On May 28, 2024, as the Maine Black Bears left the Springfield Coliseum, there was a sense of optimism with a hint of uncertainty. Despite being the number two seed and having the advantage of Bradley Nadeau being the school's first opening round draft pick since Barrett Heisten in 1999, Maine lost a game in which they were physically outmatched against Cornell. After taking a 1-0 lead less than six minutes in, the Black Bears then allowed three unanswered goals, dropping the contest to the Big Red who themselves lost to the eventual national champion Denver Pioneers. It was a massive step forward for the Black Bears, who just two seasons prior finished dead last in the always competitive Hockey East Conference.
Let me make it clear: I did not grow up a Maine Black Bears fan. I am from California, where the closest team to my hometown of Perris, California is Arizona State, which is five hours away. The Sun Devils' hockey program did not begin play in Division I until 2016. However, I like sports. I love regions that are passionate about their teams, and seeing as how one of my podcast co-hosts (1 of 2 people I have ever met from Maine) was a huge Black Bears fan, I decided to check it out. The year was 2019-20. Watching future NHL All-Star Jeremy Swayman dominate Hockey East is what I remember the most, along with Maine's five game winning streak from late January through February 7th, which included a road sweep of Hockey East's best that year, the Boston College Eagles. The COVID happened. Story over.
After losing Nadeau to the NHL as expected, there were some Mixed Reactions coming into this season when it came to Maine sitting at fourth in the 2024-25 Hockey East Preseason Coaches poll. Some felt like the momentum from last year would continue into this season, while others, including myself, thought the Black Bears would take a step back. We are only five games into the season, but I will admit I was wrong. The 2024-25 edition of Maine Hockey looks sharper than it has in years, even decades. The Black Bears have yet to trail this season. Despite looking shaky down the stretch against Quinnipiac and turning a three goal lead into a one goal deficit, Maine was able to get a game-tying goal from Brandon Holt with 28 seconds remaining in regulation and then David Brezeale ended it with a goal that gave Maine the win in the final minute of Overtime.
Of the teams that have played exactly four games thus far, the Black Bears have allowed the fewest goals, only allowing their opponents to find the back of the net a total of four times this season. Merrimack has also only allowed four goals, but the difference: Maine has 18 goals for. Merrimack has four. In their 4-1 win against the Northeastern Huskies last night, Maine dominated in all areas other than faceoffs, winning only 17 of the 51 faceoffs in Friday night's tilt. However, considering Maine finished with the third best faceoff percentage in conference play last year, one can remain optimistic that Ben Barr's squad will improve in this area and not allow it to be a liability when they get into the dog days of conference play and prepare for postseason play. There were times during last night's game that Maine appeared to live in the Northeastern zone and if not for a mistiming on a shot in front of the net and the goal being dislodged the score may have ended up being more lopsided than it ended up being.
I am not in Las Vegas anymore, therefore I am not a betting man. Just kidding. Hammer Maine -1.5 at +145 odds. There is no reason why Maine cannot come out and be dominant even more so than last night. A blowout tonight will greatly benefit Maine's position in the upcoming USHCO poll, and it is clear that they are on a different level than Northeastern. They are the better team, they're faster, and they are more aggressive. The only reason Maine does not roll tonight is if they beat themselves, which I do not see happening because they have been on another level of focus through four games thus far.
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