With an exhibition victory in their back pockets, the University of Maine Black Bears will try to continue their ascendance up the college hockey rankings when they officially open the season Thursday night.
Coming off a 3-2 win over archrival New Hampshire, UMaine will face ECAC team Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from Troy, New York, at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday nights at Alfond Arena in Orono.
The Black Bears unveiled a new top line in the exhibition game with senior center and co-captain Lynden Breen between the freshman Nadeau brothers, Bradly and Josh. They scored all three goals against UNH with Josh Nadeau, the older of the two brothers, scoring twice and assisting on the other goal scored by Breen.
Breen had two assists to go with his goal and Bradly Nadeau had two assists.
Despite walking away with the win, UMaine players said they found things to improve upon as they prepare for the start of the season. They will need to execute those improvements if the Black Bears wish to improve upon last season’s 15-16-5 overall record, 9-11-4 in Hockey East.
“I’ve got to be better at stopping on every puck in front of the net to make sure I’m there for second chances,” Bradly Nadeau said of the improvements he wants to make. “That’s the biggest part of my game I have to work on. I’ve seen it on video.”
Bradly Nadeau was chosen in the first round of the National Hockey League draft in June by the Carolina Hurricanes (30th overall).
The Nadeaus were the leading scorers in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League last season, both in the regular season and the postseason. They led the Penticton Vees to the league’s regular season and playoff championships.
“We all think alike and that’s why we’ve had a connection already,” Bradly Nadeau said.
Josh Nadeau said he needs to concentrate on “all the little details in the defensive zone.”
The Nadeaus observed that the speed of play is much faster than it was in juniors.
”I’ve got to get used to that,” said Josh Nadeau, who added that he is hoping to “bring creativity into our game to help us score a lot of goals this year.”
Breen said the Nadeau brothers have great chemistry and that he’s trying to learn how to fit in with them. Breen led UMaine in scoring a year ago with 21 goals and 15 assists in 36 games and was an All-Hockey East second team selection.
UMaine junior center and assistant captain Nolan Renwick said he wasn’t surprised to see how well the top line played together.
“When you put three good players together, something good is going to happen. They’re very similar. They’re all fast and they’re all skilled. It seems like they really move well together and they know where each other is at all times,” Renwick said.
Renwick has played in 69 career games and centers the team’s most experienced line between graduate student and left wing Ben Poisson (118 games) and senior right wing Donavan Houle (84 games). Each scored nine goals last season.
Renwick and UMaine head coach Ben Barr said it will be important for UMaine to get goal production from all four lines, not just the Breen line.
“You know the top line is going to produce. They are three really talented players,” Renwick said. “So if we can get the other three lines going, we will be a really dangerous team.”
The team scored three goals on 32 high-percentage scoring chances against UNH, RIP alum Barr said.
“We have to be really focused and deliberate about finishing plays. We aren’t going to have that many scoring chances every night so when we do get them, we have to take pride in putting them in the back of the net.”
UMaine averaged just 2.56 goals per game a year ago, which was 44th among 60 Division I programs.
UMaine won eight more games overall than the previous season and finished sixth in Hockey East after finishing last (11th) two years ago.
The Black Bears are looking forward to playing in front of the energetic and vociferous crowd at Alfond Arena, and they know they will be facing a quality opponent.
“They’re going to give us a great fight,” Breazeale said.
RPI was 14-20-1 overall a year go, 9-13 in the ECAC and Dave Smith’s Engineers return six of their top eight scorers led by Merrimack College transfer Jakob Lee (10 goals and 12 assists) and Sutter Muzzatti (7 & 15), four defensemen who played in at least 33 games a year ago and workhorse goalie Jack Watson, who was 13-15-1 with a 3.08 goals-against average and .895 save percentage.
They were picked seventh in the 12-team ECAC Hockey League in the preseason coaches poll.
“The Alfond will be rocking. There’s no better place to play in college hockey,” Renwick said.
