The University of Maine men’s hockey team’s triumph in the 34th annual Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth College over the weekend was significant.
Its 5-2 win over nationally ranked Rochester Institute of Technology (18th in one poll, 19th in the other) and 5-1 championship-game victory over host Dartmouth supplied UMaine with its first tournament title since the 2012 Florida College Classic in Estero, Florida.
The victories extended UMaine’s winning streak to six games and moved the team to seventh in the U.S. College Hockey Online national poll and first in the Pairwise Rankings, which mimic the NCAA Tournament selection process.
What made UMaine’s championship noteworthy was that three of the team’s four lines combined for seven points apiece. UMaine has now received goals from 12 players during the winning streak.
The fact UMaine is starting to receive supplemental scoring and balance is important. The top line of Lynden Breen between the Nadeau brothers will still be the primary focus of opposing teams, but UMaine is showing it can win even if that line doesn’t score.
Breen and the Nadeau brothers, Josh and Bradly, combined for three goals and four assists.
Harrison Scott centered a line between Thomas Freel and Donavan Houle and they teamed up for two goals and five assists.
The line centered by Felix Trudeau between Sully Scholle and Reid Pabich had four goals and three assists.
Junior center Scott, who had a goal in both games, was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Freshman left winger Scholle and senior right wing Houle were named to the all-tournament team and senior Victor Ostman was chosen the top goalie.
Scholle had his first two-goal game in the title game and had an assist in the RIT game, while Houle had four assists.
Ostman stopped 36 of 39 shots in the two victories.
Scott now has goals in three of his last four games, and Pabich’s goal in the title game snapped his string of 25 games without a goal and should open the door to future production.
Junior center and power forward Nolan Renwick was sidelined by a nagging injury and he will give the team a lift when he returns. He is one of UMaine’s biggest forwards at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds.
UMaine has seven players with 10 or more points and nine players with three or more goals.
The team is currently ninth in the country with its 3.75 goals per game. That is more than a goal per game greater than the team’s same stat a year ago. UMaine is also averaging 35.3 shots on goal per game compared to its opponents’ 24.5.
Ostman has quietly put together a nice stretch of performances, allowing just nine goals in his last five starts and making 125 saves. He has the nation’s third-best winning percentage (76.7 percent) among 64 Division I teams.
The defense corps continues to be steady and reliable despite its youth. Sophomore Brandon Chabrier has evolved into an offensive threat and has a point in six of his last seven games (2 goals, 9 assists). He was named the Hockey East Defender of the Week for the third time this season.
UMaine has been playing six freshmen and sophomores on the blue line along with junior co-captain David Breazeale. Sophomore Grayson Arnott has been sidelined by an injury.
The team is allowing just 2.31 goals per game, which is 11th-best in the country.
Josh Nadeau’s 1.56 points per game (10 goals, 15 assists in 16 games) is tied for fourth in the country and his brother’s four game-winning goals tie him for fourth. Bradly Nadeau’s 1.44 points per game (12 goals, 11 assists in 16 games) is eighth-most.
One area UMaine needs to become more consistent in is the special teams.
The power play has gone 0-for-11 over its last four games and the penalty kill has allowed at least one goal in six of its last eight games (8 allowed in 37 attempts).
UMaine will host defending ECAC Tournament champ and NCAA Tournament team Colgate for its final two non-conference games on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Colgate is 6-8-2 under first-year head coach Mike Harder and hasn’t played since upending nationally ranked Cornell 4-2 on the road on Dec. 2.
The Raiders were picked to finish sixth among 12 teams in the ECAC’s preseason poll.
They are 5-2 on the road and just 1-6-2 at home.
