ORONO, Maine — Second-year head coach Red Gendron and his University of Maine hockey players certainly didn’t expect to lose their first four games. They have been outscored 16-5.
It is the worst start since the 1982-83 season when that team dropped its first 14 games.
But they also know there are 32 games remaining and are looking forward to hosting Alaska-Anchorage this weekend.
Alaska-Anchorage beat the Black Bears 3-1 in Anchorage to open the season and is 3-0-1.
Maine bore back-to-back home losses against defending national champ Union College, 3-1 and 5-2.
“We aren’t panicking,” junior captain Devin Shore said. “It’s too long of a season and we work too hard.
“Our compete level is always there but we’ve got to play smarter. Playing smart is just as important as playing hard. That’s what Union did so well. They didn’t make many mistakes and capitalized when we did. If we can minimize our mistakes over the course of the 60-minute game, that will be a huge help,” Shore added. “We have to tell ourselves we can’t win the game in one shift.”
Junior defenseman Conor Riley feels it’s important for the Bears to stay focused in practice.
“We didn’t have a good week of practice last week,” he said.
The team also has to sharpen up its systems, according to senior alternate captain Jake Rutt. “The teams we’ve faced have played really tight systems-wise and whenever we had a lapse whether it was a blown defensive zone coverage, not taking care of the puck or having a forecheck breakdown, they took advantage,” he said.
“Union might not have been as skilled as we were but their upperclass leaders made sure everybody followed the system. It falls on our leaders, myself included, to make sure the whole team is on the same page,” Rutt, a defenseman from Scarborough, added.
Gendron said he has been through plenty of ups and downs in his 35-year coaching career.
“I’ve seen this before. We’ve got to go back to basics. You have to earn the right to win,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with focusing for an entire practice. We’re going to have a good day on Tuesday and another good one on Wednesday.”
One of the bright spots on the weekend was the play of hard-nosed freshman defenseman-turned-winger Malcolm Hayes, who made his debut on Friday night.
The 6-foot-2 and 220-pound Atlanta native was moved to right wing for both games and responded with some thundering hits that excited the crowd. He also had a plus-one rating in plus-minus, which rewards a player with a plus-one if he is on the ice for an even-strength or shorthanded goal by his team and assesses him a minus-one if the other team scores one.
“He did pretty well for someone who had never played the position before,” Gendron said. “He was in the right position and he was physical.”
Hayes said he hadn’t played forward since mites hockey, the division for ages 8 and under.
“I had a blast out there. We didn’t get the wins but we just have some stuff we need to work on,” said Hayes. “The coaches emphasized that they wanted me to bring a physical presence out there and that’s what I tried to focus on.”
He said he practiced for “three to four days” at forward and met with each of the coaches.
“Devin Shore went over the systems with me,” he said. “I worked on stuff with the coaches before practice.”
Hayes said the biggest adjustment was being confident and getting used to playing in front of such a large and vociferous crowd.
“I see why they call them ‘Maineiacs.’ It was a fun experience,” Hayes said. “I had to be confident that I could make a play whether I was a forward or a defenseman.”
Hayes played on a line with Will Merchant and Brian Morgan on Friday night and Nolan Vesey and Bill Norman on Saturday evening.
He said he felt more comfortable with each shift and was “pretty happy overall” with his performance.
Hayes took a five-minute major penalty for charging on Friday night and a goaltender interference penalty on Saturday. Union scored when he was in the box on Saturday.
“I’ve got to limit my penalties. I took a bad penalty on Saturday that deflated our momentum,” he said.
Higgins, Nugnes eyeing returns
Maine senior alternate captain Stu Higgins and freshman goalie Nik Nugnes are hoping to get back on the ice this week.
Higgins took a shot on the foot during pre-season and Nugnes has a knee issue, which occurred when a teammate fell on him during practice on Oct. 4.
“I’m definitely making progress,” said Higgins, a center who missed 15 games last year due to a knee injury that required surgery. “It hasn’t been easy, but going through what I did last year made me mentally tougher.”
Nugnes said his knee is feeling better and he hoped to skate on either Monday or Tuesday.