Walsh ponders changes> Bears’ power play struggling of late

With the Hockey East playoffs and NCAA Tournament on the horizon, special teams become that much more important.

That is why University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh and his staff will continue to tinker with the Black Bears’ power play, which has struggled all season and mustered only three low-percentage shots on goal in four opportunities during Saturday night’s 4-1 loss to Boston University.

“Our power play is a concern,” admitted Walsh. “The two things you can do is change personnel or make a tactical change.”

Walsh, who said his Bears were too stagnant and spent too much time “standing around” Saturday, indicated that they will consider both alterations.

Maine’s power play is operating at a 21.1 percent success rate. Most teams would be satisfied with that “but we’ve been really spoiled up here,” said Maine senior right winger Steve Kariya.

Kariya was referring to the fact Maine’s power play has operated at 27.5, 30.2 and 23.4 percent the previous three seasons.

The Bears are 8-for-46 in the past eight games (17.4 percent) but, if you eliminate the 4-for-9 performance in Friday’s 7-2 win over BU, Maine has gone 4-for-37 (10.8 percent) in the other seven games.

“We’ve got to make some changes,” said senior defenseman and captain Dave Cullen. “The power play has been inconsistent all year. We’ve been talking about it and we’ve started pressing. We’ve got to relax.”

Senior right wing Marcus Gustafsson said the Bears have to simplify things.

“We’ve got to start getting shots on net and stop overpassing and trying to make pretty plays,” said Gustafsson.

Sophomore left winger Dan Kerluke agreed.

“We’ve got to get the puck to the net and see what happens,” said Kerluke. “We’ve been too cute with the puck.”

The power play takes on added importance when a team is up against the stingy neutral-zone trap.

UMass beat and tied Maine (2-1, 1-1) on Nov. 13-14 with the trap and BU played it effectively Saturday.

“I hate the trap. It’s terrible for the game,” said Kariya, who found it odd that a normally high-powered, in-your-face forechecking club like BU has resorted to the trap. “But teams have to do what they have to in order to win. We have to stay patient, dump the puck in and get some forecheckers flying into the offensive zone.”

Kariya said he expects to face more traps this season.

Maine senior center Allen Ledbetter wasted no time in making “Senior Day” an afternoon to remember on Saturday.

Ledbetter grabbed his 1,000th career rebound with 17:15 to go in the first half when guard Marcus Wills blocked Towson University guard Marlin Wise’s baseline 12-footer and Ledbetter picked the deflection up off the floor.

That made Ledbetter the second Black Bear – behind Bob Warner – to reach the 1,000-point and 1,000 rebound plateau. He is the fifth player in America East history to accomplish the feat. Malik Rose, Tunji Awojobi, Mark Halsel and Kevin Roberson are the other four.

Frontcourt mate Nate Fox admitted that the public address announcement informing the crowd of Ledbetter’s achievement brought some chuckles from the Bears.

“If that was a rebound, then Allen would have 2,000 in his career,” he said with a laugh.

Wills, also a senior, narrowly missed joining Ledbetter in reaching a milestone when he scored 16 points. He needed 17 to reach 1,000 for his three-year college career (two years at Maine and one at Northeastern).

The America East Women’s Basketball Championship is only eight days away, but there’s still plenty of uncertainty about what the pairings will be when action gets under way March 3 at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gym.

Three things are certain. UMaine is the No. 1 seed, Drexel will go in sixth, and Boston University has wrapped up the No. 10 spot. The other seven positions are up for grabs.

Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie’s Black Bears have run their record to 20-5, including a 16-1 conference mark. UMaine, which has won five in a row, will take on the winner of a March 3 preliminary between the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds. in a March 4 quarterfinal.

Pending the outcome of Thursday’s regular-season finales, that could be Hartford, Hofstra or Towson, each of which has a 5-12 America East record.

Elsewhere, 12-5 New Hampshire, 12-5 Northeastern and 11-6 Vermont all have a shot at earning the No. 2 seed, while 10-7 Delaware could go into the postseason fourth or fifth.