Walsh leads Black Bears against Denver> Players focus on tourney title

University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh, who will coach his first game since returning from his one-year suspension for his role in NCAA violations when the Bears face Denver in the Norwest Denver Cup Tournament on Friday night, said Friday’s game reminds him of 1989.

That was the year he was chosen to coach a U.S. Selects team against a Sokol-Kiev team from the Soviet Union that had been previously undefeated on a tour of North America.

Walsh directed the Selects to a 9-6 triumph in their two-games, total-goals series in Orlando, Fla. and Dallas.

“We had one practice to prepare for the Russians and I didn’t know any of the players,” recalled Walsh, who will have six players in his lineup who have never played for him and three more who played only a half-season under him last year.

His major concern is that his Bears don’t get too carried away emotionally by the whole scenario of his return and playing in a tournament.

“Denver is a quality team and I’ve got to make sure our guys don’t overplay the situation,” said the 41-year-old Walsh. “I just want them to play hard and play smart. I’m going to emphasize a lot of the same things they did [well] against Princeton.”

Maine beat Dalhousie, 10-2, and Princeton, 6-1, last weekend to annex the J.C. Penney Hockey Classic in Orono.

This will be Maine’s third and final tournament of the season. The Bears finished second to New Hampshire in the Governor’s Cup Tournament in Burlington, Vt., losing 7-2 to the Wildcats on Nov. 30.

“This is a big weekend for us,” said Maine senior captain and left wing Reg Cardinal. “This will probably be the last championship we can win this year.”

Maine has been banned from post-season play by the NCAA this season, pending its appeal.

“We’d like to win two of three tournaments this year and build on that for next year,” said junior defenseman Brian White.

“We haven’t been able to put together good back-to-back weekends,” observed sophomore left wing Bobby Stewart. “We’re on a little roll and we’d like to keep it going.”

“I think there’s an overall excitement, partly because of the coach and also because we’re coming into a real good part of the season and we’ve started to turn things around,” said freshman right wing Cory Larose. “We’re really confident right now. We realize what we can do if we play like we can.”

The Bears will have to adjust to the altitude in Denver so Walsh has told his players to shorten their shifts.

Walsh, who is unsure of his starting goalie, will be coaching against Denver’s George Gwozdecky, who replaced him at Michigan State when he took the Maine job. Both were tutored by Michigan State Coach Ron Mason.

“It lends a little predictability because we came from the same tree. That helps in some ways but it also helps him, too,” said Walsh, who has a 12-year record of 289-171-26, 313-144-29 if you exclude forfeits.