The University of Maine is the only school in Hockey East that doesn’t have a fertile Division I talent pool in its backyard from which to recruit.

The league’s other eight schools are within a 90-minute drive of eastern Massachusetts, which contains a wealth of Division I talent.

When the Black Bears take the ice against the University of North Dakota in their NCAA Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday afternoon at the Providence Civic Center, the 20 men dressed in blue, black and white will represent 10 different states, Canadian provinces and European countries.

That can be attributed to recruiting coordinator and assistant coach Grant Standbrook and his uncanny ability for finding talent in every nook and cranny imaginable.

Former Bear assistant Bruce Crowder, the head coach at Northeastern University these days, said Standbrook deserves a lot of credit for Maine’s two national championships and four Frozen Four appearances in the last eight years – and school and NCAA-imposed sanctions prevented Maine from going to the NCAA Tournament in two those years. They were 50-19-5 in those two seasons.

“You can’t make chicken soup without the chicken,” said Crowder.

Skill is the third criteria on Standbrook’s priority list when he decides to recruit a potential student-athlete.

“Heart and hockey sense above all else,” said Standbrook, a former assistant at the University of Wisconsin and head coach at Dartmouth College. “If they don’t have heart, they can’t win. That’s the hardest thing to manufacture. [If they don’t have it] Guys have to take on a fake persona. They aren’t themselves. They have to put on a new face and become aggressive.

“You either like contact or you don’t. If they aren’t naturally aggressive and they don’t have an edge, it’s difficult to make them do it consistently. And you have to do it to win in this game,” added Standbrook.

Maine has had no shortage of grittiness the last two seasons.

Players like Brendan Walsh, Barrett Heisten, Ben Guite and A.J. Begg have been effective physical players who have jumpstarted the Bears with jarring hits.

They have also created more space for the skillful players.

Standbrook said skill is important “but will beats skill.”

Maine has also had a healthy dose of skilled players during his 11 years at Maine as evidenced by the 29 players who have played in the National Hockey League since Shawn Walsh became the head coach 16 years ago.

Most of those players were recruited by Standbrook, including Hobey Baker Award winners Scott Pellerin and Paul Kariya.

Winnipeg, Manitoba native Standbrook likes strong, fast skaters with grit and hockey sense.

He said it’s important to have a blend of skilled and role players.

“But when it comes down to crunch time, even the skilled players have to check,” said Standbrook, who was an assistant coach for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. “You can teach them to play defense although it is sometimes more difficult than it seems.”

Maine has just returned to having the full allotment of 18 scholarships this season. They won the national title with 16 a year ago.

Various violations within the hockey program cost the team eight scholarships over a three-year span.

“The last four years have been more difficult than ever before,” said Standbrook. “During that time, the only question I asked was “What does your dad do? How much money does he make? That’s because they had to be able to afford a year or two of their sons’ education.

“I have great respect for our upperclassmen. These are some of the guys who bore the brunt of this.”

Shawn Walsh and the players know how important Standbrook is to the program, both as a recruiter and a teacher.

“He goes out and finds good players. It’s evident by looking at our team. I don’t think there’s another team in the nation that has four strong lines,” said junior left wing Dan Kerluke. “He had me working on my shot this week. He teaches you a lot of the little things that really help you.”

Kerluke said there is a direct correlation between Standbrook’s presence at practice and the team’s performance. Standbrook spends much of the early season recruiting and they miss his teaching, according to Kerluke.

Sophomore goalie Matt Yeats said Standbrook is the prime reason he has had a productive season as a first-year netminder.

“He’ll tell you what you’re doing wrong and what you’re doing right and he designs a lot of little drills that are beneficial,” said Yeats.

Yeats also said Standbrook’s recruiting techniques are effective.

“He knows how to get you. He knows what buttons to push.”

Leading scorer Cory Larose wasn’t highly recruited, but Standbrook found him and now he’s the school’s eighth all-time leading point-scorer with 180.

“He finds players other schools don’t recruit. I’m living proof,” said Larose.

Senior defenseman Robert Ek pointed out that Standbrook has “improved my poke-check tremendously” in recent weeks.

Standbrook enjoys returning from the recruiting wars to the practice ice.

“I can’t believe how much I enjoy being on the ice,” said Standbrook. “It would be nice if all you had to do is coach.

“Recruiting is a necessity. It’s vital. It takes time and you have to perceive in your mind’s eye how a player will juxtapose on the ice [at Maine]. There will be chemistry there, you hope.”

Maine teams historically have good chemistry and camaraderie.

“That’s a real tribute to coach Walsh and the rest of the staff along with the captains. When a freshman comes in, the peer pressure is immense. But he fits in immediately and he learns what he can and can’t do within a couple of days,” said Standbrook.

One thing that’s highly encouraged is listening to Standbrook.