It’s all in the attitude. Former University of Maine men’s hockey goalie Frank Doyle could certainly be frustrated.

He is playing in the New Jersey Devils organization. Devils goalie Martin Brodeur is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer who has played in at least 70 games for nine straight years.

He’ll probably make it 10 this year. His backup, Kevin Weekes, is a well-established NHL goalie with 329 games under his belt.

But you won’t hear Doyle complain about his plight with cellar-dweller Lowell in the American Hockey League.

“It can be a tough situation if you think of it that way,” said the 27-year-old Doyle. “But that’s not how I think of it. I’m happy to be playing in the American Hockey League. I’ve had a chance to play over 100 games my last three years and that’s what you need to develop. Goalies take longer [to develop] than other players.”

“I feel fortunate to be playing in a great league,” added Doyle, who is 9-16-3 this season with a 2.99 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. He was 20-24-4, 2.56, .916 last year in Lowell; 21-33-3, 3.09, .908 two years ago when Albany was the Devils’ top farm team and 32-13-4, 2.16 and .916 for Idaho in the ECHL in 2004-05.

“They retired [former Black Bear] Cal Ingraham’s number in Idaho,” said Doyle, who added that his season in Boise reminded him a lot of Orono.

“It was a great college town and the people were so friendly. They had a great fan base,” said Doyle.

Doyle played two seasons at Maine and is second in career goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.919) behind tandem mate Jimmy Howard (1.84, .931). Doyle had a 29-8-5 record.

He said he is a “much different goalie” now than he was at Maine, particularly when it comes to “my movement and my skating.”

“I’m so much quicker. I feel a lot more balanced on my skates. I’ve been able to make the first save and recover a lot quicker [for rebounds],” explained Doyle. “And what I really like is I’ve been more patient. At Maine, I’d go down on every shot. I’ve learned to stand up and make saves, especially on sharp-angled shots. I’m confident standing up.”

Another important ingredient for a goalie, according to Doyle, is to “stay positive.”

“Even if you have a bad game, you can take a positive out of it. Don’t dwell on the negatives. The mental part of the game is so big for goalies,” said Doyle.

Doyle’s goalie coach in Lowell is former NHL player Chris Terreri.

“I’m pretty lucky. Not too many AHL teams have a full-time goalie coach. He’s a great guy. He knows what it’s like to be a pro goaltender,” said Doyle.

Doyle has backed up Brodeur on a few occasions and has allowed just one goal in exhibitions in each of his last two NHL training camps. He has played roughly two games each year.

“I know I can play in the NHL,” said Doyle, who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

But he isn’t going to take the playing-for-a-contract attitude into the rest of the season.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I just want to keep having fun and try to get better every time I step on the ice,” said Doyle. “I go to the rink with a big smile on my face every day. I’m playing a game I love.”

And he will never forget his days at Maine.

“There haven’t been any crowds anywhere like the ones at Maine. It was quite an experience. I was pretty fortunate to play hockey at Maine,” said Doyle.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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