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UMaine '26-'27: The Bridge On the River Stillwater

amkirby10 said:
Gut puncher tonight. It felt like one you kinda had to have going in, and then you almost had it but let it get away. At 2-0 into the third I thought we were going to do it. At 2-1 I thought they still had a chance to win, but once it was 2-2 they were losing for sure. I'd be very interested to hear what Peterson said to get himself T'd up to negate what would have been a key power play opportunity. The slashing call on Scott was disgustingly weak, but Parks had a hit that was very dangerous and was lucky that it wasn't 5 and a game, and it wasn't even called at all.

I think the best positive I can say at this point is I get the sense that the vibes within the team are much better this year, and I do think it's at least possible that this becomes a key learning opportunity that teaches them what it takes to win, and then helps to eventually propel them to a solid winning streak of games.
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I guess it depends how Barr reacts to this weekend? Will he be glum and glib and start isolating players and turn what seems like a pretty positive team into a shit show like last season?.....or will he have the maturity as a coach to make this a learning experience and use it as a spring board for self improvement and a better effort every night from here on out?
 
Tough loss for Maine. The upside is they played much better defense tonight and came out ready to play. You could see the momentum swing to BU at about the 10 minute mark of the 3rd period. Credit BU for their resilience to come from behind. I think Maine was gassed at the end and once the game went to 3 X 3 Maine had no chance against the skill of BU. At least Maine came away with a point.
 
Drew S. said:
Maine just doesn’t have the talent. When they play great and the other team is ordinary they can win, but how often is that going to happen? The players are giving it absolutely everything they have and I hope folks appreciate that.
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Yeah we dont have the horses to compete at the next level. I dont know what the NIL situation is for Maine but at some point you have to admit that paying players is just the way you win now. This weekend was a snap back to reality and I really hope the program fully commits to bringing in some serious talent. Merely working hard is not enough to cut it.
 
Drew S. said:
Maine just doesn’t have the talent. When they play great and the other team is ordinary they can win, but how often is that going to happen? The players are giving it absolutely everything they have and I hope folks appreciate that.
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Drew is finally a voice of reason. Maine has average talent but some hard working team first type of guys.....they did play a great game tonight outside of just running out of gas against the Red Army.

I think the big picture concern moving forward is recruiting for Ben Barr's style of play. They are getting worn down by better players and better teams. They need more size and skill (easier said than done)......Barr has shown a penchant for my way or the highway which is fine and dandy when you are winning. But at this point.....Maine as a program is sort of spinning its wheels......good enough to be mid-pack in HE? Maybe. But definitely not a threat to advance in the NCAA tourney.
 
ClockaLock said:
Yeah we dont have the horses to compete at the next level. I dont know what the NIL situation is for Maine but at some point you have to admit that paying players is just the way you win now. This weekend was a snap back to reality and I really hope the program fully commits to bringing in some serious talent. Merely working hard is not enough to cut it.
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Amen! For all of the $$$ that swirls around this program.....time for a major reality check for administrators and big fish donors. Maine needs $$$ to play players....period. Otherwise this is as good as it gets.
 
umhockey91 said:
Drew is finally a voice of reason. Maine has average talent but some hard working team first type of guys.....they did play a great game tonight outside of just running out of gas against the Red Army.

I think the big picture concern moving forward is recruiting for Ben Barr's style of play. They are getting worn down by better players and better teams. They need more size and skill (easier said than done)......Barr has shown a penchant for my way or the highway which is fine and dandy when you are winning. But at this point.....Maine as a program is sort of spinning its wheels......good enough to be mid-pack in HE? Maybe. But definitely not a threat to advance in the NCAA tourney.
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I think you need to step back from the ledge and re evaluate this in a few months.
 
umhockey91 said:
Amen! For all of the $$$ that swirls around this program.....time for a major reality check for administrators and big fish donors. Maine needs $$$ to play players....period. Otherwise this is as good as it gets.
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I would love to know the school and system’s stance on NIL. I obviously would like to see them splash the cash but understand certain constituencies wouldn’t be as happy.
 
grooverider said:
I think you need to step back from the ledge and re evaluate this in a few months.
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I think he is correct. Maine doesn’t have the offensive talent to be a top contender. Will they get better over the course of the season, I think so. Just go back to fridays game and watch BU on that 3 on 2. Maine had a 3 on 1 last night, not sure the puck even made it near the crease. They had several great chances in 2nd, got nothing. It isn’t a question of effort, they work hard. they are missing a real top line
 
walrus said:
I think he is correct. Maine doesn’t have the offensive talent to be a top contender. Will they get better over the course of the season, I think so............
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I thought last year's team would develop and improve by the end of the year, they didn't. Perhaps this year will be different, we'll see.
 
walrus said:
I think he is correct. Maine doesn’t have the offensive talent to be a top contender. Will they get better over the course of the season, I think so. Just go back to fridays game and watch BU on that 3 on 2. Maine had a 3 on 1 last night, not sure the puck even made it near the crease. They had several great chances in 2nd, got nothing. It isn’t a question of effort, they work hard. they are missing a real top line
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Fair enough. I do not think the musical chairs lineup every night is helping either.
 
Last season, we heard culture, culture, culture for the reasons that Maine was just mediocrely mid-pack. The two or three most gifted offensive players on the team were in and out of the doghouse and after they left in the offseason we heard a lot of things about how the makeup of this year's roster was getting back to "Maine hockey" and how this program wins games, and we were going to outwork other teams, etc. None of the players coming in had much of an offensive pedigree, but that was okay because Maine was going to grind out wins.

Maine came out and laid an absolute egg on Friday. Just a complete no-show. Then a third period collapse last night, which you figure if you're the strong cultured, grind it out team you excel in late and close situations. As soon as the 4-on-3 power play happened, that was always going to be a goal because BU has too much talent to not take advantage of that much open ice. Then at 2-1, Maine just stopped being able to connect passes or get the puck out of the zone. Lots of tired legs from chasing BU's better players and Lawrence was wide open for the tying goal. 3-on-3 is a no hoper for Maine against BU, evidenced by the fact that Maine had a chance for a 2-on-1 and Fowler just passed it back into the Maine zone.

Wanting guys who play hard, play as a team, play the coach's system is all well and good. There are gifted offensive hockey players who do that. There are also gifted offensive players who maybe don't do that, but you can figure out a way to coach into it. Or coach around their limitations. I'm not sure that grabbing the fourth or fifth best players from bad teams and that being the whole recruiting strategy is a recipe for Maine being a consistent Hockey East contender. I don't think anyone can, with a straight face, say that Shawn Walsh's teams that were contending for national titles eschewed talent in any way. I'm guessing that at least a few of Maine's top scorers on those teams were difficult to manage. He figured it out.

And maybe this all comes down to money. Probably it does! If Maine can't afford to bring in gifted offensive players, maybe expectations are unreasonable. But (and I've been harping about this since NIL became a thing) IF THAT IS THE CASE YOU NEED TO TELL US. If the athletic department or university came out and said "So, listen, we are budget strapped across the board, we don't have the athletic department resources to pay players much above the minimum, the NIL isn't there to bring in top recruits, it is what it is" either the fanbase and donors can step up, or we can all just adjust expectations downwards and enjoy this for what it is. The University would behoove itself to stop charging the highest ticket prices in the east, too, if that's the case.
 
AMC said:
Last season, we heard culture, culture, culture for the reasons that Maine was just mediocrely mid-pack. The two or three most gifted offensive players on the team were in and out of the doghouse and after they left in the offseason we heard a lot of things about how the makeup of this year's roster was getting back to "Maine hockey" and how this program wins games, and we were going to outwork other teams, etc. None of the players coming in had much of an offensive pedigree, but that was okay because Maine was going to grind out wins.

Maine came out and laid an absolute egg on Friday. Just a complete no-show. Then a third period collapse last night, which you figure if you're the strong cultured, grind it out team you excel in late and close situations. As soon as the 4-on-3 power play happened, that was always going to be a goal because BU has too much talent to not take advantage of that much open ice. Then at 2-1, Maine just stopped being able to connect passes or get the puck out of the zone. Lots of tired legs from chasing BU's better players and Lawrence was wide open for the tying goal. 3-on-3 is a no hoper for Maine against BU, evidenced by the fact that Maine had a chance for a 2-on-1 and Fowler just passed it back into the Maine zone.

Wanting guys who play hard, play as a team, play the coach's system is all well and good. There are gifted offensive hockey players who do that. There are also gifted offensive players who maybe don't do that, but you can figure out a way to coach into it. Or coach around their limitations. I'm not sure that grabbing the fourth or fifth best players from bad teams and that being the whole recruiting strategy is a recipe for Maine being a consistent Hockey East contender. I don't think anyone can, with a straight face, say that Shawn Walsh's teams that were contending for national titles eschewed talent in any way. I'm guessing that at least a few of Maine's top scorers on those teams were difficult to manage. He figured it out.

And maybe this all comes down to money. Probably it does! If Maine can't afford to bring in gifted offensive players, maybe expectations are unreasonable. But (and I've been harping about this since NIL became a thing) IF THAT IS THE CASE YOU NEED TO TELL US. If the athletic department or university came out and said "So, listen, we are budget strapped across the board, we don't have the athletic department resources to pay players much above the minimum, the NIL isn't there to bring in top recruits, it is what it is" either the fanbase and donors can step up, or we can all just adjust expectations downwards and enjoy this for what it is. The University would behoove itself to stop charging the highest ticket prices in the east, too, if that's the case.
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This is a completely fair and reasonable take. The landscape of college hockey has changed dramatically over the past 2 seasons. I understand being upset at the lack of offensive firepower but I see this team as a step forward. This past weekend was as much about BU as it was about Maine.

Maine has done very well in the portal since Barr’s arrival. They had a ton of gaps to fill after last season and they filled it with second and third liners.

As we take a step back and think about where Maine goes from here, realistically this program has a ceiling, that’s not to say we could never put together a national championship caliber team but expecting that each year in the current landscape is not realistic. Being a consistent top 5 team in the league and competing for the tourney while making it ~50% of the time is enough for me.
 
AMC said:
Wanting guys who play hard, play as a team, play the coach's system is all well and good. There are gifted offensive hockey players who do that. There are also gifted offensive players who maybe don't do that, but you can figure out a way to coach into it. Or coach around their limitations. I'm not sure that grabbing the fourth or fifth best players from bad teams and that being the whole recruiting strategy is a recipe for Maine being a consistent Hockey East contender. I don't think anyone can, with a straight face, say that Shawn Walsh's teams that were contending for national titles eschewed talent in any way. I'm guessing that at least a few of Maine's top scorers on those teams were difficult to manage. He figured it out.
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There were absolutely talented head cases that neither Shawn nor Grant wanted any part of and were happy to let poison locker rooms in Ann Arbor and St Paul instead of Orono. There were also plenty of those talented head cases that they knew they could work with and brought them into the fold. The key was knowing which was which.
 
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