Laise, Hahn, Clark give Bears 4th gear Youthful trio isn’t just toeing the line

Sophomore right wing Vince Laise had played in just one game this season and it was an exhibition game.

Sophomore left wing Chris Hahn was coming off a shoulder injury that had shelved him for four games and junior center Wes Clark had been a healthy scratch for two games after playing in the first 12.

University of Maine hockey coach Tim Whitehead played a hunch and put the three of them together on the fourth line the week before the Black Bears played Mercyhurst in the Cumberland County Civic Center on Dec. 16. It has paid off.

They produced 10 shots on goal in the 1-1 overtime tie against Mercyhurst and were considered “our most effective line” by Whitehead.

Then they teamed up for three goals and six assists in Maine’s wins over Western Michigan and Cornell in the Florida College Classic.

Clark had two goals and an assist, Laise had his first collegiate goal and two assists, and Hahn had three assists.

They have provided the Bears with an important spark entering this weekend’s Hockey East series against UMass Lowell at the Chelmsford Forum, formerly known as the Tully Forum.

The Tsongas Arena, where UMass Lowell has played since 1998, is hosting a skating competition and wasn’t available.

“They have added a whole new dimension to the team,” said Maine junior left wing Billy Ryan. “They bring a lot of energy every time they’re out there. They get the puck deep, work it down low and cycle it. That’s what they do best.”

Senior left wing Brent Shepheard said, “Any time a so-called fourth line can go out and bring the team some energy, it helps everybody else out. When they play hard, it makes you want to go out and work hard. They were fabulous last weekend.”

Hahn was surprised.

“We clicked in our first practice and that carried over into the games,” he said. “Everybody brings a different element. Vince has a lot of hustle and gets the puck and Clark is smart with the puck and makes good passes. We kind of feed off each other.”

Hahn supplies speed and skill.

Clark said they all have “good speed and we can move the puck. We have a lot of chemistry. We know what each other is going to do.”

Laise said the players have to “talk a lot out there and that [communication] has been a big key to our success.”

One of their common denominators is they all had to earn their way back into the lineup.

“We feel we have to go out on every shift and play like it’s our last. That’s the attitude we’re taking into every game,” said Laise, who played in just eight games last year.

“We saw an opening and we seized it,” said Clark.

They said their encouraging performance against Mercyhurst gave them confidence.

“We could have had four or five goals but their goalie [Jordan Wakefield] played really well,” said Clark.

Whitehead said the team needs the fourth line to “bring something to the table.

“They can be a big, strong physical line or an energy, enthusiastic type of unit and that’s [the latter] what they are,” he said.