Bears savor Hockey East crown

ORONO – Some were playing a little pond hockey on Alfond Arena. Goalies Garth Snow and Mike Dunham were skating around without their bulky equipment, pretending to be forwards and snapping pucks into the net.

Others were working out in the weight room. And several watched the replay of their Hockey East Tournament championship win over New Hampshire (4-1) on the big screen television in the locker room.

The remote control was being used repeatedly as players constantly replayed the Maine goals.

The newly crowned Hockey East titlists were savoring their triumph on Monday afternoon, but they were fully aware that one major objective is left: the national championship.

The 31-3-2 Bears are virtually assured the top seed in the East Regional and they will play one game on Saturday, March 28, at the Providence Civic Center for the right to go to Albany’s Knickerbocker Arena for the NCAA Tournament semifinals and final on April 2-4.

If Maine is seeded first as expected, the Bears will take on the winner of a March 26 game between the No. 4 seed from the East and the No. 5 seed from the West.

“Winning the Hockey East championship was really important for our confidence,” said junior defenseman Dan Murphy. “For the juniors, it was our third time in a Hockey East championship game and the first time we’ve won it. It’s a good character builder for us.”

“It gives us a nice boost,” said junior center Kent Salfi. “You don’t want to get knocked back before you get into the NCAAs.”

Junior center Jim Montgomery said, “It was very important to win it because winning breeds success.”

“We want to win as much as we can,” said junior goalie Garth Snow.

“It was a great feeling, but we all realize that our job isn’t over yet,” said senior defenseman Tony Link. “We haven’t done what we came here to do (win a national championship).”

“The funniest thing was I almost felt like I was the happiest person after the game,” said Maine Coach Shawn Walsh, whose title was his second in six consecutive tournament finals. “It was as if it was just another win to a lot of those guys. They want bigger and better things. It’s as if they’re on a mission.”

One of the interesting aspects in Maine’s march to the Hockey East crown was the fact the Bears did not allow a goal in the third period of their three tourney games. They’ve outscored their opponents 5-0 and outshot them 39-19.

“The guys have cranked it up a notch in the third period,” said Walsh. “And we wear teams down. Our pressure gets to them.”

Walsh said another vital ingredient has been the fact his players have kept their shifts short during the games.

“If you take long shifts over the course of the game, you build up lactates and you won’t be nearly as good a player in the third period,” said the Bear boss.

“We’ve always taken leads into the third period, so we’ve wanted to play tight defense and we haven’t worried as much about our offense,” said Salfi. “We’ve taken our men and haven’t given anybody an inch. We’ve wanted to avoid giving up numerical advantages.”

“The whole team has been bearing down in the third period,” said Murphy.

ON THE ICE…. Maine has four players who have scored in each of its three Hockey East playoff games to date: sophomore right wing Cal Ingraham (1 goal, 6 assists), Montgomery (2 & 5), Salfi (4 & 1) and sophomore defenseman Chris Imes (1 & 3). Senior LW and tri-captain Scott Pellerin did not register a point against New Hampshire, but had 4 & 2 in the wins over Merrimack and Boston College…. Walsh is giving his team a few days off before they return to structured practice on Wednesday. “They need a mental break,” said Walsh…. The seedings for the regional tournaments in Providence and Detroit will be announced on Sunday evening…. Talk about consistency, Maine has now scored 67 goals in each of the first two periods and 66 in the third period. Opponents have scored 24 first-period goals, 38 in the second and 25 in the third. Maine has an overtime goal.