WORCESTER, Mass. – Picture a hockey player, and you probably form a mental image of a rugged character with the stereotypical tooth missing.

When UMaine sophomore Colin Shields went to the arena Saturday morning he, too, had a fresh tooth missing. But he wasn’t showing off his grin.

When Shields went to the dentist Friday afternoon, he undoubtedly thought he’d emerge from the office having gained some relief from a tooth that had been bothering him. Instead, the Black Bears’ leading scorer ended up in worse condition than he’d been before seeking medical attention.

“[Shields’ aching tooth] got much worse [Friday] and he ended up getting his tooth pulled after practice,” UMaine coach Tim Whitehead said after Saturday’s overtime win. “He gave him some medication and he had a reaction to it and then he couldn’t keep any food down [Saturday] morning. He woke up and couldn’t keep anything down. Not even liquid.”

Shields wasn’t available for interviews Saturday … though he did spend some time at the rink. Shields appeared unsteady on his feet, and spent lots of time in a Centrum men’s room. He was taken back to the team’s hotel during the first period.

Shields was able to play Sunday and scored a pivotal goal in Maine’s 4-3 quarterfinal victory over Boston University.

Shields’ replacement in the Black Bear lineup Saturday was freshman Matt Greyeyes, who hadn’t played in three weeks, and who had tallied just four assists in 14 games this season. Greyeyes sat out 26 of UMaine’s 40 games before Saturday, and was prepared to do more of the same when he arrived at the arena.

“I came off the bus and was just getting ready to go sit in the stands, and then I got the call,” Greyeyes said. “I was excited. It’s easy to get up for games like that.”

Shields is Maine’s top goal-scorer, and had tallied 28 goals and 45 points in 39 games.

Maine goalie Mike Morrison said he and his teammates didn’t worry much about the loss of Shields.

“That’s the great thing about this team: No matter what cog in the wheel we’re missing, there’s always one guy there to fill in and do a great job,” Morrison said.

Greyeyes admitted that his day didn’t start very smoothly.

On his first shift of the night, he checked a Harvard player, then absorbed an elbow to the chest and ended up on his backside. After hopping to his feet, he skated two strides and lost an edge, flopping back onto the ice.

Greyeyes was able to laugh about that sequence after his team’s win.

“Hey, I didn’t play in three weeks, so I had to get a few cobwebs out,” Greyeyes said. “But it worked out in the end.”

Puck safety addressed

Ripples caused by the death of a 13-year-old girl at an NHL hockey game earlier in the week were felt at the NCAA Eastern regional, as tourney organizers discussed safety at their pre-event meeting.

Brittanie Cecil died in Columbus, Ohio, after being hit in the head by a puck that was deflected into the stands.

Ed Carpenter, the media coordinator at the NCAA East Regional in Worcester, said some people at the initial on-site meeting felt the tourney should “do something” to recognize Cecil’s death.

What organizers decided to do was take a common-sense approach in an effort to improve safety awareness at their own venue.

“At BU, as part of the pregame announcements that our PA man does, we say, ‘be careful of objects that might be flying’ and so forth,” said Carpenter, who is Boston University’s sports information director. “I think in view of what happened in Columbus we’re just pay a little more attention to it than we normally do.”

Toward that end, the PA announcer – who also happens to man the microphone at BU games – warned fans of the potential two times, both during pregame warmups, and just before the game began.

Carpenter said getting the message out to fans as early as possible is important.

“Pregame is as dangerous as any time,” Carpenter said. “Guys are coming up and taking slap shots from the blue line and pucks are going over [the glass and into the crowd].”

In addition, he pointed out, some fans don’t really start paying attention to the action on the ice until after the game begins.

“I think a person could tend to be a little bit less attentive during pregame warmups than they are when the game’s actually going on,” he said.

Luck of the Irish

A sizeable throng of UMaine fans made the trip to Worcester and held a pregame pep rally in a third-floor function room of the Irish Times, a restaurant and bar on Main Street, a block away from the Centrum. More than 100 fans took advantage of the chance to show off their Blue and White spirit.

Among the attractions: Plenty of food and drink, face-painting (which proved popular with the under-12 set, of which there were plenty), and music provided by the UMaine pep band.

Irv Marsters, a UMaine hockey booster and the owner of the Bangor Letter Shop, which is a printing business, made the rounds at the event, handing out signs with pro-Black Bear messages on the front and back.

Record numbers in Worcester

Saturday’s Worcester Centrum Centre attendance: 10,545 for the two-game session that pitted Maine against Harvard at noon and Cornell against Quinnipiac at about 3 p.m.

There was some talk about the early starts of the games – typically, NCAA tourney games have been held at night and over the past four years, four East Regional games have gone into overtime, making for some late evenings.

Apparently, fans don’t mind spending their afternoon at the rink: The throng set an NCAA hockey record for a first-round session.

Among the other “fans” of day hockey games: Sportswriters working on deadline, who found themselves with hours, rather than minutes, to put together their tourney stories.