On Wednesday night, the University of Maine men’s hockey team beat the National Team Development Program’s Under-18 team 6-4 in a highly-competitive game at the Alfond Arena.
There were several bone-rattling checks handed out by both teams.
But it was a different situation Thursday night.
The two teams sat down together for Thanksgiving dinner at the Dexter Lounge in the Alfond Arena.
The U.S. Under-18 team, which is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., play at Colby College in Waterville on Saturday and at Bowdoin College in Brunswick on Sunday. Game times are 4:30.
It wouldn’t have made sense for the Under-18s to return to Ann Arbor after Wednesday night’s game in Orono only to turn around and fly back to Maine for Saturday and Sunday games.
So Maine head coach Tim Whitehead and former Under-18 assistant Matt Greason, now the first-year head coach at Trinity College (Conn.), had worked out the details enabling the Under-18s to have Thanksgiving dinner together with the Black Bears.
Maine leaves for Portland on Friday morning and will play Clarkson at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The players and coaches on both teams were looking forward to the dinner.
“After the game, you leave everything on the ice,” said Maine junior right wing Joey Diamond. “It’ll give us a chance to swap stories with them.”
“One of the great things about this game is whatever happens on the ice stays on the ice,” said Maine senior left wing Spencer Abbott. “This gives us a chance to get to know them a little. They seem like good kids.”
“They’re a younger group and most of them are going to college so if they have any questions about college, we’ll be glad to answer them,” said sophomore goalie Dan Sullivan.
Under-18 coach Danton Cole was grateful for the opportunity to share Thanksgiving dinner with Maine.
“If we didn’t, we would have been stuck looking around to find a place to have dinner,” said Cole, who considered it a nice gesture on behalf of Maine.
Under-18 co-captains Seth Jones and Jacob Trouba were also thankful they were able to share a Thanksgiving dinner and get to know the Maine players.
“We’re pretty much a family (and it’s nice to be able to have Thanksgiving dinner together),” said Trouba.
Jones, whose father, Popeye Jones, played in the NBA from 1993-2004, pointed out that they go to Ann Arbor from all over the country and they are away from their families, so that leads to a special bond between them. He also said it was going to be nice to hang out with the Maine players.
Jones’ father, who owns the Dallas Mavericks’ single-game record for rebounds (28), is an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets.
Whitehead said later Thursday evening that the dinner, which was made by Jane Thibodeau, went “very well.
“It was real good. It was nice to get the two teams together, especially after playing a game the night before,” said Whitehead. “Jane set up a real nice spread. It broke up the day for them. They packed up their gear after the dinner and bussed to Waterville.”
Whitehead said players from both teams watched football on the television and he noted that some of his players and some players on the Under-18 team had “crossed paths before” and shared some stories.
“It was a good opportunity for our guys to share their college experiences with their guys, who will be going to college,” said Whitehead. “It was nice.”
“It was also good to remind our student-athletes that once the game is over, it’s over and that there are things more important than what happens on the ice,” added the Maine coach.
He also said the USA players took a tour of the facility.
UM women rolling along
The UMaine women’s hockey team is off to its best overall start since the 2005-2006 season and its best Hockey East start since 2003-2004.
Maine is 8-5-4 overall, 3-3-1 in Hockey East, entering Friday’s 7 p.m. game at New Hampshire.
Maine is unbeaten in its last five (2-0-3) and is 3-1-4 in its last eight.
“We’ve been a little inconsistent but, overall, they’ve all played well,” said second-year coach Maria Lewis. “What we’ve got to do now is start taking care of business at home. It’s tough to win at home in college. There are a lot of distractions.”
Maine is 3-3-3 at home, 5-2-1 on the road including a win over nationally-ranked Boston College.
Maine has received balanced offense with seven players having scored at least three goals including leading scorers and linemates Myriam Croussette (9 goals, 9 assists), Danielle Ward (9 & 8) and Brittany Dougherty (9 & 7). Two freshmen have also made an immediate impact on the scoresheet: Left wings Tori Pasquariello (7 & 3) and Jennifer More (4 & 5).
New Hampshire is an uncharacteristic 4-8-2 and 0-4-1 but Lewis said, “Maine-New Hampshire is like Michigan-Ohio State football. It’s a rivalry and both teams will be pumped up. It doesn’t matter what each has done previously this season.”