The Barr Has Been Raised at UMaine

[amkirby10]

Finding a way to win on nights where you don't bring your A-game is a definite sign that this team is improving.

The cherry was seeing former commit Guillaume Richard smash his stick in frustration on the ENG.

Was that Richard who did that? That makes it even more amusing and satisfying than it already was, which was very satisfying. He's not the only former Maine commit for the Friars either, Craig Needham was once headed to Orono.

Maybe it's just me, but to my eye Providence, especially lately, plays like a team that dosen't have a lot of respect for Maine. And up until recently that was pretty justified, but now it just looks bad.

 

[rw1733]

Does anyone else keep the game on mute due to the play-by-play guy? UMaine seriously needs to do something....his voice is so shrill when he yells....which is 50% of the broadcast.

I often do this. When a goal is scored, it's just unbearable how loud the announcer gets.

 

[walrus]

Finally got to watch parts of the game on my phone. The first goal the guy breaking it out(freel) blew by the pc defender. absolutely smoked the guy. That opened it up for a nice pass and tap in.

 

[umhockey91]

Ostman named HE Player of the Week....

https://twitter.com/MaineIceHockey/status/1620135240571420672

 

[MoxieMan21]

Boston University should win Hockey East so getting #7 is very important. The schedule looks good for Maine to overtake Boston College. Two points down with a game in hand and three games head to head is about as good as the Bears could hope at this point. Add in that Maine plays a pair at UNH (#11 and two wins all year) and home to UMass (#10 and three) and Maine has a great shot at passing the Eagles. They even have an outside chance of passing the Friars for sixth.

This team has learned how to win even when not at its best. Next weekend just became much more interesting.

Long time follower of this forum, first time poster so go easy on me lol.

BU I think has the most talent and playing really well since the break. Obviously the recent trip their as a test to where Maine is at didn't go well. NU was picked to win the conference and after a real slow start they are coming on strong. Looking at both their schedules the rest of the way out I think NU has a slightly easier road. With a game in hand on BU I could see them squeaking it out but either way, if things stay somewhat where they are at and Maine finishes 7 or 8 if they were to win a home game they would be looking either BU or NU and that seems like a bad matchup either way you look at it. Maine has not had a lot of success at Matthews in recent memory. If they were somehow able to jump Providence and BC and find a way to 6th there is a better chance to get the Garden but tough sledding any route that comes there way.

 

[UncleRay]

Welcome aboard, MoxieMan! Thanks for the insight - keep bringing it!

 

[Runsub5]

Long time follower of this forum, first time poster so go easy on me lol.....

Don't be a stranger.

 

[amkirby10]

Agree with Ray and Runsub, welcome Mr Moxie. Always nice to have new voices here, adds to discussion.

 

[MoxieMan21]

That was an awesome sight. He is a good player tho, I’m sure he wishes he hadn’t flip flopped. As a Maine fan I’m happy we got Breazeale out of it, he’ll be the captain of this team one day.

This team is learning to win, the rebuild is far ahead of schedule. As excited as I am for the future of the program, this season is far from over. If they can hold onto home ice for the first round, the road to the garden is much more realistic.

Since starting 2-8-1, they’re 9-4-1. They’ve been excellent at home and they’ve taken care of business against lesser competition. Schedule is favorable on the way out so it’d be nice to seen them finish above .500.

I think there are obvious signs of improvement. More wins than last year already is the obvious thing and one at the end of the day matters most, but my biggest observation is that they are just more competitive overall. Sure, they have laid some stinkers but as a young team there are growing pains and I think that comes with the territory. It wasn’t long ago I had the pending feeling of doom if they even fell behind by a goal they packed it in no matter how much game was left. They were competitive in some tough road games early in the season @ MC, @NU,@ UConn even @ Denver after the first period they played with em.

I think the overall depth and talent level is much better. Look, they don’t have any superstars and don’t have the same level of talent that is deep like NU,BU,PC etc but it’s clearly better than recent years. Maine has some nice players that I think are upper half of talent pool but maybe not at the top. Team unity and buying in to what you are building
can be just as important because you can’t tell me BC and PC don’t have more talented players in their lineup but Maine is on the heels of BC in the standings and just swept PC so considering what they are working with it’s a pleasant surprise IMO.

If this team gets a few guys that have the instincts , a knack to find the back of the net either through transfers or incoming Freshmen I think they can be middle of the pack to 4 or 5 in HE next season. Improvement is needed on the power play and this past weekend it was evident they worked on it and changed up the movement to get better shots and it worked at least for now. Defense overall is so much better it’s like they actually know where they should be in the d-zone coverage which is far from what they looked like before. At times it was painful to watch guys chasing guys all over the defensive zone until a guy was left all alone in front of the net or sitting Backdoor for tap in goals. Not seeing that much now and seeing some aggressive net front battles which was lacking. Keep it up, the signs are there that the culture is changing and Maine isn’t going to be a W circled on everyone’s schedule.

 

[umhockey91]

If this team gets a few guys that have the instincts , a knack to find the back of the net either through transfers or incoming Freshmen I think they can be middle of the pack to 4 or 5 in HE next season. Improvement is needed on the power play and this past weekend it was evident they worked on it and changed up the movement to get better shots and it worked at least for now. Defense overall is so much better it’s like they actually know where they should be in the d-zone coverage which is far from what they looked like before. At times it was painful to watch guys chasing guys all over the defensive zone until a guy was left all alone in front of the net or sitting Backdoor for tap in goals. Not seeing that much now and seeing some aggressive net front battles which was lacking. Keep it up, the signs are there that the culture is changing and Maine isn’t going to be a W circled on everyone’s schedule.

If Ostman returns next season....I think that this is a top 3 team in Hockey East and an NCAA tourney team where anything can happen.

 

[BlackBearFan19]

If Ostman returns next season....I think that this is a top 3 team in Hockey East and an NCAA tourney team where anything can happen.

This is where I’m at right now as well. If Ostman and Poisson come back, I’m all in on next year’s team. From listening to the coaches show, it sounds like Henbrant will be back.

I would assume Ostman returns, as good as he is, is he going to give up two years of eligibility to most likely play in the ECHL for a year or two?

To me, Poisson is the question mark, does he come back to Maine likely wearing the C or does he play his final year of eligibility with his brother at Providence? Can’t fault him if he chooses the latter but it would be awesome to have him back.

 

[amkirby10]

This is where I’m at right now as well. If Ostman and Poisson come back, I’m all in on next year’s team. From listening to the coaches show, it sounds like Henbrant will be back.

I would assume Ostman returns, as good as he is, is he going to give up two years of eligibility to most likely play in the ECHL for a year or two?

To me, Poisson is the question mark, does he come back to Maine likely wearing the C or does he play his final year of eligibility with his brother at Providence? Can’t fault him if he chooses the latter but it would be awesome to have him back.

Looking at the roster, the only ones who are guaranteed to age out are Michaelian (bottom six depth forward) and Sirota, as they are both grad students. Poisson, Henbrandt, and Bruneski are all seniors, but they would have the extra covid year. Everyone else is a junior or younger, and I don't really see why any of them would choose not to come back. I would think Ben probably stays, I'm sure he sees how this team is trending up and would give him the opportunity for leadership. With Hopkins coming in as a freshman I think he can replace Sirota, not to mention the Nadeau's up front, with others. Next year's team should be really good, and I think NCAA Tournament berth isnt unreasonable.

 

[Fishman'81]

I actually thought Maine looked better v BU than they did against PC. Our boys just got better bounces v PC.

Am I alone?

 

[Harry Cleverly]

Am I alone?

Alone.

 

[MoxieMan21]

I actually thought Maine looked better v BU than they did against PC. Our boys just got better bounces v PC.

Am I alone?

They scored goals and did some nice things on the offense Saturday but Im not sure they played better that weekend than against Providence. Saturday against Providence as lop sided as the shots were I think Maine did a decent job in front and kept a lot of things to the outside. I think it was clear they were outshot for I believe the first time all year and Friday and think the message was just shoot the puck because it seemed to me they were passing up opportunities to make maybe a better play and were just shooting from everywhere. Eyeball test just in pure puck possession, looked like Maine was getting dominated but I don't think it was necessarily as bad as it looked

 

[Drew S.]

This is where I’m at right now as well. If Ostman and Poisson come back, I’m all in on next year’s team. From listening to the coaches show, it sounds like Henbrant will be back.

I would assume Ostman returns, as good as he is, is he going to give up two years of eligibility to most likely play in the ECHL for a year or two?

To me, Poisson is the question mark, does he come back to Maine likely wearing the C or does he play his final year of eligibility with his brother at Providence? Can’t fault him if he chooses the latter but it would be awesome to have him back.

I worry more about Ostman(and others) going to BC, NEU, or some other school more so than them going pro. The best thing about Maine being close to .500 is hopefully it encourages more guys to come back.

 

[Drew S.]

I actually thought Maine looked better v BU than they did against PC. Our boys just got better bounces v PC.

Am I alone?

I think it had to do more with the game circumstances than anything else. BU had a bigger sheet, plays a more uptempo game, etc where against providence it’s a grind. I saw Leaman’s comments after Saturday’s game and he basically said providence was horrible Friday and then lost Saturday because of Ostman and providence not getting any bounces. Hard for me to argue against any of that.

 

[umhockey91]

I worry more about Ostman(and others) going to BC, NEU, or some other school more so than them going pro. The best thing about Maine being close to .500 is hopefully it encourages more guys to come back.

Why would Ostman transfer to BC or Northeastern?....LOL.

 

[NorthMike]

I worry more about Ostman(and others) going to BC, NEU, or some other school more so than them going pro. The best thing about Maine being close to .500 is hopefully it encourages more guys to come back.

The portal sure changes college hockey and complicates things. It will be interesting or frustrating maybe to see how it changes d1 hockey overall.
The upside is for programs like ours if there is truth in wanting success back in the Alfond then its a must to maintain a quality coaching staff and facility. The program is going in that direction but has to stay the course.
Players need to be shown they can improve and be part of success.
Gone are the days of just recruiting good players and living off that, now you have to keep them too.
Change or perish.

 

[tylerzx2002]

Looking at the roster, the only ones who are guaranteed to age out are Michaelian (bottom six depth forward) and Sirota, as they are both grad students. Poisson, Henbrandt, and Bruneski are all seniors, but they would have the extra covid year. Everyone else is a junior or younger, and I don't really see why any of them would choose not to come back. I would think Ben probably stays, I'm sure he sees how this team is trending up and would give him the opportunity for leadership. With Hopkins coming in as a freshman I think he can replace Sirota, not to mention the Nadeau's up front, with others. Next year's team should be really good, and I think NCAA Tournament berth isnt unreasonable.

Hopefully Barr keeps the Penticton kids together next year. Their familiarity with one another might ease some of the adjustment that comes with making the jump to D1 hockey and honestly it's really working for the Vees this season. Their 34-3-0-0 record looks like a misprint.