ALBANY, N.Y. – The University of Maine men’s hockey team is no stranger to adversity.

The Black Bears were dealt another blow Friday when senior center Derek Damon, the team’s fourth-leading point-getter this season and the highest career scorer among current team members, was suspended for Saturday’s 3 p.m. NCAA Tournament game against Harvard for violating the school’s Student-Athlete Code of Conduct.

Maine interim athletic director Blake James declined to describe the nature of the violation.

Damon will be suspended for one game, according to coach Tim Whitehead.

“It’s disappointing because Derek is such an important part of this team,” said Whitehead. “But I’m confident in the players we have stepping in. We won’t let this distract us.”

Freshman Chris Hahn (3 goals, 1 assist in 15 games) will replace Damon but two of Maine’s lines will be reconfigured.

Junior Mike Hamilton, who had been the left wing on a line with Keenan and John Hopson, will move up to play Damon’s center slot between Billy Ryan and Keith Johnson.

Hahn will take Hamilton’s slot on the Hopson line.

Hahn has played in just two of the last 11 games, but Whitehead and his teammates have confidence in him.

“It should work out fine,” said John Hopson. “There hasn’t been a big adjustment for us with the third guys we’ve had on our line. He’s skilled and he should help us out.”

Hahn said he is “excited to get a chance to get back in the lineup and, hopefully, help the team out.

“It’s unfortunate it happened this way. I’m just looking to do a good job,” added Hahn.

Hahn and the Hopsons have had two practices together and things have gone well, according to Hahn.

“They’re real good players and they’re easy to play with. I think we’ll be fine. I’ve just got to relax and make sure I’m not nervous and make mistakes,” he said.

Hahn also will see some of Damon’s power-play time.

“The power play has been clicking so I’m just going to try to do what everybody else is doing,” said Hahn.

Hamilton said making the switch from wing to center is no big deal.

“I played center my last two years in junior hockey,” said Hamilton. “I’ve played wing most of my time here, but from time to time they’ve thrown me in at center. I’ve just got to make sure I’m aware that when I get back into the defensive zone, I stay low in the zone and stick with my man. When you play on the wing, you cover the point men.”

Senior defenseman Steve Mullin said every team has to deal with situations like this.

“All of us have to pick up the slack a little bit,” said Mullin. “Everybody has to play that much better and more responsibly. We hope to give Derek another game.

“As much as Derek has meant to us all year, one guy doesn’t make a team. Just because he’s gone doesn’t mean we can’t win this game.”

Senior right wing and captain Greg Moore agreed.

“We have guys who are able and willing and can get the job done. It’s a team sport and even if we are missing a key player in our lineup, as long as we still play hard as a team and execute the game plan, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Harvard senior Dan Murphy called Damon a “great player” but said “he is just one player like Jon Pelle is for us.”

Pelle, Harvard’s second-leading scorer, probably will miss the game with an ankle injury.

One key to the game will be the play of Maine’s under-appreciated but resourceful defense corps, which will try to shut down a Harvard team that has scored 24 goals in its last three games.

None of Maine’s defensemen received any postseason honor this season and the only to receive any kind of honor was Bret Tyler, who was on the all-rookie team last season.

“They aren’t flashy, but they’re real solid. They get the job done,” said Harvard senior defenseman and captain Peter Hafner.

Mullin said at the outset of the year, “everybody expected us to be weak in the back end” between their defense corps and “untested goaltenders [Matt Lundin and Ben Bishop].

“We put that up on the bulletin board and every week we strived to be the best we could be,” said Mullin, who added the tenacious backchecking of their forwards has made their jobs easier.

Whitehead said the solid play of Mullin and fellow senior Travis Wight, the emergence of junior Mike Lundin, and the continued development of sophomores Travis Ramsey and Bret Tyler along with freshmen Matt Duffy and Simon Danis-Pepin have been instrumental in their success.

Murphy and Hafner said they feel the determining factor today will be the special teams.

“We’ve got to be sharp on the special teams. Maine has the top penalty-killing team in the country and their power play is in the top five,” said Hafner.