Sacrificing stats for victories Unselfishness a key to Black Bears’ success

ORONO – During his final season in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League, University of Maine senior center Mike Hamilton scored 42 goals and had 51 assists for 93 points.

Keith Johnson, the Black Bears’ senior right wing, had 28 goals and 28 assists in 50 games for the New England Junior Coyotes in his last season in the Eastern Junior Hockey League.

Although neither one has come close to matching those statistics at Maine, they have played integral roles in Maine’s three Frozen Four appearances in four years.

One of the primary reasons Maine leads all college programs in Frozen Four appearances during the last six years span with four has been the players’ willingness to adapt to different roles.

Hamilton and Johnson had primarily been two-way players at Maine with an emphasis on the defensive aspect of their jobs. They have been effective penalty-killers.

This season, they have each been more involved offensively. They play on the nation’s best power-play units. They have each registered a career-high 22 points on 9 goals and 13 assists.

Johnson had 20 & 10 in 104 career games entering this season while Hamilton had 11 & 31 in 97 games.

Hamilton and Johnson said the transformation that takes place with evolving roles is essential.

“Everyone who comes here has been a top player on their previous team. We all have to adapt. That’s definitely a big thing,” said Hamilton. “You can’t have four lines of scorers and six defensemen who are offensive-minded. You have to have a mix of everything, and sometimes it takes a while for guys to adapt.

“It’s crucial to have guys contribute in different ways.”

“You have to know what your role is on the team,” said Johnson. “For three years, I was more of a defensive guy. This year, I’m playing on the power play [and more involved offensively]. It’s a learning process at Maine. They’re developing players the best they can.”

Junior defenseman Bret Tyler said “every kid has to realize the difference between any junior league in the country to Division I college hockey is a step up. Some kids aren’t able to use the skills and the stuff they did back in juniors to score goals.

“That’s why Maine is so good every year. Kids do fill [new] roles. They understand they have to do what is best for the team. … Everybody contributes in a certain way.”

Sophomore goalie Ben Bishop pointed out how important Maine’s bruising line of Brent Shepheard, David de Kastrozza, and Rob Bellamy was during Maine’s wins over St. Cloud State and UMass in the East Regional last weekend.

“They really set the tone for the whole weekend. They made it hard for opposing defensemen to break the puck out,” said Bishop. “You have to have a little bit of everything.”

Senior left wing and assistant captain Josh Soares said it all starts with recruiting.

“Recruiting is obviously the big key. You’ve got to bring in guys willing to adapt to the system and willing to sacrifice goal scoring for some defense,” said Soares. “You have to bring in character guys willing to do that. You look at teams like Minnesota and Michigan, they always get the so-called top recruiting classes. They have great teams, too. But we’re there every year because we jell and because guys are willing to sacrifice their stats for some defense and [a shot at] a championship.”

Senior defenseman and assistant captain Mike Lundin pointed out that the coaches give out Black Bear stickers to deserving players after games for important little things that contribute to wins like blocking shots and issuing hits.

Providence College coach Tim Army, a former NHL assistant, said it’s obvious Maine coach Tim Whitehead and his staff have done a “very good job finding the right players to play in certain areas” and outlining their roles for them.

“They let their players know what is expected of them and where they see them playing, and then they teach them how to play in those situations and they’re able to get them to believe in themselves,” said Army.

Maine has continued to attract players from all over North America. This year’s team has players from eight states and five Canadian provinces.

“That’s typical of Maine hockey,” said Johnson. “They’ve always recruited all over the world. That helps in the locker room. We have a lot of different guys from different backgrounds. That makes for more of a team. It definitely helps having a wide variety of guys.”

Two other important ingredients in Maine’s success have been tradition and goaltending.

“They believe [in themselves],” said Northeastern coach Greg Cronin, a former Maine interim head coach and assistant. “It goes back to [coach] Shawn’s [Walsh] determination and his vision for the program. His conviction and passion were contagious. Maine is a special place. There is a very high standard of excellence and, to Tim’s credit, he’s been able to keep the momentum going in that direction.”

Tyler said Maine’s winning tradition is what attracts players “because everyone wants to play for a national championship.”

UMass Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald said Maine has players who have “been there and gotten it done so they don’t panic as much when they lose four in a row. Their best players always play well at the key times.”

“And they always have goaltending,” added MacDonald.