The University of Maine men’s hockey team will be without one forward and possibly two when it opens its season on the road against the Air Force Academy and Colorado College on Oct. 7-8.

Wes Clark and Billy Ryan, both sophomores, suffered injuries this past summer.

Clark has a broken bone in his leg and will be sidelined until at least the end of October, according to head coach Tim Whitehead, and Ryan has a broken bone and tendinitis in his foot.

“We’re hoping Billy can go on the trip to Colorado, but we aren’t counting on it. We’re really hoping the Denver series [in Orono on Oct. 14-15] is more reasonable. But he may be out until the end of October,” said Whitehead.

Ryan had six goals and nine assists in 34 games a year ago and Clark had two goals and an assist in 11 games.

The Bears will have their first official on-ice practice next Saturday at 11 a.m. They have been involved in dry-land training and have had small-group on-ice instruction as allowed under NCAA guidelines. They will be having captain’s practices next week.

“The guys have been training very hard. The test results were better than last year’s. We’re in better shape this year. We’ve got a hungry team. Everybody will be a real serious contender for ice time. We have a real tight team,” said Whitehead, whose Bears will look to improve upon last year’s 20-13-7 record and make an eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Maine was ousted in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Minnesota 1-0 in overtime in Minneapolis.

The Bears return 10 of their top 11 scorers but will have to replace record-setting goaltender Jimmy Howard, who passed up his senior year to sign with the Detroit Red Wings.

Freshman Ben Bishop and sophomore Matt Lundin, who appeared in nine games last year, will each get plenty of playing time early in the year, according to Whitehead. Sophomore Ryan Shelley will back them up.

Whitehead also said most of the work on the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center has been completed.

“The concession stand and Bear Necessities [souvenir shop] should be done for the Denver series and some of the memorabilia in the Hall of Fame will be on display. We’re hoping it will be completed by Christmas,” said Whitehead.

FSU softball team faces UM today

The Florida State Seminoles, who went 35-28 and finished the season ranked 29th in the final USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, will visit Orono to play the University of Maine this morning in a pair of nine-inning fall tournament games.

The games will start at 9 and 11 a.m.

UMass Lowell, Husson College of Bangor, and Saint Joseph’s College of Standish will also be involved. Saturday’s games see UMass Lowell facing Husson at 1, Maine meeting UMass Lowell at 3, and Husson playing Maine at 5.

On Sunday, UML and Maine will play at 9 a.m., Saint Joseph’s and UML will play at 11, and Maine will meet Saint Joseph’s in a nine-inning game at 1 p.m.