The goal is the same every year: an NCAA hockey championship.

There are different adversities that must be overcome and various parts of the game that must be improved.

But this has been an unusual year for the University of Maine men’s hockey team, to say the least.

It began with the premature loss of two defensemen, Doug Janik (pro hockey) and Eric Turgeon (graduation and a job); an August decision by assistant coach Gene Reilly to accept an AHL job; and the death on Sept. 24 of 18-year head coach Shawn Walsh due to complications from kidney cancer.

Former UMass-Lowell head coach and Maine assistant Tim Whitehead assumed Reilly’s role and then became the interim head coach after Walsh’s death.

Former Maine defenseman Campbell Blair was hired as the assistant coach and one of his primary chores has been to groom the young defense corps.

This has been a typical Maine team in that it has played its best hockey in the second half of the season, going 8-2-3 in its last 13 games entering this weekend’s season-ending series at Boston University.

The 19-9-6 Bears have haven’t sewn up a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, but have put themselves in position to do so in the Hockey East playoffs.

The question marks coming into the season were how quickly would newcomers Prestin Ryan, Troy Barnes, Matt Deschamps, and Paul Lynch develop into efficient Division I defensemen; could a potentially high-powered set of veteran forwards win high-scoring games if the defense faltered; and how would the players respond to Whitehead?

Maine’s lackluster play in back-to-back losses to Boston College (4-3) and Merrimack (5-2) three weeks ago could have been disastrous, but the Bears rebounded with three wins and a tie in their next four games against Providence and UMass, outshooting them 151-86 while allowing only five goals.

Return to tenacious defense

Maine got back to the tenacious, in-your-face defense that has been a trademark of the program and is required to win in the postseason.

In addition to limiting the opponents’ scoring chances, it creates transition rushes that lead to their own opportunities.

Whitehead decided to move junior left wing Michael Schutte back to defense before the Providence series and he has been effective.

Schutte had been a defenseman until he was moved to wing a year ago.

“He has a lot of poise and breaks the puck out of the [defensive] zone well and that’s what we need back there,” said junior center Marty Kariya.

There is no substitute for experience on defense.

It is a cerebral position that requires intelligent play off the puck as well as on it.

Defensemen need to gap properly to prevent opposing forwards from generating a full head of steam when they come down the ice on them.

They also need their own forwards to backcheck diligently if they’re going to stand up at the red line or defensive blue line and force the opposing forwards to dump the puck.

That will make their jobs easier.

The Schutte move could be pivotal because it gives the Bears four veteran defensemen who can log a lot of minutes.

Captain Peter Metcalf has been the anchor on defense and his 35 points are a career-high.

Junior Cliff Loya has been turnover-prone and some have been costly. But he has been paired with Metcalf recently and the captain has been a steadying influence.

Loya has to keep things simple and chip the puck off the boards and keep it out of the middle of the ice.

Sophomore Francis Nault can provide offense and can skate the puck out of the defensive zone. He has three goals in his last three games.

Ryan has been a physical presence who can also stickhandle and skate his way out of danger. But he has taken three five-minute majors and some dumb minor penalties due to his temper. He is a genuine talent with a great shot who could become a premier defenseman if he controls his temper.

Barnes is a smart, no-frills defenseman with some offensive flair. The Black Bears are 16-4-5 with him in the lineup.

Deschamps and Lynch have promising futures but are the odd men out right now.

Maine’s defensemen have produced 22 goals, three more than all of last season.

Veterans on front line

Up front, Maine has three legitimate scoring lines with at least one 11-goal scorer on each and a relentless, high-energy freshman line of Paul Falco, Ben Murphy, and John Ronan that has provided some needed grit and physicality.

The freshman line combined for five goals and five assists in the 7-1, 7-0 wins over UMass last weekend.

“They have really given us a lift,” said an appreciative Metcalf.

Right winger Niko Dimitrakos is having a career year with 37 points and his two-way play has been more consistent than ever.

Dimitrakos can carry this team if he plays with the burning desire he exhibited in the 3-3 tie at Providence and the wins over UMass.

He is a magician with the puck and has a great shot, but he must also backcheck and play the body to maximize his abilities. He can’t afford to take shifts off.

First-year right winger Colin Shields snapped out of a prolonged scoring slump with three goals against UMass to bring his season total to 23. He also has 12 assists.

The crafty and hard-working Kariya has had another consistent season and has improved his faceoffs. He is the second-leading scorer with 36 points.

Lucas Lawson has been a solid 22-point producer and is in the midst of a four-game goal-scoring streak, and Tom Reimann has had a good 30-point year so far, especially considering he is playing with a bum(?) shoulder.

Todd Jackson (21 points) has really attacked the net with his speed and is also a valuable member of the checking line with Robert Liscak (27 points) and Gray Shaneberger.

Maine has 10 players with 20 or more points and six with 10 or more goals.

Maine is averaging 4.1 goals per game while allowing 2.4.

Morrison good, Yeats is sharper

In goal, three-year backup Mike Morrison (16-3-4, 1.97 goals-against average, .930 save percentage) has had an exceptional season after winning the job from Matt Yeats (3-6-2, 3.15, .882), who guided Maine to its last two NCAA Tournament berths.

However, Morrison has given up four soft goals to his glove side in his last seven starts and that is an area of concern. Soft goals can kill a team in the postseason.

Yeats has looked sharp in his limited duty lately.

The special teams are good but could be better.

Whitehead has done a nice job behind the bench.

He is very different from Walsh in that he has more of a low-key approach and isn’t nearly as vocal in his dealings with referees.

But he prepares the team thoroughly like Walsh did and works very hard.

He may not be the disciplinarian Walsh was, but he does administer discipline when necessary and the team has greatly reduced its penalty minutes over the past six weeks.

This team is capable of winning the NCAA title, but it could also miss the NCAA tournament completely.

“I like how the team is pulling together right now,” said Whitehead. “There have been a lot of injuries and issues, with the biggest issue being Shawn’s death. It would have been easy for them to do their own thing. But they have stuck together and pulled together and I’m proud of them.”

“We’re rolling right now,” said Reimann. “We’re doing the little things that you have to do to win, like chip the puck off the boards to get it out of the defensive zone.”

“We’re all on the same page,” said Shaneberger.