intensity and desperation with which the Minutemen will play is expected to be off-the-charts explosive.

“We are going to get their absolute best. They are a really good team. This is going to test everything we have, so it should be two really tight, good hockey games,” Head Coach Ben Barr predicted on the Black Bear Coaches Show.” This time of the year in college hockey is really, really fun.”

For Maine, who are ranked #4 in the Pairwise with a pretty sizeable gap to both #3 Minnesota and #5 Western Michigan, this final regular season weekend and the following Hockey East Tournament shouldn’t drastically change the Black Bears positioning on a national perspective.

From a conference standpoint, Maine can finish no lower than second place and have an outside chance to steal first place and the Hockey East regular season crown from Boston College, which is only four points ahead with only one game left to play. For Maine to snatch the not-overly-important conference regular season title from BC, the Black Bears would have to pick up a perfect six of six points (two regulation or overtime wins) from their weekend in Amherst, while at the same time, BC would have to lose in either regulation or overtime or tie and fall in the shootout against Merrimack at home on Saturday afternoon.

Maine’s results this weekend won’t have a massive impact on their standings nationally or in the conference, but they hold a different significance. Playing in two playoff-like games against a team desperate for points, with the added intensity and magnified pressure this brings,  enables the Black Bears to potentially hit the post-season running, full of confidence and playing their best hockey possible.

“It’s going to be really, really intense. We’ll know what we’re made of when we go in there and try to match their intensity. That’s a really good team. They are going to be at their best because they are playing at home. We’re going to learn a lot about ourselves this weekend,” Barr said. “You want to win every game, obviously; you want to play well. When we play well, we feel a lot better about heading into the playoffs.”

There’s no better time for Maine to truly test themselves than this weekend, facing off against a team already in playoff mode.

“I think ramping up for these last two regular season games, we’re all just trying to get the team dialed, get ourselves dialed, and just be ready for these playoffs to come because we love everyone here, and we don’t want it to end too quick,” Makar added.

Trending in the right direction

After Maine had a faltering February, churning out mostly positive results without playing particularly well. Their series sweep over Vermont last weekend was certainly a step in the right direction,  with the Black Bears cleaning up the details and re-establishing their core identity of overwhelming the opposition.

“It wasn’t perfect or anything,” Barr said about the Vermont weekend. “I do think that we played harder and a little more detailed last weekend than we had for the previous few weekends.”

With February turning to March, every game is played on a razor’s edge. Less ice is open, and every small detail, such as finishing hits, staying above the puck, and starts and stops during a change in possession, is magnified in importance to the contest’s final result. These details were missing a fortnight ago at Connecticut but were night-and-days better last weekend against Vermont.

“Right now, it’s all details. It’s all little things. That’s really what it’s going to come down to at the end. It’s just getting tighter and tighter and tighter as we go down the final stretch here,” Senior forward Harrison Scott said.

Barr knows his team’s work ethic and energy will be up for the task down in Massachusetts, but their ability to keep their mental focus and details through 120 minutes of intense hockey away from home must be improved from their last road trip, a 3-2 overtime loss to UConn.

“When we went to UConn a couple of weeks ago, we felt like we were ready to go, and our energy levels were good, and then the game started and the focus level wasn’t there for us,” Barr said. “We have to be mentally ready to play, and all those little details that we’ve been talking about on the show here, that’s going to be really important.”

The team’s recently improved caliber of play comes down to a sizable improvement in individual depth players stepping up as well as Maine’s most talented stars finding their groove.

Maine’s most talented player, Josh Nadeau, has been playing his best hockey of the year in recent weeks. Looking like he’s brimming with confidence, Nadeau has stuck to a simplified approach, moving his feet, making the play that’s there, not overcomplicating the game for himself, and playing with tons of fire and energy. Since registering four points in Maine’s explosive Saturday night third-period blitz of UNH, Nadeau has picked up two points in his last three games, highlighted by a fast-break, tight-angle goal to get the Senior Night party started at the Alfond last Saturday. A bar-down, postage-stamp perfect snipe from a tough-angle shot shows that Nadeau’s hands are soaring with confidence. It was a goal reminiscent of Nadeau’s impressive, sensational freshman season.

“That first goal by Josh was really nice, just seeing him moving his feet, using his speed wide. We’ve seen that short side shot a couple of times last year; I don’t know if we’ve seen it this year; those are pretty incredible shots,” Barr said. “He’s starting to play his best hockey right now.”

For Maine to push their postseason run well into March and even early April, the Black Bears will need their best performers to play at their top level. Nadeau looks to be there, joining Taylor Makar, whose eight goals in the last nine games led him to pick up the Hockey East Player of the Month Award for February. Meanwhile, Albin Boija is certainly in top form, making every big save look easy, registering his 20th win of the season on Saturday (the first Maine goaltender to hit that mark since Dan Sullivan picked up 22 wins in 2011-12). Boija’s catalyst-leading play garnered him the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month Award as well.

“Albin keeps just doing his thing, that’s the most important position in our game. He gives us a chance every night, which is fantastic. Taylor has been really good. I think Nolan Renwick has been really good,” Barr said. “Obviously, those guys are, rightly so, getting some accolades right now.”

But equally important as Maine’s big guns firing are the Black Bears’ depth pieces stepping up and delivering a terrific account of themselves. Last weekend, four of Maine’s eight goals came from the bottom two forward lines, with third-liner Owen Fowler recording his 8th of the season and the fourth-line lighting the lamp three times during the weekend as Nicholas Niemo, Thomas Pichette and Grayson Arnott (a defenseman playing forward) all put their names on the scoresheets.

It’s not only Maine’s forward depth that shone brightly last weekend. The Black Bears’ defensive core depth also played a pivotal role in the sweep of Vermont. Maine relies on their relentless barrage of seemingly never-ending pressure to force their way down the opponent’s throats. In order to stack shift after shift,  everyone in the lineup must keep a tight grip on the rope and not let it slip. Maine is only as strong as their weakest link, which has been a problem at times but was a strength this past weekend and will need to continue to be so if the Black Bears are to make a deep run this postseason.

“When we can roll four lines and six or seven D, we are a tough team to play against, and during the first half, we could do that most of the time, and it really benefited us. But there have been games in the second half where we haven’t been able to do that, and when we can’t, that really affects the intensity level that the rest of the team can play with every single shift. We had that last weekend, and I think we are going to need that in every game going forward,” Barr said.

Maine’s depth defensive players Luke Antonacci, Grayson Arnott, and Bodie Nobes all had an excellent weekend against Vermont. Arnott scored his second goal of the season, Antonaci registered his first two assists of the year, and Bodie Nobes has been sensationally solid and steady since only playing in his first game of the season in early January.

“He’s really good in our zone, he’s strong, he doesn’t get beat one-on-one down low in our zone. He’s pretty good on the penalty kill, he’s tough, he’s a tough kid. He’ll block a shot; he’ll finish his hits. He’s given us steady minutes when he came in; that’s what we were looking for, and for the most part, he’s done that, so he’s been solid,” Barr said about Nobes.

All three have been playing their best hockey of the season of late and their positive impact on Maine’s recent results shouldn’t go unnoticed.

“Everyone is capable of playing at this level, and everyone is capable of impacting the game so it doesn’t matter who’s in, who’s out, we’re confident in our group,” Scott said.

Final tune-up

The Black Bears began their month of February by squeaking out a 3-2 victory over the Minutemen on a Sunday afternoon at the Alfond, thanks to a jaw-dropping, groin-pulling save of the season snag by Boija in the final minute to seal the win.

In that contest, Barr’s former team, coached by his former boss Greg Carvel, hammered the Black Bears in an evenly-contested back-and-forth fistfight full of physicality and speed. With both teams playing very similar brands of hockey, Maine’s better net-front presence and the unreal heroics of their goaltender were the deciding factors separating these two evenly matched, hard-working teams.

UMass is the full package: physicality, speed, and skill.

Under Carvel, UMass has been a team that seems to continually get better as the days start to grow longer, always peaking at the right time of the year. This season is no different as the Minutemen, since falling at the Alfond on February 2nd, have gone 4-1-2, picking up impressive wins at UConn, at BC, at Lowell, and at home to UNH.

“I think they are playing their best hockey at this point of the year,” Barr warned.

Led by the likes of talented forwards #19 Cole O’Hara (20g-27a-47pts), #16 Aydar Suniev (17g-16a-33pts), #9 Jack Musa (16g-15a-33pts), #11 Lucas Mercuri (9g-20a-29pts), #17 Kenny Connors (9g-18a-27pts), and #10 Dans Locmelis (6g-21a-27pts), the Minutemen are blessed with natural goal scorers and persistent playmakers on all four of their lines. As a result, their 3.4 goals-per-game average is 9th best in the country.

In goal, #30 Michael Hrabel has been Massachusetts' regular netminder, the sophomore from Prague has only allowed, on average, 2.08 goals against and holds a save-percentage of 0.924% this year.

While the Mullins Center no longer has an Olympic-sized ice sheet, it is still significantly wider than most college hockey rinks at 200 x 95 feet wide. Ten feet wider than the standard sheet that most teams, including Maine, play on week in and week out, the wider rink allows for more space and time on the puck and benefits teams with more speed and skill over physicality.

The need to limit UMass’ odd-man rushes by emphasizing details and physicality are key points Barr has been stressing to his team for the past few weeks. Always important, these are even more paramount when playing on a bigger ice sheet.

“I think our biggest keys these past couple of weekends have been moving our feet, playing physical, and focusing on playing well at the netfront. Moving our feet is going to be crucial. We are a team that we don’t want anyone to want to play against us, and I think we’ve kind of gained respect in that sense, but it only works if every guy is moving their feet, especially at this rink, they have a little bigger surface,” graduate forward Lynden Breen said. 

Maine’s speed and pace game was the best it’s been in a while against Vermont, and that will have to continue if they are to have success down south this weekend. Staying connected as a five-man unit, not getting caught on the wrong side of the play, and making sure to keep up when backchecking during transitions will be keys for Maine to limit any UMass odd-man rushes on the big ice. For Barr, limiting UMass’ offensive chances and also creating their own all start with the details and the mental focus required to routinely stick to them.

“We’re going to need everything that we have and the focus level is going to have to be good or better than it has been all year,” Barr said.

Meanwhile, when Maine has the puck, the Minutemen will look to slow down the Black Bears’ speed through the neutral zone with a suffocating 1-3-1 defensive structure that only has the first man forechecking aggressively while three Minutemen lurk in the neutral zone to pounce on a pass or a puck-carrying Black Bear. This conservative defense will make it very difficult for the Black Bears to gain the redline with any speed and get to their dump-and-chase game. According to Scott, to break through and get up ice, Maine will need to keep it simple — skate the puck rather than try and delicately feed a pinpoint pass through center ice, take hits to make plays, and overall carry the play through the neutral zone with as much speed as they can muster in order to gain center ice and get in on their bread-and-butter hounding forecheck game.

“We were looking into them; they are running a 1-3-1 defense. A lot of the teams are running a 1-3-1, so that’s just to limit the line rushes. For us, that’s just going to have to be playing the simple game because that kind of holds up the blueline sometimes when they’re getting pucks in deep and just committing to our process,” Scott explained.

To get through the muddled neutral zone with any pace and power, it all comes down to a willingness and desire to get to that redline and put the puck in behind UMass’ defense. Easier said than done.

Maine also can’t get caught looking ahead to their home playoff game next weekend or any trip to TD Garden and the NCAA Tournament. Maine must live in the moment, take it game by game, shift by shift, moment by moment.

“When you get to this time of the season, everything is just a little bit more magnified, and the intensity in the games is incredible. You just have to live in the moment, and hopefully, you don’t get overwhelmed by what’s next with the future and the next game, the next game,” Barr said.

This is especially true for Maine’s final-year players now in their last month of being a Black Bear. This season is their last shot at realizing lifelong dreams of bringing home a Hockey East championship and National Championship.

The urgency that it’s now or never for many of them must not become an overwhelming burden but instead be the ultimate motivator.

“There’s a lot of buzz right now, but we’re just focused on keeping all of the attention in the room and on what we need to do each and every day,” Scott said. “We’re very optimistic; we trust each other, we trust our process, and we know we can play with any team that’s coming in our way right now. We know that if we play our game, that the results will take care of itself.”

For all intents and purposes, the playoffs start now.

Tighten the chin straps, folks; we’re in for a wild ride.