Maine hockey’s Shields gets offensive in Slovenia

The University of Maine’s Colin Shields, who was ruled ineligible for the hockey season when he was deemed a transfer student just before the Oct. 13 season-opener against the University of North Dakota, was the third-leading goal-scorer at the recently-concluded World B Pool Championships in Slovenia.

Shields, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, had six goals and three assists in five games for Great Britain. The British went 4-0-1 with the only blemish being a 3-3 tie with the host country.

The winner of the pool was promoted to the A pool for next year’s World Championships but Slovenia edged Great Britain in goal differential.

“It was really unlucky how it finished up,” said Shields, who began the tournament on the fourth line but was elevated to the second line by coach Chris McSorley for the final two games.

“It was an invaluable experience. The whole thing was great. I didn’t get much playing time early. The other guys were a lot older than me and they were pros. And they probably questioned whether or not I was in game shape since I hadn’t played in any games this year at Maine. But I had three goals in the first two games and got to play more as the tournament went along,” said Shields, who was one of his team’s top three scorers despite receiving just a couple of shifts of power play time.

He said the intensity of Maine’s practices helped him make a quick adjustment.

“I felt pretty good during the practices [before the tournament] and by the third and fourth games, I had gotten into a rhythm,” said Shields, who was the leading scorer for Cleveland in the North American Hockey League two seasons ago with 46 goals and 49 assists in 55 games.

He said the tournament will serve as a confidence-builder for next season at Maine.

“I didn’t know where I was at all year. Your confidence lowers when you don’t play games. You get all your confidence in games. This was a measuring stick to reassure me that I still have it,” said Shields. “Now I know where I’m at and what I have to work on. I can apply all the things I’ve learned [at Maine’s practices and the 10 days at the World Championships] into games.”

He added that he enjoyed getting reacquainted with his British teammates and spending time with them and said the food in Slovenia was “very good.”

Shields will have three years of eligibility remaining at Maine beginning in the fall.

He was ruled ineligible this past season because he had taken a full course load at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland in the fall of 1999 in order to keep his visa.

Two former Black Bears are gearing up for the World A Pool Championships in Germany.

Right winger Matthias Trattnig, who will graduate next month, is playing for Austria and defenseman Eric Weinrich, a long-time NHLer who played for Montreal and Boston this past season, is skating for the United States.

UM women’s hockey adds punch

The UMaine women’s ice hockey team has received a fifth commitment who could add scoring punch to the Black Bears. Tristan Desmer of Strathmore, Alberta, has signed a National Letter of Intent and will join UMaine as a first-year student.

Desmet is a 5-foot-8, 175-pound forward who shoots right. She played for the Olympic Oval Program this past season, the same program that produced current Black Bears Jarin Sjogren and Cailee Heggestad.

In 1999-2000, Desmet was a member of the Calgary Midgets where she tallied 62 goals and 50 assists for 112 points in 50 games. She is expected to bring experience at the elite level and needed scoring for the Black Bears.

Desmet joins Rebecca Culver, Laura Maddin, Andrea Steranko and Cheryl White who have all signed National Letters of Intent. All NLI signings are contingent upon admission to the University of Maine and compliance with NCAA rules, including registration with the NCAA Clearinghouse.

MMA coach garners honor

Mike Keller, softball coach at Maine Maritime Academy, has been named the North Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year.

MMA players Kristi Cooper of Lincoln and Caitlin Carr have been named to the NAC’s All-Conference second team.