Nault adept, poised Defenseman not the usual 1st-year player

loading...

ORONO – For those who have followed the University of Maine men’s hockey program since its modern era inception in 1977, he will revive images of the late All-American defenseman Andre Aubut.

He is the possessor of tremendous poise with the puck and has enough self-confidence to make a 360-degree pirouette to escape the presence of an opposing checker.

He is adept at jumping into the offense and he helps quarterback the Black Bear power play.

Also like Aubut, Maine freshman blue-liner Francis Nault is a French-Canadian who grew up in the Montreal suburbs. Nault hails from Tracy, Quebec, while Aubut was a native of Laval.

“Francis is a great offensive defenseman,” said Maine senior defenseman and co-captain A.J. Begg. “He not only brings a lot of offense to our team, he still takes care of the defensive end, too. He holds his own back there.

“The type of skill he has offensively can’t really be taught. You either have it or you don’t. He has it,” added Begg.

Junior defenseman Eric Turgeon, Nault’s defense partner, said Nault isn’t a typical first-year player.

“It’s pretty special for a freshman to have the kind of guts and poise he has with the puck,” said Turgeon. “He’s a talented kid.”

Packs offensive punch

Nault is Maine’s leading point-getter among defensemen with 13 on two goals and 11 assists. He has played in 24 of Maine’s 32 games.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder is tied for sixth overall on the team in Hockey East points with 11 on a goal and 10 assists in 19 of their 22 league games.

He has five power-play assists and his goal was the game-winner in a 4-2 win over Clarkson.

He also has an assist on a game-winner.

Nault said he has always been an offensive-minded defenseman.

“But I’ve worked a lot on my defensive game the past couple of years because I knew I wasn’t as good defensively as I was offensively,” said Nault, who, at age 22, isn’t a typical freshman.

“He’s strong and that’s what being 22 brings,” said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. “He’s a very intelligent player.”

Nault’s decision to come to Maine was a late one. To say the least.

“I came to Orono for a visit a week before school started,” said Nault. “I had been considering going to a New Brunswick or Quebec college.

“But I loved it here. It’s a nice campus and you don’t have to drive [because everything is close by]. I really wanted to get an education first and coming to an American university will help me become bilingual.”

“It’s especially helpful because I’m majoring in business and English is the primary language [in the business world],” added Nault, whose English is easily understood.

Walsh said assistant coach Gene Reilly deserves all the credit for landing Nault.

“I had seen him playing in a summer tournament,” explained Reilly, who was drawn to Nault’s poise, creativity, and offensive instincts.

Nault was playing for his Metropolitan Hockey League team, the Connecticut Clippers.

He had 24 goals and 27 assists in 25 games for the Clippers during the regular season en route to being named the MHL Player of the Year.

Reilly had contacted him and he also saw him play in another tournament in Massachusetts before scheduling his visit to the campus.

Nault is a recruited walk-on “but I’ve promised him a scholarship next year,” said Walsh.

Nervous at first

There was an adjustment period. Nault didn’t play in Maine’s first six games.

He made his debut in a 1-1 tie at Northeastern on Nov. 4.

He picked up his first point, an assist, in a 6-2 home win over Merrimack College in the next game.

“I was real nervous in my first [home] game,” said Nault. “There were 5,000 people there and you want people to like you.”

“I was nervous. I didn’t want to make a mistake. I stayed back a lot,” added Nault.

As he became more comfortable, Nault began displaying his offensive skills and instincts.

During one stretch in the middle of the season, he had points in five of six games. Three of them were power-play assists.

“He has stepped up on the power play. He gives it some diversity,” said sophomore center Chris Heisten.

His instincts and ice vision came into play recently when he set up Robert Liscak for an important power-play goal that gave Maine some needed breathing room en route to a 6-2 win over UMass-Lowell.

Liscak had circled out front from behind the net and was all alone to the right of unsuspecting River Hawk goalie Jimi St. John.

Nault wound up from the right point as if he was going to take a slap shot. Instead, he fired a low hard pass onto the stick of Liscak, who simply had to redirect the puck into the vacant net.

Liscak said even if he hadn’t been looking, the puck was perfectly placed so it would have glanced off his stick and landed in the back of the net.

Then there is “The Move.”

Aubut had it and current Bear defenseman Doug Janik will occasionally use it.

It usually involves some kind of fake.

He may wind up to take a slap shot, but, instead, he’ll fake the shot, perform his 360-degree spin move while protecting the puck with his back, and either make a pinpoint pass to a teammate or take the open shot.

“That came naturally,” said Nault. “I wasn’t too offensive when I was young, but when I got to juniors, my coach played me all the time and encouraged me to get involved in the offense. I feel comfortable with the puck.”

Defensively, he’ll use his anticipation and quick feet to evade a checker behind his net and make a safe pass to Turgeon. He’ll take what the opponent gives him.

He’ll make a little dump-off pass to a forward coming out of the zone or he’ll fire a long diagonal pass to a streaking teammate if that is open.

Veteran of junior hockey

Nault played junior hockey in Coaticook, Quebec, for Frontalier.

“I played in a tournament two summers ago and after the first period of the first game, one of the coaches with the Clippers told me he was interested in having me play for him,” said Nault, who considered it a good opportunity.

“I would be close to a lot of universities and I could learn the English language better,” explained Nault.

He was recruited by several Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference schools along with Ohio State, Clarkson, and UMass.

However, he was recruited late in the season and he said nobody had a scholarship for him.

“Money was tbe big issue,” said Nault.

Nault didn’t expect to play as soon as he has and didn’t anticipate being on the power play.

But he has certainly earned his playing time.

“I’m glad what I’ve done so far. No one knew who I was when I played in my first game,” said Nault, who added that there is plenty of room for improvement.

“I need to get stronger,” stated Nault. “I’ve worked on that all winter. I’d also like to improve my speed. Before I came here, I never took [working out] that seriously.”

Barring injury, Nault could some day challenge Aubut’s 135 career points, a record for a defenseman at Maine.

It would only be fitting.