The list of finalists is getting whittled down, but there’s no final word yet on who will be the one to replace Joe Carr as radio voice of the University of Maine hockey team.

With only one day to go before the start of the regular season, Carr’s replacement still hasn’t been named. Have the folks at Black Bear flagship station WZON (620 AM) in Bangor hit a snag in their search?

“No, no snags at all,” said Dale Duff, station program director. “We’re close to announcing who it’s going to be in the next few days.”

But what about Maine’s season opener against Miami of Ohio Friday night in the Great Western Freeze Out?

“We planned on taking feeds from Los Angeles and Michigan the first few games,” said Duff. “Ken Landau, the Michigan State hockey announcer will do the Maine-Miami game for us on Friday.”

Duff said Landau will also do Maine’s second game on Sunday. If the Bears win, they’ll play at 6 p.m. Sunday. The consolation game is at 3 p.m.

The Sports Zone has also lined up University of Michigan announcer Al Randall to do Maine’s rematch with Michigan in the Hall of Fame Faceoff Classic Thursday, Oct. 26.

One of the finalists to succeed Carr is WVII-TV (Channel 7) sportscaster Dan Hannigan.

“I think I’m a finalist, but I think he has a lot of finalists,” said Hannigan. “To be honest, I haven’t heard from Dale yet.”

Hannigan said he originally approached Duff about the job.

Hannigan – who said he has never done hockey broadcasts before, but has wanted to do play-by-play for a long time – admitted that getting the job would cut into his sports director duties.

“I think they [his superiors] will try to work around it if I get the job. They gave me the go-ahead to apply,” Hannigan said.

Speaking of Maine hockey, the Black Bears will appear live on New England Sports Network at least three times this season. None of the broadcasts will involve Maine home games.

NESN will air Maine’s games at the University of Massachusetts Tuesday, Jan. 9, at Merrimack College Saturday, Feb. 3, and at New Hampshire Sunday, Feb. 11.

NESN plans to air 16 Hockey East regular-season games and five playoff games.

Syndicated radio talk show host Nanci Donnellan, better known as “The Fabulous Sports Babe,” will be a guest speaker at the UMaine men’s basketball Tipoff Club dinner on Friday, Nov. 10, beginning at 6:30. Does that mean the Black Bears will get the coveted kiss of the Babe-ino?… Just wondering.