November 07, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bears chasing fourth crown

University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh has gone Back to the Future.

He has reunited two of his lines for the Black Bears who will try to add a fourth Hockey East Tournament title to their regular season championship on Friday and Saturday at Boston Garden.

Maine, 29-4-6 and the top seed, will face-off against Providence College’s 13-16-6 Friars, the sixth seed, in Friday’s 5 p.m. opener. Second-seeded Boston University, 26-6-3, will play fifth seed UMass-Lowell, 17-17-4, at 8 p.m. Saturday’s consolation and championship games will begin at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The potent line of Brad Purdie between left wing Scott Parmentier and right wing Shawn Wansborough will remain intact. But the second line will reunite center Dan Shermerhorn with LW Reg Cardinal and RW Wayne Conlan. The third line will feature Tim Lovell between LW Jamie Thompson and RW Trevor Roenick.

The fourth line is up in the air, although Walsh indicated that Jeff Libby will be the center.

“I wanted to go back to the lines that played so well in the first half of the year,” explained Walsh. “It’s back to square one. I had Lovell on the (right) wing but I didn’t like him there so I’ve moved him back to center. Shermerhorn, Cardinal and Conlan give us a checking line and I can play the Blue (Purdie) Line against anybody.”

Maine is one of the best defensive teams in the country and has transformed its speed and transition game into goals.

But will the cozy confines of the Boston Garden hamper the Bears? The Garden’s ice is 191 feet by 83 feet as compared to the Alfond Arena’s 200-by-85.

“I think it’ll help us,” said Thompson. “If we play strong defense and our transition is good, we’ll get some good opportunities. Things happen real fast in that rink.”

“With a small ice sheet and our quickness, we’ll be right on top of teams,” said Roenick.

The Bears are 1-0-1 on small rinks this season, beating UMass-Lowell 8-1 and tying Northeastern 4-4.

“We play very well in small rinks,” said Walsh.

At least a dozen Bears will make their Boston Garden and Hockey East semifinal debuts.

Walsh is not concerned.

“We’ve faced adversity before,” said Walsh. “We aren’t going to worry about winning and losing. We just want to be the hardest working team there.”

“To be able to control Maine’s speed will be very difficult for us,” said Providence coach Paul Pooley. “If you turn the puck over, their forwards are quick in transition and their defensemen get involved in the play. That’s real scary.”


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