Maine makes strong showing in tourney Frosh goalie Bishop, special teams shine

The University of Maine men’s hockey team should have a good season, according to Colorado College coach Scott Owens, whose Tigers beat the Bears 3-2 in overtime in their Ice Breaker Tournament game Saturday night in Colorado Springs.

Maine had rallied to beat Air Force 3-1 Friday night.

“I was really impressed with their forwards. They come at you. They’re physically strong, and they skate well,” said Owens, who led his Tigers to the Frozen Four last season.

“They had more depth than I thought. Their defense corps didn’t move very well against Air Force on Friday but looked much more mobile on Saturday. They’re going to be quite good on the NHL ice sheet with their size, range, and wingspan,” he added. “And their young goalie [Ben Bishop] stood in there pretty well. He was a little nervous at the beginning, but he played like a veteran after that.”

Bishop finished with 34 saves while playing against a team on an Olympic-sized (200-by-100 feet) ice sheet and featuring Hobey Baker Award winner Marty Sertich and linemate and Hobey finalist Brett Sterling.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Bishop, chosen the Hockey East Rookie of the Week. “I was a little nervous, but once the game starts, you forget about all that. The goals they scored I probably should have had. Other than that, I think I played pretty well.”

Owens said the game was played with the intensity and pace of an “NCAA Tournament game but not quite as cautious as those games can be. Both teams were going at it. It was an excellent battle.”

The Maine players were encouraged.

“We weren’t too happy with the way we played the first night, but we really turned it around [against CC],” said senior right wing and captain Greg Moore, who was one of two Bears chosen to the All-Tourney team along with freshman defenseman Matt Duffy.

“We looked like we were in midseason form,” said Moore, who had a goal and two assists. “Ben impressed a lot of us. He looked really comfortable in net. Our defense was really poised and didn’t get too spread out on the big ice sheet and, offensively, all four of our lines sustained good pressure and got a lot done.”

Senior defenseman Steve Mullin said the Tigers are supposed to be “the cream of the crop in the WCHA and we showed we can skate with them. The intensity was definitely there. It was a back-and-forth game. It was a great game to be a part of.”

He said all of the freshmen gave a good account of themselves.

Maine’s special teams clicked as the power play went 5-for-17 and the Bears killed off all 12 power plays against them.

“Our special teams were a big plus,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead.

The Bears enter this weekend’s home series against two-time defending NCAA champion Denver looking to snap a streak of 246 minutes, 53 seconds without an even-strength goal.

“I’m not worried about that. We’re only two games into the season. We’ll score some even-strength goals,” said junior center Michel Leveille.

He noted Maine’s speedier lineup is making the Bears more dangerous in transition (from defense to offense), especially if the defensemen can make pinpoint passes up to them like Bret Tyler did on Moore’s goal vs. the Tigers.