University of Maine junior defenseman David Breazeale and junior center Nolan Renwick will be returning to the TD Garden in Boston for the Hockey East semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
They were there two years ago.
The difference this year is they will be playing in the tournament instead of sitting in the stands as spectators.
The third-seeded and seventh-ranked Black Bears, 23-10-2, will play in their first semifinal since the 2011-12 season. They will face a second-seeded and second-ranked BU team that is 25-8-2 and was in the Frozen Four a year ago.
Regular season champion and top seed Boston College, 29-5-1 and the No. 1 team in the country, will take on fifth seed and 12th/13th-ranked UMass, 20-12-3, in Friday’s 4 p.m. opener.
The championship game will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“(Breazeale) and I went down there for spring break,” said Renwick. “We said to each other that this is where we want to be (playing). UMass won it that year and we obviously wanted it to be us.”
“There were four of us and we said we wanted this to be in our future,” said Breazeale. “It was a goal of ours. It’s such an amazing event. It’s a great tournament.
“We’re really fortunate to have this opportunity,” added Breazeale.
“It’s pretty surreal,” said sophomore defenseman Brandon Holt. “I’ve never played in an NHL rink before. I’m going to take it all in but we obviously want to win.”
Boston College, Boston University and UMaine have already sewn up three of the 16 NCAA Tournament berths and will learn which of the four, four-team regionals they will be involved in at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night during the tournament selection show on ESPNU. It will be streamed on ESPN+.
UMass also has a good shot to get in.
The Black Bears will bring a four-game winning streak into the game while BU has won six in a row.
One of the keys to UMaine’s recent success has been its special teams.
The Black Bears have scored at least one power play goal in its last five games, going 7-for-16 which is a 43.75 percent success rate.
Opponents are just 2-for-15 on the power play during that span, a 13.3 percent efficiency rate.
Freshman left wing Bradly Nadeau, who is second on the team in power play points with 12 (3 goals, 9 assists) behind older brother and linemate Josh’s 13 (8 goals, 5 assists), said they have worked hard in practice on the power play and have emphasized getting their shots off quickly and putting them on net. And it is carrying over into games.
“Sometimes you try to do too much (with the puck). You have to keep it simple. It you put shots on net, they’re going to go in eventually,” said Nadeau.
Sophomore defenseman Brandon Chabrier agreed.
“You can overcomplicate the game by trying to make fancy plays,” said Chabrier. “The two power play goals we got last weekend (in a 5-0 quarterfinal win over New Hampshire) were nothing fancy. It was just getting pucks to the net and working hard in front of the net.
“That’s one of the things that makes our power play special,” said Chabrier, who has two goals and six assists on the power play.
UMaine has two power play units. The Nadeaus are on one unit with Chabrier, Lynden Breen and Ben Poisson and the other consists of Harrison Scott, Donavan Houle and Thomas Freel along with Sully Scholle and Holt.
“Both of the units are playing really well now. Really dangerous teams have two successful units,” said Renwick. “And they each have different looks so that keeps teams guessing.
“The other team is going to have to create two penalty killing units and that can create confusion and lead to more scoring opportunities,” said Renwick.
Boston University head coach Jay Pandolfo is cognizant of UMaine’s power play units.
“They have a really good power play and both units are dangerous,” said Pandolfo.
Nadeau, who also plays on the penalty kill, said special teams in the playoffs are “massive.
“We are taking pride in them. They can win you games or lose you games. Having both of them working right now is good for us,” said Nadeau.
UMaine’s power play success rate has risen to 21.6 percent which is 24th best in the country among 64 Division I teams.
But BU is second best at 27.9 percent thanks to a 4-for-8 showing in 3-2 and 5-4 wins over UMaine at Agganis Arena in Boston on Nov. 17-18.
UMaine went 3-for-7 with the man advantage that weekend.
“They are a highly skilled team with a real good power play,” said Breazeale. “We have to be locked in, make sure we understand our responsibilities and communicate on the ice. We have to take away their major threats and keep things to the outside as much as possible.”
UMaine head coach Ben Barr credited assistants Jason Fortier (power play) and Alfie Michaud (penalty kill) for doing a “real good job” with their special teams.
“It helps to not take six, seven or eight penalties. That allows you to have juice on the power play because a lot of the power plays guys are penalty-killers, too. That keeps them fresh,” said Barr.
“In the playoffs, all the teams you play have really good special teams. So you have to stay disciplined,” said junior center Scott.
He also said it is going to be of the utmost importance to eliminate Hobey Baker Award finalist Macklin Celebrini’s “time and space with the puck.”
The freshman sensation and Hockey East Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year has 30 goals and 25 assists in 33 games. He is tied with Boston College freshman Gabe Perreault for tops in the nation among 64 teams in points per game with 1.67.
Eight of the nation’s top 14 scorers when it come to points per game are involved in the Hockey East semifinals and six are freshmen.
The others are BC freshman Will Smith (1.66 ppg, 2nd), Boston College sophomore Cutter Gauthier (1.49 ppg, 7th), BC freshman Ryan Leonard (1.40, 10th), BU sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson (1.33, 12th) and the Nadeau brothers (1.29, tied for 13th).
Smith, Gauthier and Hutson are also among the 10 Hobey Baker Award finalists.
Hutson has 12 goals and 32 assists and the other top point-producers are Jeremy Wilmer (6 goals, 30 assists), Quinn Hutson (17 & 16), Lane’s brother; Ryan Greene (9 & 22), Luke Tuch (9 & 18) and Shane Lachance (12 & 11), grandson of legendary BU Hall of Fame hockey coach Jack Parker.
Cade Webber, who was chosen the league’s best defensive defenseman thanks to his 120 blocked shots, suffered a minor injury in the 4-2 quarterfinal win over Northeastern and Pandolfo said his availability will be a “game time decision.”
Brown University transfer Mathieu Caron (25-8-2 record, 2.29 goals-against average, .917 save percentage) will be between the pipes.
The Nadeaus lead the Black Bears in scoring with 45 points apiece. Bradly has 19 goals and 26 assists and Josh has 18 & 27). They are followed by Breen (8 & 21), Scott (14 & 12), Houle (9 & 14), Freel (6 & 16) and Chabrier (6 & 15).
Freshman goalie Albin Boija has the nation’s fourth-lowest goals-against average (1.94) to go with his 10-5-1 record and .921 save percentage.
