Bishop maintains spot as Maine’s No. 1 goalie Bears survive unusual events at two games

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University of Maine men’s hockey coach Tim Whitehead has a nice dilemma.

Entering the season, he was hoping one of his young goalies would emerge as the replacement for school record-setter Jimmy Howard, who passed up his senior year to sign with Detroit.

Six-foot-7 freshman Ben Bishop, a third-round draft choice of St. Louis, sparkled in his debut against offensive juggernaut Colorado College (34 saves in 3-2 overtime loss) and has been the Hockey East Rookie of the Week three times already.

But sophomore Matt Lundin has also shone, allowing only one goal in three games and stringing together a current scoreless streak of 135:28.

So will Whitehead establish a rotation like this past weekend when Bishop beat Boston College 2-1 and Lundin shut out UMass 4-0?

Not right now.

“We’ll make the decision each weekend. We’re pleased with both guys. We’ll do what we feel is in the best interest of the team. We’ll go with the goalie who gives us the best opportunity to win,” said Whitehead.

Although Bishop has emerged as the number one goalie, Whitehead said it’s important to develop both of them.

“This isn’t pro hockey. If somebody gets hurt, we can’t pull somebody up from the minors,” said Whitehead. “We need to have both of them ready in case of an injury or a slump.”

He also said it’s important for the Maine players to have confidence in both of them.

That seems to be the case.

“Both goalies have been superb. They’ve been our backbone,” said senior center Derek Damon. “It’s pretty amazing that with Jimmy Howard leaving, these two guys have come in and they’ve kept the train rolling.”

Damon credited assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Grant Standbrook with making sure the Bears always have strong goaltending.

“He knows how to find these guys,” said Damon.

Sophomore left wing Billy Ryan and right wing Rob Bellamy said having two goalies they can rely upon is an ideal situation.

“It’s always good to have two goalies,” said Bellamy.

Junior left wing Josh Soares added, “They’ve definitely answered the question about our goaltending.”

Lundin’s 0.33 goals-against average and .985 save percentage lead the nation. Bishop’s 1.59 GAA is ninth-best and his .938 save percentage is tied for eighth.

The goalies have had plenty of help from their teammates, also.

The Black Bears have blocked 91 shots, including a season-high 25 in the 4-0 win over UMass on Saturday.

UMass junior center Matt Anderson called it a “tremendous effort” on Maine’s part.

Whitehead said, “That had been an issue for us [in previous years] but the guys have done a great job this year. And it starts with the captain, Greg Moore. When the guys see their captain blocking shots, it becomes contagious.”

Whitehead also lauded senior defensemen Travis Wight and Steve Mullin for their shot-blocking prowess.

Halloween started early

This past weekend had a definite Halloween feel to it for the Black Bear men’s hockey team.

There were a number of seldom-seen occurrences.

On Friday night, Mullin picked up a delay of game penalty for playing with two sticks, his own and teammate Damon’s, during a wild last-minute BC flurry.

On Saturday, goalie Lundin not only lost his goal stick but also lost the regular stick a teammate had handed to him.

A bone-rattling Bellamy hit on UMass defenseman Marvin Degon popped Degon’s helmet off and Degon actually caught it.

Then there was Wight’s seemingly endless shift.

While killing a penalty, a UMass shot shattered his skate blade. He also lost his stick. He had to stay on the ice for nearly a minute.

“I’ve had it happen before but I was able to get off the ice,”

said Wight. “I didn’t have to stay out there for a full shift. Our bench was so far away Saturday, I couldn’t really do much. I just kept trying to hobble around. I couldn’t move so all I would do was turn and look the other way. Every time I would try to go forward, the front part of my skate would dig in. I didn’t have many options.”