Black Bears savor tourney win Wood named NMCC men’s basketball coach

The University of Maine’s hockey team had a memorable start to its season.

But the 4-0 win over two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota and 6-2 triumph over Wisconsin that earned the Black Bears the Maverick Stampede Tournament championship in Omaha won’t create overconfidence, the players say.

“We’ve been stressing among the coaches and ourselves that we don’t want to get complacent,” said junior right wing John Ronan. “We want to keep building. We want to keep getting better.”

“We’re going to refocus. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” added sophomore right wing Greg Moore.

Coach Tim Whitehead said the weekend wins would help from a confidence standpoint.

“We know we can play strong as a team and can do something special this season,” said Whitehead, who had eight newcomers in the lineup.

“It was a great way to start, not only for me but for the whole team,” said sophomore goalie Jimmy Howard, who had 25 saves against Minnesota. “We’ve got to keep the ball rolling now.”

Senior left winger Todd Jackson, who scored four goals and was named the tourney’s Most Valuable Player, said all the newcomers played well.

“They’re really going to contribute a lot,” said Jackson.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia said he was “very impressed” with the Bears.

“There’s no question they’ll be an NCAA team,” said Lucia. “They were hungrier than we were. Their defense is very mobile and their team did a good job clogging the neutral zone. And Howard is a big-time goalie.”

The tournament title was a particular thrill for freshman defensemen Mike Lundin and Tom Zabkowicz, who hail from Minnesota and Wisconsin, respectively.

“For our first college experience, it couldn’t have worked out any better,” said Zabkowicz, who scored against his home-state Badgers. “We beat his home state and my home state. My whole family was there. My mom [Dawn] was going crazy. She was like a little kid.”

“My parents were pretty pumped, too,” said Lundin.

Zabkowicz said there was a lot of emotion on the Maine bench and Jackson and [sophomore Derek] Damon “led us real well and we pretty much followed them.”

Maine hosts the U.S.National Development Program’s under-18 team in the Black Bear Classic Friday night and will face either Sacred Heart University (Conn.) or Holy Cross on Saturday at 7.

Wood named NMCC coach

Buddy Wood, who spent the past 25 years coaching boys basketball at Washington Academy of East Machias and Rockland District High School, has been named men’s basketball coach at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle.

Wood was at Rockland last year where he posted a 19-35 record in three seasons before resigning.

He spent the previous 22 years at Washington Academy and led the Raiders to three Eastern Maine championships.

“Buddy is a players’ coach. The kids really enjoy playing for him,” said NMCC athletic director Lori Googins. “He plays an up-tempo game and, personally, that’s the style of play I like.”

She added by employing an up-tempo style of play, it requires the use of several players – instead of just five or six – which is good for team morale.

She also said he was clearly the most qualified of the eight applicants for the job.

He will replace Jerry Adams, who coached both the men’s and women’s teams last winter.

Adams will remain as the women’s coach.

Villanova vs. Maine at 3 p.m.

The University of Maine has announced that the kickoff time for its Nov. 15 football game against Villanova at Alfond Stadium in Orono has been changed from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. This will allow WABI-TV of Bangor to broadcast the game locally.