Black Bears must focus after distracting week

It has been a trying week for the University of Maine’s hockey team. But the Black Bears were not complaining as they prepared for the Saturday night-Sunday afternoon Hockey East series against Merrimack College from Massachusetts.

After beating Brown 4-2 in Portland on Tuesday night for their fifth straight win, the Bears practiced at 6 o’clock Thursday morning at Alfond Arena because the basketball floor had to be put down later that morning for Friday-Saturday’s Dead River Tipoff Classic Women’s basketball tournament.

The four basketball teams practiced Thursday.

The Bears also learned Thursday that fifth-year senior right wing Wayne Conlan had quit the team, complaining about a lack of ice time.

And the team practiced Friday at Sawyer Arena in Bangor.

Junior defenseman Jason Mansoff and senior left wing Reg Cardinal downplayed the difficulties as did Coach Shawn Walsh.

“We’ve been through quite a bit. This isn’t much,” said Mansoff. “We just have to be mentally strong and not let this bother us. We have to stay focused and come ready to play.

“[In regards to Conlan], our chemistry is pretty good right now. We’ve played pretty well the last few games. He might have helped us down the stretch if we had injuries but, right now, we’re all set,” added Mansoff.

“We had a day off on Wednesday and that helped us,” said Cardinal. “It’s just a matter of getting focused and keeping our heads in the game. Merrimack is a tough challenge.”

“Things haven’t been ideal this week, but we’ve got to live with it,” said Walsh. “We’re part of the big picture here. We have a team of athletic teams at Maine and it’s important that we be the leader in terms of being team players.”

Since the floor will be taken up after today’s women’s basketball tournament games, the ice won’t be in tip-top shape tonight. Sunday’s game will be Maine’s fifth in 10 days.

And Merrimack is a formidable opponent with a 3-0-2 mark in its last five games following a 1-5-1 start.

“It will be intense, physical and tight checking,” predicted Walsh.

Merrimack has given up eight goals during its 3-0-2 streak.

Merrimack will be without star goalie Martin Legault, who has a broken bone in his foot, but backup Eric Thibeault, who beat Boston University 3-2 in Boston last year, is also good.