ORONO – The University of Maine men’s hockey schedule for the 2001-2002 season will feature 18 home dates, a return trip to play in a tournament in Naples, Fla., and the season-opening Ice Breaker Tournament.

“It’s the type of diverse difficult schedule we like to play,” coach Shawn Walsh said Wednesday in a release from the school announcing the schedule.

The Black Bears will serve as host of the Ice Breaker Tournament and start the season by opposing Bowling Green on Oct. 12. The next night the Bears face either Clarkson or St. Cloud.

“The Ice Breaker features four teams that finished in the top three of their leagues last year,” Walsh said.

St. Cloud was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA championship tournament, Bowling Green advanced to the CCHA semifinals, and Clarkson won the ECAC regular-season title.

The second week of the season the Bears visit national runner-up North Dakota. “Having our first road games in the new $85 million dome at North Dakota will certainly toughen our team up,” Walsh said.

The team will also make a return trip to Florida for the tournament for the tournament in Naples.

“We’re the defending champions of the tournament in Florida,” Walsh said.

The Black Bears defeated Clarkson 4-2 and Cornell 2-1 to capture last year’s event. UMaine will play Ohio State in the first round and meet either Northern Michigan or Cornell on the second night.

UMaine plays host to Dartmouth Jan. 6 in another return trip. UMaine will face the ECAC’s Big Green at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.

“The mixture of home and away opponents in our conference make this a demanding and exciting year ahead,” Walsh said.

“UMaine plays host to Hockey East foe and defending national champion Boston College on Dec. 7-8.

The Black Bears were 20-12-7 (12-7-5 in Hockey East) last season before advancing to the league semifinals and the NCAA quarterfinals. The Black Bears made their 11th NCAA tournament appearance in the last 17 years and defeated Minnesota in a first-round game before falling to Boston College.