ORONO, Maine — Captaining a winning team can be an enjoyable experience.
But when the team is struggling, it can certainly be a challenge.
University of Maine men’s hockey tri-captains Mark Nemec, Mike Cornell and Joey Diamond find themselves trying to find ways to get the Black Bears untracked after the 1-6 start and current four-game losing streak.
Providence swept the Black Bears 3-2 and 3-0 last weekend in Providence.
And it doesn’t get any easier this weekend as defending national champion and current No.1 Boston College and ninth-ranked New Hampshire visit Alfond Arena for Friday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (4 p.m.) contests, respectively.
“It is a tough time to be a captain. It’s easy to be a leader when things are going real smoothly,” conceded senior defenseman Cornell. “When things are tough, you need guys to step up and take it upon themselves to turn it around.
“It’s definitely not a fun time in our locker room. We’re not putting forward a good effort.
The results haven’t been what they’ve needed to be and we’ve been pretty honest with each other about it. Having said that, we’ve got to find a way to keep it light while staying focused and preparing for our next game,” added Cornell.
“The three of us have to lead by example on the ice by doing all the little things right. We’ve got to get back to basics and move forward from there,” said senior right wing Diamond.
Senior defenseman Nemec said the players must not allow the start to divide the team.
“We have to continue to pull together. That’s the biggest thing right now,” he said.
“Everybody is feeling the pressure here. It’s tough to find the answers,” added Nemec. “Confidence is an issue for some of the guys. It isn’t coming as easily as it has in the past. There are new roles for a lot of guys, and a lot of the freshmen aren’t playing positions they’re necessarily accustomed to. I wish I had the answers.”
Cornell said he thinks, “It’s as much a mental thing as a physical thing. Even the way you come to the rink, your attitude might dictate the way you play.
“Guys have to find a way to gain some confidence, and whether that starts in practice with holding onto the puck for an extra second, or not being afraid to make a mistake or to make a play, all of a sudden guys are having more fun and that can translate into the weekends,” he added.
Goal scoring continues to be the glaring weakness.
Maine has scored only eight goals in seven games and is 1-for-36 on the power play.
Maine is 57th among 59 Division I teams in goals per game (1.14) and power-play percentage (2.8 percent).
“We’ve got to make more plays heading into the offensive zone,” said Diamond. “That’s a big part of it. We’ve got to make tape-to-tape passes and take the puck to the net. We’ve also got to get our shots on net and not get them blocked. We’ve got to pay attention to details and focus on that.”
Maine has also had its issues in the defensive zone as well in recent games, allowing 16 goals during their four-game losing streak after giving up just seven in their first three games.
“We definitely need to sharpen up our play in the defensive zone,” said Diamond.
“You always start from the defense and work out,” said Cornell. “We’ve got to protect our goalies.”
The captains feel the team can get on a roll once they notch a noteworthy win that restores their confidence.
“We don’t have anything to build off right now,” Diamond said. “Once we pop a few more goals and get a win, we’ll have something to build on.”
Even though it appears to be a daunting task this weekend, the Black Bears have had recent success against Boston College and New Hampshire at Alfond Arena.
Maine has won three straight and is 4-1-1 in the last six home games against Boston College and has won three of the last four Alfond games against New Hampshire.
“The way things have gone [this season], it’s a David versus Goliath type of thing. Our backs are against the wall. We’ll see what we’re made of,” said Cornell.
Maine coach Tim Whitehead said senior center Kyle Beattie, the second-leading returning scorer off last year’s NCAA Tournament team behind Diamond, won’t play against BC or UNH because of Beattie’s concussion, and the goaltending job is “still wide open.”
Freshman Williams shows versatility
Freshman defenseman Kyle Williams of Bowdoinham has played in two of the last three games in addition to the exhibition game against the University of New Brunswick, and he has already played left wing and center in addition to defense.
“He’s a good guy, and he understands his role very well,” said Cornell. “He’s finding ways to contribute any way he can. A lot of guys have gotten their feet wet that way in this program over the years. He’s a hard worker who can be a really successful defenseman here.”
Williams said playing different positions is “a lot easier than people think.
“I’ve played both [defense and forward] my entire life. I was a forward up until four years ago. It hasn’t been a hard adjustment for me. You just have some adjustments you have to make here and there.”
He said playing center is the most challenging position “because you’ve got a lot more responsibility. You’ve got to play so much defense in the corners in the defensive zone, and then you’ve got to get up the ice to try to help out offensively. It’s a lot different than being a defenseman, for sure.”
He said Whitehead told him before the season he might be seeing some duty at forward.
“So it hasn’t been a big surprise to me,” said Williams who doesn’t care where he plays as long as he is in the lineup.
“I’ll study video to figure out things I can do better to help the team,” he said.
Whitehead said Williams has been dependable and versatile.
“He’s going to have more opportunities to help the team,” the coach said.
“Maine has scored only eight goals in seven games and is 1-for-36 on the power play.”
As a gambler I have gone through a streak like that, but if you were to flip a coin and it came up heads 35 out of 36 times, then guess what? There still is (and always will be BTW) a 50/50 chance of it coming up tails.
You guys can turn your ‘tails’ and cry like little babies, or reward your coaching staff for betting on you to succeed with a 100K+ scholarship. It’s your choice. You can thank me later.
The only reward this coaching staff deserves is a one way ticket back down I-95. This team, the University, and all Maine fans deserve better than what this head coach has delivered over the past few years. It’s too bad that it had to come to this.
Time to fire Tim Whitehead.
Two things, stop using the term “tri-captains” it’s stupid.
Second i think it’s a little unfortunate that the players and the ones saying what needs to change in order for them to improve rather than their coach. I have no doubt that those guys are playing hard and want to win games. I’m sure they want to win just as much as the fans want to see them win and be successful, but leadership comes from the top and that means coaching.
Time to step up coaching staff.
“Everybody is feeling the pressure here. It’s tough to find the answers,” added Nemec, “Confidence is an issue for some of the guys… I wish I had the answers.” and Cornell said: “Guys have to find a way to gain some confidence”
answer: NEW COACH… one who can instill confidence as well as guide this PROGRAM and team back to glory.
ABYSMAL!
the goaltending job is “still wide open.”
The job has been open for three years and having three goalies isn’t the answer!
“We’re not putting forward a good effort”
This non sense needs to stop it’s time to get a real leader behind the bench.
It’s sad that it has to take one awful season to make the necessary change, but it’s been needing to happen for a LONG time. However, the solution to this problem is on the walls of Alfond Arena.
Jim Montgomery is the coaching solution we need. Alumni of the school, STAYED 4 years at the school, and is already making a great resume with assistant coaching experience at RIT, Notre Dame, and coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints. His team is brand new, but won a USHL championship within the first few years of starting. Jim Montgomery, it would be an honor to have you be the coach of this team desperately needing a inspiration and what better coach than one that was taught by one of the best coaches in NCAA hockey.
Its not hard to see the problem,the team is not prepared/not in shape and most of all they have lost that sense of pride in Maine Hockey,this and only this falls right on the Coach…if the AD can’t see this at the end of the year…well then forget Maine ever having a chance to rebuild and get back onto the winning track…the picture is way to clear,there needs to be a change at the Head Coaching position…time for change and this has been long over do for close to 5 years. 1-6-0 and could very well be one of the worst teams that Maine Hockey has put on the ice in decades.
So you’re saying we need a coach who screams at his players? We all know Walshy was a notorious screamer lol
Maybe. Instead, we have a coach who stands behind the bench like a statue, a blank expression on his face no matter what’s happening on the ice. Doesn’t say a word to his players during games, letting them know how they could have handled a situation better, or what they could have done to be more effective, instead just stands there, passive, non-responsive.
And now Corkum, who used to do some of that, has been muzzled too.
Whitehead doesn’t just stand there. He chews gum. And folds his arms.
He also plays pocket pool.
Doesn’t have to be a screamer,and where did I say that in the above paragraph…? Just a NEW Coach and how he see’s fit to get the point across will be up to him.
Very surprising article. I was surprised, for example, that there are actually 2 teams out there with worse scoring and PP% then Maine. One is my neice’s bantam team. Wonder which is the other?
Funny that this article focuses on the players, and what they need to do, with no mentions of how poorly the kids have been recruited/coached. Not a single quote from Whitehead? Hmm…
As difficult as it is to watch this team completely flame out – it is necessary. Finishing in the middle like last year gives people false hope and allows a sub-par coaching staff (not Bobby) to hold on. After this season, how is it possible that Abbott can justify holding onto Whitehead?
What are all you nay sayers going to write when Maine beats BC and UNH this weekend? This years team has started a little slow, but you can see the improvement with every minute of ice time. I bet all of you will the first ones in line to buy HockeyEast and Frozen 4 tickets. Maine will be there. Trust me.
A little slow? Give me a break, they are barely moving forward. 51 out of 59 in the RPI? Playing the #1 team in the country and #1 team in the RPI? Pucks have to hit the back of the net to count as a goal, not the glass. Defense is horrible, power play is miserable and goaltending isn’t much better.
Like that’s gonna happen. Last I knew, you had to score goals to win games, and stop the other team from scoring. Maine ain’t gonna beat BC and UNH scoring 1.25 goals/game. And I don’t see any of our three goaltenders pitching shutouts this weekend.
not to give Whitehead a pass here with this comment, because its his recruiting thats led to this…but not even Jerry York could coach this team to the frozen 4.
Maybe if we put skates back on all 3 Kariyas and get Jimmy back while there is a lockout we will make the frozen four. It’s about as likely a scenario..
This team has more in them though – I will agree with you on that – I don’t think they have NCAA tournament level of play but I think they have more than they’ve shown..
If you haven’t figured it out…we root for Maine Hockey and are very/very tired of the Program going to shambles after so many put alot of hard work into being a Top Notch Hockey Program,players/coaches/fans/donors/volunteers/etc. And I have Season Tickets and go to Post Season play EVEN when Maine is not there.
FIRE WHITEHEAD!
HIRE JIMMY!
FIRE TIMMY!
If Maine fans really cared about the programs current and future success then they would simply stop going to home games. Thats the only message that will reach Steve and the University’s brain trust is missing money. How does Whitehead get a 5k raise every season its truly sickning this coach is being rewarded each season for running the program into the ground. Even if the team strugled under a new coach I think you would see a very passionate fan base support this team at all home games because at least we would know there is a new direction.
When you are on top with a little bit of work good players want to come to Maine. Starting from the bottom of the pile year after year doesn’t draw quality players. It will take a new coach years to build this team back up.