Bears seek momentum boost in Florida event

With a pair of wins before the Christmas break, the University of Maine men’s hockey team halted a three-game losing streak and re-established momentum.

The Black Bears will try to build on that tonight when they face the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the first round of the Florida College Classic at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla.

Cornell and Northeastern will open the tourney at 4:05.

The losers will play Wednesday at 4:05 with the winners facing off at 7:35.

The Bear seniors would like to repeat the tournament championship they annexed their freshman seasons, particularly since they haven’t won there since.

They lost to Ohio State and Notre Dame two years ago. Last year, they tied St. Cloud State, before losing in a shootout, and dropped a 4-3 consolation game to Cornell last season.

“Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve realized there’s not much time left for my career here and I want to go out with a bang,” said senior center Derek Damon. “We haven’t played well down in this tournament the last couple of years, partly because we didn’t come back in good shape.

“We weren’t ready to go down there and play two games last year and they were two big games for us that we needed to come away with. But it just didn’t happen and it put us behind the eight ball for the second half of the year,” added Damon.

However, the Bangor native said, “This year it’s a different team. These guys want to compete really hard and they’re all focused on the team aspects. That’s why I think we’re in good shape.”

Maine hasn’t played since beating Northeastern 5-2 on Dec. 10. Minnesota-Duluth played on Dec. 16-17, getting swept at home by Denver (4-2, 3-1).

Maine senior right wing and captain Greg Moore acknowledged the Bears won’t have their game timing so it is important that they try to compensate with their work ethic.

“It has been a while since we’ve played a game so it’s going to be like the beginning of the year,” explained Moore. “We’ve got to go out and work as hard as we can and not worry about the X’s and O’s too much. Just try to get your legs and your lungs back and put in the effort out there. As the game goes on, your skill will come back with it.”

Damon and junior left wing Keith Johnson said they’ll have to keep the game simple.

“The ice will be a little slow. It’s usually a little wet. It takes longer to freeze up and that’s why you have to be really sure with your passes and make sure you get the puck deep in the [offensive] zone,” said Damon.

“You don’t want to turn the puck over a lot because if you do that you’re going to fuel other teams’ transition. Right now the best thing for us to do is get the puck deep and get in on our forecheck. That’s the best way to create a lot of offense this week,” added Damon.

Johnson said, “We’ve got to chip the puck past their defensemen, get it low [in the offensive zone], use our speed and not try to do too much with the puck. That’s the key to our success.”