ORONO, Maine — With the loss of Ben Hutton a year early to the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, there was a big offensive void at the blue line for the University of Maine men’s hockey team.
Hutton produced 24 goals and 26 assists in his last two seasons.
Junior defenseman Dan Renouf has definitely stepped up.
Renouf has notched three goals and three assists in his last four games to spark a four-game winning streak.
He had two goals and an assist in the 3-2 win over Vermont, including the game-winning goal; a shorthanded assist the next night in a 4-1 triumph over Vermont; and a goal and a game-winning assist in the 3-2 overtime win over Princeton on Saturday.
“From day one, the first time he was on campus, everybody knew he was an offensive talent just as much as he was defensively,” said Maine junior center Cam Brown. “He’s skilled and he has a great mindset for the game.”
“He has been really shooting the puck well, and they’re starting to go in which is great for him,” said junior left wing Blaine Byron.
Renouf had a game-high nine shots on goal on Saturday.
“Losing [Hutton], the whole defense corps knew we had to step up and fill that role. He was such a good player at both ends of the ice,” said Renouf. “Everybody has stepped up.”
A Pickering, Ontario, native, Renouf has always been an offensive-minded defenseman, but he put defense first when he came to Maine.
“I had to prove myself in the defensive zone the first two years,” said the soft-spoken Renouf, who had 10 goals and 18 assists in his final season for the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League before coming to Maine. “I wanted to show that I could be solid defensively before I was going to take [offensive] risks.”
Renouf was a forward until he switched over to defense five years ago.
“Defense is my natural position,” he said.
Renouf said he focused on his feet during the summer. He wanted to get quicker so he could rush the puck and also sidestep checkers at the point in order to get into shooting lanes.
He said he has become more confident rushing the puck and is “more comfortable in the offensive zone.”
He plays in all situations and logs a ton of minutes.
The 6-foot-3, 209-pound Renouf had one goal and 10 assists in 34 games as a freshman before notching 3 & 9 in 39 games last season. He is tied on the team in points with eight points on three goals and five assists.
The Black Bears will take a four-game winning streak into this weekend’s home-and-home Hockey East set with New Hampshire. They will host UNH on Friday night before playing in Durham the next night.
“We feel good. We’re fired up,” said Renouf. “If we could get two more wins before the break, it would be huge for our confidence.”