UM hockey returns to ice Tuesday Walsh’s health concerns players, but plan to focus on what they can control

ORONO – They aren’t sure about the coaching situation since 18th-year head coach Shawn Walsh remains at Eastern Maine Medical Center recuperating from pneumonia while continuing his fight against a kidney cancer.

But the University of Maine men’s hockey team will take the ice Tuesday afternoon adhering to the advice often echoed by Walsh: “Just worry about the things you can control.”

“All we can do is keep praying for him,” said senior winger Niko Dimitrakos, who is much leaner than he has been.

“My body fat was 181/2 percent last season and I wanted to get it down to 12 by the start of dry land training. It’s down to eight,” said Dimitrakos, who trained under well-respected strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle in Boston four days a week during the off-season.

“I’m in the best shape of my life. I’ve always had confidence in my ability, but now I’ve got even more confidence and it is carrying over into school and my everyday life,” added Dimitrakos.

Maine assistant Tim Whitehead, former UMass-Lowell head coach, will be the interim head coach while Walsh recuperates and the transition has been a smooth one, according to senior goalie Matt Yeats.

“He has fit right in,” said Yeats.

Grant Standbrook returns for his 13th season as the recruiting coordinator-assistant and Matt Thomas is back for his second as an assistant.

“We will have a lot of depth this year. And everybody came back in great shape,” said sophomore defenseman Francis Nault.

The Bears, who will be finishing up dry land training, will return six of their top seven scorers and 11 of their top 15.

There is also a sizeable group of newcomers.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys and we’ve tried to make them feel at home,” said Dimitrakos.

Junior winger Gray Shaneberger said the team has bonded earlier than usual.

“We’re already like one big family. That usually doesn’t happen until the season starts,” Shaneberger said.

With Yeats and Mike Morrison back in goal and the healthy list of scorers, the major question mark will be depth on defense since Doug Janik and Eric Turgeon passed up their final years of eligibility for a pro career and an engineering job, respectively.

That leaves Maine with Nault, senior Peter Metcalf, and junior Cliff Loya as the only returning defensemen. Newcomers and converted forwards will battle for the other spots.

“A.J. Begg and Anders Lundback were forwards who were converted to defense,” said Yeats, referring to two of Maine’s best defensemen in recent years.

“And the system we play makes the transition [from forward to defense] easier,” said Nault.

Maine, 20-12-7 a year ago, has made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.