Maine opener nears Captains take over practices

ORONO – The University of Maine Black Bears have been making the most of an awkward situation as they prepare for their Sunday hockey opener against the University of Vermont at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt., at 2 p.m.

Under NCAA guidelines, the teams can’t have their first formal practice with the coaching staff until Saturday.

Vermont will take the ice at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning as part of a Midnight Madness extravaganza.

Maine will practice at Gutterson on Saturday.

Black Bear co-captains John Ronan and Jeff Mushaluk have been running the practices in Orono. A healthy portion of the time has been devoted to various types of scrimmaging.

There could be as many as six first-year players in the lineup on Sunday, according to coach Tim Whitehead, so right winger Ronan and defenseman Mushaluk have been providing the newcomers with a crash course in Maine’s systems.

“We’ve worked on a lot of little things like breaking out, where the guys should be in relation to the defensemen, forechecking and the neutral zone. Little things are pretty huge in the game,” said Ronan. “A lot of it involves being on the same page and communicating. Execution feeds off communication.”

Mushaluk said they have focused primarily on “instilling the work ethic” necessary to earn a seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Whitehead said he has been impressed with the job the upperclassmen have done “keeping everyone focused, showing the freshmen how we operate, what our systems are and what type of effort it takes each day in practice to be successful in games.”

One of the positives Maine will take into Sunday’s game is its experience.

Maine used the same four lines for the last 11 games and there are two members of each line returning. Whitehead indicated he intends to keep those duos together.

Maine won 10 straight with that lineup until losing to Denver 1-0 in the NCAA championship game.

“Given the fact the coaches haven’t been able to go on the ice, I feel it’s important to keep some continuity there for at least the first game. And we’ll try to keep the pairs together on defense,” said Whitehead.

Prestin Ryan is the only defenseman who has departed as he completed his eligibility last season.

“I like our D [defense] corps. It was very thin two years ago but now I feel we’re very strong in that area and, in fact, we may play one of our defensemen up at forward,” said Whitehead.