UM hockey in tuneup tonight Maine Athletic Conference basketball tourney moves to Augusta

The University of Maine hockey team will hold its final tuneup before next Friday’s opener at Minnesota when its annual Blue-White game takes place Saturday night at the Alfond Arena at 7.

Maine 14th-year head coach Shawn Walsh will cut three to four players after the game to bring his roster down to 31 players, which he feels is a workable number.

In addition to making cuts, he said he will be watching closely to see “the forwards’ defensive accountability and their transition from offense to defense.

“That’s important because I still have questions about our play away from the puck. I haven’t been pleased with our overall team defense and that concerns me,” said Walsh.

He added that “we have as much depth at forward as we’ve had in some time” and there will be battles for third- and fourth-line duty in Minnesota. The last defense spot is also up for grabs.

Walsh has moved 6-foot-3, 200-pound freshman forward A.J. Begg back to defense and senior Paul Zinchenko from defense to forward.

“A.J. is smart, big, strong and has a great sense for the game,” said Walsh. “We’re so deep at forward, I thought he might be able to help us on defense. And he hasn’t looked out of place.

“Paul wasn’t going to crack our top six or seven defensemen so I moved him up,” he added.

Junior center Marcus Gustafsson (groin pull) and freshman center John DiBattista (sprained ankle) will not play.

Walsh also said Boston University transfer Brendan Walsh’s appeal to the NCAA for eligibility this season was heard this past week.

Maine athletic director Sue Tyler said they hope to learn his fate next week. The NCAA’s Committee on Appeals and Waivers heard the case.

The Maine Athletic Conference’s basketball tournament has been moved from the Bangor Auditorium to the Augusta Civic Center this winter.

“We review those things and some people wanted to try another location. It wasn’t unanimous,” said Husson College athletic director Pam Hennessey.

“The floor at the Bangor Auditorium was atrocious and having only two locker rooms was real inconvenient when you get teams coming and going,” said St. Joseph’s AD and men’s basketball coach Rick Simonds. “And the locker rooms were extremely hot.

“The Augusta Civic Center is a beautiful venue and very few teams will have to stay overnight now which will save the institutions some money,” said Simonds. “UMPI will have to stay overnight but they did in Bangor, anyway.”

The Bangor Auditorium is scheduled to get a new floor this winter.

“It’s good for our league to get exposure in different parts of the state,” said UMPI coach Karl Henrikson.

As for the travel, Henrikson said “we travel everywhere to play so what’s an extra hour.”

He added that he expects the tournament to eventually be rotated between Portland and Bangor.

UM-Farmington AD and women’s basektball coach Len MacPhee said it was his understanding representatives of the Augusta Civic Center expressed a strong desire to host it.

The ADs will re-evaluate the tournament next spring.

Belfast High School field hockey coach Al Holmes will get to see one of his former players, Staci Smith, man the goal for Old Dominion in their game against the University of Connecticut on Sunday in Storrs. Conn.

Old Dominion has been ranked as high No. 1 in the nation this season and is seen as a legitimate national championship contender.

“When she makes up her mind to do something, she does it. She played only one half of a game last year and the same starting goalie was back but Staci worked hard this summer. She got in the weight room, she ate right and she went to camps. It has paid off,” said Holmes.