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ALBANY, N.Y. – University of Wisconsin hockey coach Mike Eaves went up against his former coach, Grant Standbrook, in Maine’s 2-1 overtime victory over his Badgers in Saturday night’s NCAA Eastern Regional final.
Eaves played at Wisconsin from 1974-78 and Standbrook began a long association with the Wisconsin head coach, the late Bob Johnson, after serving as head coach at Dartmouth College from 1970-75.
Standbrook, who is in his 16th season as an assistant and the recruiting coordinator at Maine, helped lead Wisconsin to NCAA championships in 1977, ’81, and ’83.
“Grant is one of the people in my life that I would look to as a mentor,” said Eaves, “somebody I could pick up the phone and bounce an idea or something like that off of. I think those are important people to have in your life because he’s had so much more experience. So I feel it’s that kind of relationship with Grant.”
Eaves added it is interesting watching Standbrook interact with the Maine players.
“At the end of Maine’s practice, they were all sitting in a circle and he kind of walked around and tapped everybody on the shoulder with his stick,” said Eaves. “There was something majestic about it. That’s Grant. And he can only do that because of who he is and his experience and his reputation with the players.
“It was interesting because they were down and he was above, knighting them. That’s the kind of gentleman he is.”
Eaves said Standbrook has an eye for talent and character.
“You don’t win unless you have good players, players with heart. And he knows good people, he knows what they have and how to make them better,” said Eaves. “If you look at his history, everywhere he has gone, he’s been around good teams because he gets good players.”
Bears confident in overtime
Maine senior left wing and captain Todd Jackson said the Bears were comfortable entering Saturday’s overtime because they’ve been in so many close games this season.
Maine’s win over Wisconsin improved its record in one-goal games to 14-4. The Bears are 17-5 in games decided by two goals or less.
Maine is 3-0-3 in overtime. Wisconsin had been 5-0-8 in overtime.
Maine and Wisconsin attacked each other in the third period and in overtime rather that sit back, play conservatively, and hope to cash in on a mistake.
“The worst thing you can do is try to play safe and worry about the other team scoring,” said Jackson. “You’ve got to go for it. That happened with Harvard. They were just trying to hold on to the win and they gave us a chance to get back in it.”
Jackson was referring to Maine’s 5-4 win Friday over the Crimson in which the Bears rallied from a 4-1 deficit with four third-period goals.
Senior right wing Colin Shields said, “When you get in a tight game like that, maybe some teams might panic or get a little bit nervous. But we’re so used to playing in games like this, everyone feels comfortable. Everybody wants to play good defense and everyone wants to score that game-winning goal.”
Frozen Four tickets limited
The University of Maine has allocated 75 tickets for UMaine students to the Frozen Four in Boston (April 8-10).
They will go on sale, on a walk-up basis only, at the Black Bear ticket office beginning Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Students will have until noon Wednesday to obtain them and any remaining will be returned to the lottery pool.
By NCAA guidelines, there won’t be student discounts. Student tickets are $141 for the all-session pass, which is good for all three games.
Students will be able to purchase one ticket per person with a valid student ID.
There will be other tickets available to the general public and they will be offered in a ticket lottery. The signup begins today at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude Wednesday at noon.
Signup can be done through the Black Bear ticket office either on a walk-up basis or by phone at 1-800-756-8326 or 581-2327.
The ticket office will be open extended hours, until 6:30 p.m., Monday and Tuesday.
If the phone lines are busy, fans are asked to e-mail info @goblackbears.com.
The priority will be: Maine hockey players and their families, the 75 tickets allocated to students, and donors to the athletic department at or above $10,000 annually. Once the above groups have been allocated their tickets, if tickets remain, a weighted lottery will be conducted with a limit of two per person that will take into consideration both season ticket holders as well as athletic donor level during the 2003-2004 year.
The Frozen Four is sold out for the fifth straight year.
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