The University of Maine men’s hockey team finally begins the Hockey East portion of its schedule Saturday and the University of Massachusetts Minutemen would appear to be a perfect first opponent.

After all, the Minutemen have played 17 games at Alfond Arena and haven’t even managed a tie.

“But I’ve won there,” pointed out UMass third-year coach Don Cahoon, who led his Princeton University Tigers to a 3-2 win over Maine in the championship game at the Dexter Hockey Classic on Dec. 23, 1994.

Cahoon and Maine coach Tim Whitehead agreed Maine’s run of success won’t carry any weight Saturday.

“Every year is a new year,” said Whitehead. “They’re a good team. They’re hungry to move up the standings. But we’re hungry, too.”

Cahoon said, “We’re going to show up there whether we’ve won there or not. That isn’t going to keep us from showing up.

“This will be a real test for us,” added Cahoon.

UMass won just eight league games total while finishing last in Cahoon’s first two seasons but they opened some eyes last weekend when they lost 2-1 in overtime to a Providence team that was off to a school-record 7-0 start and then upset Northeastern 5-3 in Boston.

“They’ve clearly improved and they gained some confidence last weekend,” said Whitehead.

“We’re a long ways from being a great team but we’re showing signs of improvement,” said Cahoon.

Maine junior defenseman Francis Nault said you can’t afford to take a night off in Hockey East.

“Coach Cahoon has been there three years now so he has his own recruits. They have better players and they’re playing better as a team. He brought in a whole new system and they’re buying into it,” said Nault.

Maine senior left wing Lucas Lawson said the league gets better every year which makes every game a battle and makes winning the league championship a formidable task.

“Every year, the league gets more competitive. The top recruits are coming to Hockey East,” said Lawson.

Whitehead concurred, saying “recruits are telling us they want to play in Hockey East.”

“There’s no doubt it’s a great league,” said Cahoon. “My focus is making sure we’re getting better. If we’re not getting better, I’m not going to be in the league.”

Cahoon knows his team will have a tall chore tonight.

“Maine’s speed concerns me. And they get it cranked up emotionally. They build on the emotion from the crowd. If they get a goal, you have to make sure they don’t get another 20 or 30 seconds later. They feed off the environment,” Cahoon said.

“They’re a very disciplined, detail-oriented team. They’ve won a lot of big games for several years. They know how to compete in close games,” added Cahoon.