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

[blackbears9]

UMass's goalie is legit. Playing Eskit and Yegorov in back to back weekends isn't ideal and certainly brings the boo birds out.

Out of all the chances tonight I have no clue how Klimpke's is the one that found the back of the net but I'll take it. I thought Fleece and Bales quietly had great games, both are so fast. When Fleece adjusts to the college level he could be dangerous. I've been a Lipinski doubter for a long time but he keeps showing flashes that are starting to make me believe. Boija is looking like he shook last year off, the career shutout record certainly isn't out of reach.

Oster for UVM has also been having an incredible year as well. What should've been a sweep in Burlington isn't looking so easy right now, we'll see if they can keep up the intensity on the road. Silverstein going from the USNTDP to a bench rider at BC to a solid goalie at Quinnipiac back to a bench rider at Vermont is certainly a mystery.

 

[Fishman'81]

Maine played exactly the same game it played last night, but nobody is complaining tonight... Some of you guys kill me.

This team plays hard, and Barr seems to have a workable plan via the very small bodies on the roster.

I still think that Maine will have a slim chance of cracking the NCAA field.

But, in any case, I like this team. The guys can skate, and they work hard.

 

[ticapnews]

93 shots on goal. 157 shots attempted. 3 goals.

 

[amkirby10]

Fantastic game. They absolutely earned this one, and could have won it in a much wider margin than 2-0. The guys on NESN mentioned this, but despite the shot totals being lopsided both nights, that fact felt misleading last night, but definitely felt indicative of the game tonight.

I want to point out the fact that aside from opening weekend against Holy Cross, Maine has played better on Saturday consistently since then. I view this as a testament to Barr's coaching and his ability to adjust the game plan to what the opponent tries to do.

 

[amkirby10]

Also, we all know how much I pissed and moaned last year about missing Taylor Makar, but I'm starting to think that Tanner Klimpke might be a diet version of Makar. I've certainly liked what I've seen of him so far and I think hes a guy who does have some measure of offensive skill.

 

[walrus]

Text book Barr game. Very few mistakes and relentless pursuit of puck. Boija appears to have mojo back. I figured when they scored early Umass would even it up but I was wrong. Still think they will improve offensively as season progresses. Not sure I see any chances at ncaas but thats why you play the games.

 

[acs64]

60 minutes of effort was there all night for sure. No shifts taken off, impressive. UMass and Maine a reflection of each other in terms of work ethic and tenacity. Fingers cross that Booyah has found his mojo again. Fun game to watch, those boys gotta be sore this morning. Given how well UVM has been playing so far, I think a split in Burlington would be just be fine.

Its interesting to watch these guys develop. I mean there are some big dudes out there for Maine, something we see little of over the years. Certainly no one is pushing them around . If they can find some consistent scoring....the season could be very interesting.

 

[walrus]

Watching some of the game over again. In 2nd period Fleece was 8 or 10 feet behind a Umass player at center ice pursuing the puck. He caught the Umass player before the red line. I guess he can fly. I had noticed against BU he wasn't afraid of physical play but didn't notice the quickness. Komarov had quite a few chances also.

Barrs thoughts https://youtu.be/EQzVBOczjkw?si=m5CncHj-42Q_C5xE

 

[grooverider]

Maine played exactly the same game it played last night, but nobody is complaining tonight... Some of you guys kill me.

This team plays hard, and Barr seems to have a workable plan via the very small bodies on the roster.

I still think that Maine will have a slim chance of cracking the NCAA field.

But, in any case, I like this team. The guys can skate, and they work hard.

Funny the Wife said the same thing and Barr did as well in his presser. Guess I should stick to my day job lol

 

[grooverider]

Watching some of the game over again. In 2nd period Fleece was 8 or 10 feet behind a Umass player at center ice pursuing the puck. He caught the Umass player before the red line. I guess he can fly. I had noticed against BU he wasn't afraid of physical play but didn't notice the quickness. Komarov had quite a few chances also.

Barrs thoughts https://youtu.be/EQzVBOczjkw?si=m5CncHj-42Q_C5xE

Being at the game both nights I will tell you we are really fast this year. UMass looked slow at times. Siciliano is a freaking stud skating out of the zone. Alfano has some nasty in him. Sounds like Barr benched Russell because they need him but he just isn't there. Oh and shout out to Fowler. He is our pulse.

Also UMass is a real classy bunch of guys. Multiple times during the games after the plays if someone tangled up there was flashes of sportsmanship from them

 

[tylerzx2002]

Shot selection last night was just so much better. They made Eskit move and work much more. Pointed shots off the pads for rebounds instead of directly to the chest. He was terrific and probably should have been the #1 star. Can see him being one of those goalies that is always a thorn in our side (a la Gabe Carriere).

Finishing still needs some work, but can't really argue with the pace they played with as they completely shut down anything UMass tried to get going all night. If they can get the 5x5 scoring figured out I could see them making it to March with how relentless they play.

Fleece getting PP2 time seems like such a natural fit. Has great speed and work ethic and came away quite impressed with his play in all three zones. Seen a couple others shouting him out but agree with Siciliano, he was money last night. Even Lafton is starting to look a bit more comfortable out there himself. I've mentioned him in other games but Komarov looks so much better than he did at any point last season. Puck pursuit has been on point, he's a menace on the forecheck. Had a couple golden scoring chances, but couldn't finish.

Boija keeps moving up the Maine record books:
He has officially tied Howard & Swayman for 6th on the career wins list with 47.
He passed Howard & Ouellette with his 83rd game played. Next up are Snow (84), Yeats (85), & Ostman (86).
He passed Ostman for 6th on the career minutes played list with 4914. About 2 games away from being the 6th goalie to hit 5000.
He is 25 saves behind Yeats (1891) for 11th on that list. 134 saves shy of being the 7th goalie to hit 2000.
He is 3 shutouts shy of tying Howard (15). Shame that him getting pulled to give Berzins 7+ mins of ice time a couple years ago against Merrimack cost him a shutout.

 

[amkirby10]

Would definitely like to take a look through the full data set of this.

I figured I would end up posting the sheet since there was at least some interest.

A big shoutout to your Black Bear Hockey history website, which was invaluable for getting the complete list of players along with (most of) their commitment dates. I said in the original post that it was a list of "all forwards under both Barr and Gendron". This was a little misleading; what I should have said was that it's a list of every player recruited by both Barr and Gendron, meaning that any players who played for Red early in his tenure but were recruited by Tim Whitehead (such as Blaine Byron, for example) will not be included. The list is also forwards only, so no defensemen or goaltenders will be included. My determination of which coach recruited a player was going by the date of their commitment listed on the website. If the date was missing, I did my best to research the circumstances and determine who they should count for. It may be slightly off, and if so I apologize. The stats are current as of the end of last night's game, so it is fully up-to-date. The stats also reflect only the player's time in Orono, so if they transferred in from and/or out to another school, their stats with their other school(s) are not included.

In case it isn't clear from the key I tried to put on the sheet, if a player is has a red background behind their name, they were recruited by Red as freshmen. If the player has a blue background, they were recruited by Barr as freshmen. Yellow, they were recruited as transfers by Gendron, and green means they were recruited as transfers by Barr. An asterisk/star means they are currently on the roster. Link below.

Red vs Barr Forward Recruits

docs.google.com