March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bears happy to be home

After being on the road since Dec. 18, a road-weary University of Maine hockey team reiterated Dorothy’s theme in the “Wizard of Oz”: There’s no place like home.

Maine spent Dec. 18-26 in California, winning the Great Western Freeze-out Tournament during its stay, and then flew to Milwaukee where the Bears were beaten in Saturday night’s Bank One Badger Showdown final by Wisconsin 3-2.

“It’s exciting to go away on a road trip, but after two weeks on the road, living in hotels, sleeping in strange beds, and eating in restaurants all the time, it’s great to get home,” said Maine senior left winger and tri-captain Scott Pellerin. “It’s nice to get back into your routines and to play at the Alfond (Arena) again.”

“It’s nice to get home. Being on the road really wears on ysenior right winger Steve Tepper said, “You can understand how tough it is for pro teams to play consistently strong on the road. You’re always packing, always in a new building. You wake up at 6:30 in the morning to get on a plane, land, and then practice. It’s a real hectic schedule.”

“It was fun, but it gets a little crazy when you’re on the road as long as we were,” said senior left winger Brian Downey.

Senior center and tri-captain Mike Barkley said, “This wasn’t a typical trip. We were doing a lot of touristy stuff in L.A. and that runs you down. It’s definitely good to get home. You have the familiarity, time to yourself, and a chance to be independent again. You have your own car and stuff.”

The Bears had a long trip home on Sunday, including a 3 1/2-hour layover in Cincinnati, and they didn’t get their luggage until 3 p.m. on Monday.

Maine Coach Shawn Walsh said the trip accomplished exactly what he hoped it would.

“We have a much better gauge of where we’re at,” said Walsh. “We faced some real quality opponents, particularly Michigan State and Wisconsin, and playing in Milwaukee was the most difficult environment we’ll play in. Nothing can match that wild atmosphere.”

The Bears and the Badgers played in front of a tourney-record 17,711 fans and most of them were dressed in Badger red and white.

“We didn’t win the game, but we outattempted (shots) them 74-54,” said Walsh. “They were the quickest team we’ve faced this year and the game had great intensity. It was a fabulous game.”

Maine was without six players for Saturday’s game, but three of them should be available for this weekend’s fifth annual Dexter Hockey Classic at the Alfond Arena.

UMass-Lowell and Concordia of Montreal open the tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. and Maine will take on Army at 7 p.m. Saturday’s consolation game will start at 4 p.m. with the championship game to follow at 7 p.m.

Junior right wing Jean-Yves Roy will be back from the Spengler Cup Tournament in Switzerland, sophomore C-W Patrice Tardif should be ready to play after suffering sprained medial collateral knee ligaments against New Hampshire on Dec. 7, and senior center Mike Barkley should be able to suit up for at least one of the games after returning from offseason knee surgery.

Barkley has played in three games so far.

Goalie Mike Dunham and defenseman Chris Imes will still be at the World Junior Championships in Germany. Senior center and tri-captain Martin Robitaille will miss the tourney due to his knee injury.

Without Roy, Robitaille, and Imes, the Maine power play went 0-for-15 in the Badger Showdown tournament.

“With those guys out, you can’t really read what the new guys on the power play are doing and thinking,” said Downey. “Things weren’t clicking and then you’d wind up getting frustrated.”

“We were disorganized,” said Bear junior center Jim Montgomery, who was held without a point in the tourney.

“We didn’t get much practice time to work on it between tournaments,” said Pellerin. “But there are no excuses. We missed our chances.”

“We had 24 scoring chances on the power play in the two tournament games (including Maine’s 4-1 win over Toronto), but we just didn’t finish,” said Walsh.

Maine sophomore defenseman Jason Weinrich on being chosen to the Badger Showdown All-Tournament team: “I’d rather have won the tournament. But it’s a nice honor because there were so many good players there.”


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