Last year at this time, University of Maine senior defenseman Mike Lundin was preparing to return to his home state to open the season against the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Now he is preparing for the New Jersey Devils.

Lundin has made the Tampa Bay Lightning roster along with another former Black Bear defenseman, Doug Janik. And they will be playing for another ex-Black Bear, head coach John Tortorella.

Lundin was a fourth-round pick of the Lightning in 2004.

“I was definitely hoping I’d be here, but I definitely didn’t see myself being here this early,” said Lundin. “I caught some breaks and played well. We’ll see how long it lasts.”

One of the breaks was an injury to star defenseman Dan Boyle, who is still sidelined.

“That allowed me to get more ice time and, luckily, I played pretty well,” said Lundin, who played in four exhibition games.

The Apple Valley, Minn., native and Janik are two of seven defensemen on the roster, so Lundin said he wasn’t sure if he’d be dressing for the New Jersey opener.

Lundin said Janik has been very helpful.

“He’s been great. He’s helped me out both on and off the ice. He’s a great guy,” said Lundin.

Lundin also had high praise for the intense Tortorella, although he admitted “he still scares me to death.

“[Tortorella] has been real good to me. He has given me playing time and I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s pretty understanding. He has worked with me and taught me the systems. He has eased me into it.”

Lundin said the jump from college hockey to the NHL is a sizeable one.

“The guys here are so skilled and so fast. You think you have a guy covered and he still gets a shot off,” said Lundin. “You can’t take anything for granted. You have to be on your toes. You have to be right on guys. The biggest adjustment is trying to read rushes. Things happen so much faster and guys can thread the needle with their passes.”

Lundin said playing four years at Maine aided him in making the transition.

“Maine definitely got me ready for this. Playing with such great college players every day made the jump easier,” said Lundin, who had a career-high six goals and 20 points for the Black Bears last year and was a second team All-Hockey East selection.

Lundin worked out diligently all summer with several other NHL players under the guidance of renowned strength and conditioning coach Kevin Ziegler, who was the former strength and conditioning coach for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes.

“I saw how they trained, so I figured out how to train better,” said the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Lundin.

Lundin is one of seven former Black Bears who earned spots on NHL rosters.

Janik has returned to Tampa Bay where he had two goals and nine assists in 75 games a year ago; defenseman Brett Clark and center Ben Guite have returned to Colorado where they had 10 & 29 in 82 games and 3 & 8 in 39 games, respectively; left winger Dustin Penner (82 games, 29 & 16) left the Stanley Cup champion Ducks of Anaheim to sign a five-year, $21.25 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers; defenseman Keith Carney (80 games, 4 & 13) is back with the Minnesota Wild; left wing Paul Kariya signed with St. Louis after racking up 24 & 52 in 82 games for Nashville last year and right winger Niko Dimitrakos (5 games, 0 & 0 with Philadelphia) is on injured reserve with Ottawa.