Albin Boija was planning to leave his native Sweden to play junior hockey in the United States when an opportunity to play college hockey at the University of Maine landed in his lap.
And he took it.
“It was a pretty easy decision for me. I was going to play juniors but, at the same time, after last season, I knew I was ready to play in college,” Boija said.
He received the chance to play at UMaine when incoming Latvian goalie Patriks Berzins was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. UMaine appealed the NCAA’s decision and it was overturned.
Berzins received a 20-game suspension from the NCAA and UMaine head coach Ben Barr didn’t have time to pursue a reduction of the suspension so he brought in Boija, who was recommended to Barr by a long-time friend.
Berzins moved on to the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League and will join the Black Bears in the fall. And the suspension has been lifted.
Boija has been an effective addition.
He posted a 15-save shutout in a 1-0 win over 11th-ranked UMass in Amherst, Mass. last Saturday and earned Hockey East Defender of the Week honors.
He was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Week last month after stopping 53 of 55 shots in two games against Colgate. He made 30 saves in a 3-1 win over the Raiders and stopped 23 of 24 the next night against them in relief of Victor Ostman. UMaine rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn the tie.
In seven appearances, including five starts, he has compiled a 1.33 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. Both would lead NCAA Division I but he hasn’t played enough games to qualify. There are 64 Division I programs.
His record is 4-1-1 and he hasn’t allowed more than two goals in any of his seven appearances.
He has been splitting the goaltending with senior Victor Ostman (13-4-1, 2.66 GAA, .897 save percentage), who was the All-Hockey East second team goalie last season.
Barr said he hasn’t decided which goalie will start on Friday night when the Black Bears entertain Providence for a two-game series in Orono. Ostman had been starting the Friday games with Boija getting the nod on Saturdays.
“We expected him to come in and really push for the starting job. That’s what we wanted. And he has done a great job of doing that,” said Barr. “He is competitive and very athletic. He is a very composed kid. He is very strong mentally. He doesn’t get too up or too down so you can throw him into hard situations like the UNH game.”
Boija made his first start against arch-rival New Hampshire on Dec. 1 and made 18 saves in a 5-2 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 5,043 at Alfond Arena.
“He is going to continue to get better. He is, by no means, a finished product,” said Barr.
The 6-foot-1, 181-pound Boija said he had to adapt to a much higher level of hockey after playing junior hockey in Sweden.
“The players are four or five years older here and everyone is good. Back home, there would only be a couple of players who could shoot the puck as hard as these guys can,” said the 20-year-old Sundsvall, Sweden native.
He said he didn’t know much about UMaine before he came here.
“I was interested in playing college hockey and I knew it was a good spot,” said Boija.
Boija has impressed his teammates.
“He brings a pro approach to his game,” said UMaine junior center Harrison Scott. “He doesn’t mess around. He is all-business. He does all the little things he needs to do to be great.”
UMaine senior center and co-captain Lynden Breen agrees.
“He has played in big moments against good teams and has pulled through for us. That has been huge,” said Breen. “He has flourished in that moment.”
There were 7,737 in attendance at the Mullins Center on Saturday night when he posted his first career shutout.
“He was great. That place was full, it was on the road and it was a big Hockey East game. He didn’t get fazed,” said Barr.
Boija has been “very happy” with the way he has played but said there is a lot to improve upon.
“I want to get better at everything. I want to become a better skater, I want to do a better job controlling rebounds. It’s always big to develop (rebound control). You can save a shot before it happens if you control rebounds,” said Boija.
Fellow Swede Ostman said Boija’s competitive nature is the “big reason he is having success.
“He works hard and doesn’t worry about too much other stuff,” said Ostman.
Boija said he has adjusted to living in Maine and said playing for the Black Bears in front of a packed Alfond Arena is “awesome.”
UMaine has had seven sellouts in its nine home games.
The Black Bears (17-5-2 overall, 9-4-1 in Hockey East) are ranked seventh in the country and will take an Alfond Arena record of 7-0-2 into this weekend’s home series against the nationally-ranked Friars (15-8-2, 8-5-2). The Friars are ranked 10th in one national poll and 13th in the other.
Game time is 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
They are two of the nation’s stingiest teams as Providence has the fourth-best goals-against average (2.24) behind Swedish goalie Philip Svedeback (15-8-2, 2.16, .902, 4 shutouts) while UMaine is ninth at 2.42. UMaine is also ninth in goals scored (3.67) while the Friars are 26th (3.12).
Freshman brothers Josh (13 goals, 21 assists) and Bradly Nadeau (14 & 18) continue to lead the Black Bears in scoring along with Breen (6 & 18) while Nick Poisson (7 & 13), Tanner Adams (5 & 12) and Chase Yoder (9 & 7) are PC’s top scorers.