Maine needs help from top seeds in tourneys Players trying to be optimistic

The University of Maine hockey team’s remote chances for earning a ninth straight NCAA Tournament berth improved slightly Saturday night. But the 21-14-2 Black Bears, swept by UMass in their best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series, are still a long shot.

Entering Sunday night’s three playoff series finales in the WCHA, Maine was 13th in the PairWise rankings that emulate the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s process.

The 16-team tourney field will be announced next Sunday.

Maine’s 13-14-1 record over its last 28 games following an 8-0-1 start and its 4-12-1 against the other top seeds in the Hockey East tournament has left its tourney chances in serious jeopardy.

“Now that Denver, Miami and Vermont have been beaten, that does open a small window of opportunity for us,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “We would love a second chance. We could have a couple of [injured] guys back. We might be able to surprise some people.”

Whitehead was referring to sophomore goalie Ben Bishop, who has been sidelined with a groin pull since Feb. 24, and junior center Wes Clark, who suffered a leg injury in Friday night’s 3-2 loss to UMass.

Conference tournament champions receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament so Whitehead and his Bears need the teams who are significantly ahead of them in the PairWise Rankings to win their tournaments.

An upset or two could spell doom for his team.

For example, in the ECAC Hockey League, Clarkson, which is fifth in the PairWise Rankings, meets Dartmouth (17th in PWR) in the semis so Maine would definitely want Clarkson to win. The other semi has St. Lawrence (12) against Quinnipiac (21).

“We hope to get some help. Obviously, we’re hoping the reservoir of wins we built up early in the year can help us get into the tournament,” said Whitehead.

In the CCHA semifinals and final, Maine has three teams it will pull for: Notre Dame, second in the PWR; Michigan or Michigan State (tied for 8th). A Lake Superior State (22) title run would be damaging.

Maine has two road wins over WCHA team North Dakota and those are worth bonus points. The Bears also have a neutral ice win over Minnesota. Maine would want North Dakota (tied for 8th), Minnesota (1) or St. Cloud State (3) to win that conference title.

The four Hockey East semifinalists are all ahead of Maine in the PWR.

“We’re going to cheer for the teams we need to win, pray and hope,” said Maine senior left wing and assistant captain Josh Soares.

“It’s out of our hands now,” said Maine senior left wing Brent Shepheard. “All we can do is wish for some luck. We’ve haven’t had any lately but, hopefully, we’ll get some this week.”

Junior defenseman Bret Tyler said he would love Maine’s six seniors to have another opportunity.

“And we’d get a chance to redeem ourselves a little bit,” said Tyler.