Last season, Oskar Komarov and Thomas Pichette were trying to win the Fred Page Cup, which goes to the British Columbia Junior Hockey League playoff champion.
Now they are trying to win an NCAA Division I championship with the University of Maine’s Black Bears, who play Penn State in the four-team Allentown Regional on Friday at 8:30 p.m. at the PPL Center after UConn and Quinnipiac open the regional at 5 p.m.
The regional championship game will be on Sunday.
Komarov and Pichette play on the fourth line and have given the Black Bears needed depth up front. They are the only freshmen who play regularly.
UMaine senior defenseman and co-captain David Breazeale said Pichette and Komarov have been “fantastic” this season.
“They’ve totally accepted their roles,” said Breazeale. “Whatever minutes they get, they give us their very best. It’s pretty impressive as freshmen playing in these big moments. Coach puts them out there and really trusts them.”
Komarov centers the line with Pichette on the right side and sophomore Sully Scholle on the left.
Junior Nicholas Niemo and sophomore Anthony Calafiore, who recently returned to the lineup after missing 10 games due to injury, also see duty on the fourth line as teams are allowed to dress 19 skaters along with the goalies.
UMaine head coach Ben Barr said Komarov and Pichette have been “steady” for the Black Bears.
“They work hard. They make freshman mistakes but they don’t get overwhelmed in big situations,” said Barr. “They give us 8 to 10 minutes a night and it’s good minutes for the most part. They’ve been really effective. They’re both capable of chipping the puck in and making plays, too. But I’m really looking for them to have the puck and grind out some [offensive] zone time [on the forecheck] and, for the most part, they do.”
He called them “very honest players” who “aren’t flashy but both have size and they can both skate and hold onto a puck when someone is leaning on them.”
The establishment of a dependable fourth line is important because it reduces the ice time of the top three lines and keeps them fresh.
“If you can roll four lines at this time of the year, it’s tough to play against,” said Barr.
Komarov has two goals and five assists while playing in 36 of UMaine’s 37 games and Pichette has two goals and three assists in 18 games with a goal and two assists coming in his last six games.
Niemo has three goals and two assists in 22 games and Calafiore has a goal in 21 games.
“It’s pretty sweet to go into the tournament as a freshman,” said Pichette. “I can’t wait to play.”
Pichette said he doesn’t anticipate being nervous.
“It’s hockey. You just have to play,” said Pichette, who noted that playing in the TD Garden for their Hockey East semifinal and championship game victories over Northeastern and UConn, respectively, represented the first time he had ever played in a National Hockey League rink.
“It was sweet. It was insane. In front of almost 20,000 people. I’ve never played in front of that many people before,” said Pichette, a native of Maskinonge, Quebec.
He said the fourth line wants to play well and contribute, “but it’s mostly to give juice to the other guys and get the team going.”
Pichette knew the adjustment from junior hockey to college hockey was going to be challenging “but I’ve gotten better every day and I love working.”
Komarov said they focus on being physical and “keeping things simple.”
He and Pichette are roommates, which has helped them establish a chemistry.
“Thomas is a great guy and a great player,” said Komarov who has been pleased with the season to date.
“It has been a great season so far and we’ve made a lot of great memories but we still have a lot to do,” said Komarov, a native of Uusikaarlepyy, Finland. “We have great depth on the team. We have a lot of great players and it’s easy to play with them.”
Co-captain Breazeale said the role the two freshmen have played “just adds to the depth we have on the team” and has been “a critical piece for us in the second half” of the season.
Sophomore right wing Charlie Russell concurred.
“They’ve been awesome. They have given us some real good shifts. They’ve been giving us a lot of momentum. They’ve played their role really well and been a huge part of the team,” said Russell, a Clarkson transfer who will be playing in his first NCAA Tournament game.
“It’s pretty special. I’ve wanted to play in a tournament game since I was a little kid,” said Russell.
The Black Bears, 24-7-6, will have their hands full with 20-13-4 Penn State, which is the seventh-highest scoring team in the country among 64 Division I teams with 3.51 goals per game. UMaine has allowed 1.89 goals per game which is third best in the nation.
But the Nittany Lions have given up 3.08 goals per game which is 45th while UMaine is 14th in goals scored with 3.32.
Penn State has scored 21 goals in its last five games.
“We’re going to want to dictate the pace of play,” said Breazeale. “They’re a fast team that scores a lot of goals so we’ll want to slow them down and limit our turnovers as well.”
“They’re really good with the puck,” said Barr. “They play really up-tempo. They have some guys who can make plays. If we take care of the puck, get pucks in [deep] and forecheck, it’s kind of our game.”
He also said they will need to get pucks out of their defensive zone into the neutral zone efficiently.
“If we’re complicating things, that’s probably not good for us,” added Barr.
The Nittany Lions, making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since their Division I debut in the 2012-13 season, feature their first Hobey Baker Award finalist in sophomore right wing Aiden Fink, who has 23 goals and 29 assists and is second in the country in points per game (1.41).
He was chosen to the All-Big Ten first team and second-leading scorer Charlie Cerrato (15 & 22) was selected to the All-Rookie team. Reese Laubach (15 & 15) was a Big Ten honorable mention and defenseman Simon Mack (3 & 24) and UConn transfer goalie Arsenii Sergeev (17-8-4, 2.66 goals-against average, .915 save percentage) were All-Big Ten second team picks.
Cade Christenson (2 & 7) was an All-Rookie team pick.
Cerrato has 3 goals and 9 assists in his last six games and right wing J.J. Wiebusch has 7 & 4.
Sergeev faced UMaine once in his UConn career, shutting out the Black Bears 2-0 in Connecticut last season with a 27-save performance.
UMaine continues to be led by senior center and alternate captain Harrison Scott (18 goals, 17 assists) and senior left wing Taylor Makar (18 & 12) along with sophomore right wing Josh Nadeau (10 & 19), sophomore defenseman Frank Djurasevic (7 & 21), Russell (7 & 19), senior center and alternate captain Nolan Renwick (9 & 15), junior left wing Owen Fowler (10 & 10) and junior defenseman and All-Hockey East third teamer Brandon Holt (4 & 16).
Sophomore goalie and All-Hockey East second teamer Albin Boija is 23-7-6 with a 1.76 GAA and a .930 save percentage. He has the nation’s fifth best GAA and 8th best save percentage.
Nadeau has four goals and eight assists in his last 9 games and Makar has 12 goals over his last 15 games.
