Senior defenseman David Cullen said the turning point in his career came midway through his sophomore season when University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh returned from a one-year suspension for his role in NCAA violations.

“I hadn’t been playing well, but Coach Walsh told me not to worry and gave me the green light to get involved in the offense,” said Cullen. “He told me they would work with me on my defensive skills. That really helped me. It gave me a lot of confidence and the game is 95 percent confidence.”

Walsh said Cullen didn’t play well in his first game back from his suspension and thought about benching Cullen.

“It was a sink-or-swim situation for him,” said Walsh. “I debated benching him, but decided to go the other way with him. I told him he was a good player and not to worry about being benched. He has really taken off since.”

Cullen has put together an exceptional career in which he has registered 21 goals and 58 assists in 110 career games. His statistics have improved every year.

As a gangly freshman, the native of St. Catherines, Ontario, managed two goals and four assists in 34 games. He increased that dramatically to five goals and 25 assists in 35 games during his pivotal sophomore year and, last season, he racked up 10 goals and 27 assists in 36 games.

Boston College’s Mike Mottau and BU’s Tom Poti were the only Hockey East defensemen to outscore Cullen a year ago with 49 and 42 points, respectively.

Already this season, Cullen has four goals and two assists in Maine’s first five countable games, and he had four assists in a non-countable win over the University of Moncton. He has earned Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season.

“He’s a great player,” said Boston University coach Jack Parker. “He’s a great offensive defenseman. And he has gotten much better defensively over the course of his career at Maine.”

Walsh said Cullen is, “arguably, the best offensive defenseman in college hockey.”

Cullen has been a defenseman since the tender age of 7.

Back then, it was a matter of mathematics.

Bruce Cullen was his son’s hockey coach and he advised David to become a defenseman.

“We had three [forward] lines and two sets of defensemen and a buzzer would go off after a shift and you’d change all five guys,” explained the younger Cullen.

Bruce Cullen told his son, “If you play defense, you’ll get to play half the game. If you play forward, you’ll only get to play a third of the game.”

David took the hint and developed into an offensive-minded defenseman.

“David has always been able to score,” said Bruce Cullen. “He has great hockey sense and he could always see the ice very, very well. Any problems he had were defensive.”

David admits the defensive aspect of the game was always an afterthought in youth hockey and in juniors when he played for the Thorold (Ontario) Blackhawks in the Junior B Golden Horseshoe League.

“It wasn’t too big a priority in Juniors. All it was was whoever scored the most goals won,” said Cullen. “And we had only two hours of practice time a week. We have that in one day at Maine.”

One of the first things the Maine coaching staff had to do was introduce Cullen to the weight room.

“We didn’t have anything up here in terms of weight training programs,” said Bruce Cullen. “Once he got to Maine, Shawn and Grant [assistant Grant Standbrook] explained to him how important weight training was. It took him a while to catch up. Other kids had started lifting when they were 15 or 16 years old.”

David said, “I had never lifted in my life. I started behind the eight ball. It took me a couple of years [to catch up]. I saw the work ethic you needed to play at the college level.”

Walsh said the defensive aspect of Cullen’s game has improved dramatically.

“He doesn’t get beat any more,” said Walsh. “We’ve spent a lot of time with him on that. That’s the key to his development and his ability to play at the next level.”

Cullen agrees that the defensive part of his game has improved significantly.

“I’ve learned so much at Maine,” said Cullen. “I really take pride in not allowing a goal when I’m on the ice. I know I have to play good defense. I know what it takes to be a consistent player. You can’t be totally offensive. You’ve got to do both. You’ve got to take care of both ends of the ice.”

UMass-Lowell coach Tim Whitehead said, “I like him a lot. He’s very poised and confident back there. He has a good, headsy shot. There are no deficiencies in his game. He skates well, he handles the puck well, and he can be physical. He’s a good, well-rounded player.”

In a recent 6-1 win over Union College in the championship game at Maine’s J.C. Penney Classic, the Alfond Arena faithful saw yet another side of Cullen as he threw a punishing body check along the boards near the team benches late in the game.

“I definitely feel a lot stronger this year, and I’d like to add a little more of that to my game,” said the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, who feels he has improved every year. “That will help me become more of an all-around player. Sometimes I’m too nice of a guy out there. I’ve got to try to get an edge. If a guy in the corner passes the puck out, I’ve got to make sure I try to finish him off. I need to play the man a lot more.”

Cullen added, grinning, “I’ve got to stay out of single digits in penalty minutes. I don’t want to win the Steve Kariya trophy.”

Cullen was referring to the fact that close friend Kariya has won the Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award the last two seasons. Cullen has accrued only 58 penalty minutes in 110 games.

Walsh said Cullen has developed Kariya’s exceptional work ethic and has significantly reduced his body fat.

“He has much more of an elite player’s body than he used to,” said Walsh.

Cullen’s forte, though, will always be his offensive skills.

He has quarterbacked the power play for three years and Walsh calls him the “quietest power-play magician I’ve seen. He’s one of the main reasons we led the nation in power play two years ago and were second last year. He has great lateral ability with the puck and great puck skills.”

Cullen is a master at faking a shot and pushing the puck around the sliding penalty killer to create an open shot for himself or an open passing lane.

“He’s one of the best power-play point men around,” said Maine senior right wing and captain Kariya. “And he’s like having a fourth forward out there.”

Even with his emphasis on offense, Cullen has continued to improve his shot.

“Grant is so smart. He told me to do three little things, including getting more stomach into my shot, and it has helped me get a little more velocity,” said Cullen, who is good at keeping his shot low and getting it on net.

Cullen’s hockey instincts could be traced to his genes.

His father’s three brothers, Brian, Barry and Ray, all played in the National Hockey League. Each played in at least 219 regular-season games.

Barry Cullen’s son, John, has had an impressive NHL career and is trying to work his way back with Tampa Bay after a bout with cancer.

“John wanted me to try BU,” said David, who considered Maine his first choice all along. “As soon as I met Grant and talked to Shawn, it was an easy sell.”

Bruce Cullen said his son is a “quiet, unassuming” type of person who is much better suited to the quiet lifestyle and atmosphere in Orono than the hustle and bustle of city life in Boston.

Although Cullen is soft-spoken by nature, Walsh said Cullen, now a team captain, has taken a more vocal role and “it isn’t beyond him to yell at a player if he takes a penalty when we don’t need it. David’s passion for winning is second to none.”

Due to school-imposed and NCAA-imposed sanctions for NCAA violations in Cullen’s first two years and Maine’s poor start last year, the Bears have yet to play in an NCAA Tournament and that is Cullen’s goal. He has no regrets about his decision.

“With what I’ve learned and the friends I’ve made, I couldn’t see myself anyplace else. I wouldn’t change anything,” said Cullen.