ORONO, Maine — Even though he is from Jenison, Michigan, the University of Maine was always one of Black Bear freshman defenseman David Breazeale’s favorite teams growing up.
“Maine has had such a prestigious hockey program. I always loved college hockey and watching it and Maine was a family favorite. That student section is pretty amazing,” said Breazeale.
And when he first got to experience the crowd for the home-opener against Sacred Heart on Oct. 22, he said “it sent chills down my spine. It was incredible.”
Breazeale has been one of the few bright spots in UMaine’s 0-5-1 start. The Black Bears, 0-2 in Hockey East, will play their first Hockey East home series this weekend when they entertain the University of Connecticut Huskies, who are 4-3 overall and 2-1 in league play.
Game times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Breazeale has two assists in six games and is among the leaders in minutes played on the blue line as the coaching staff uses him in all situations: power play, penalty kill and even-strength.
“He is one of those kids who doesn’t have a bad day,” said UMaine first-year head coach
Ben Barr. “He has taken advantage of a great opportunity and has run with it. He is a big guiy with decent enough skills and he is only going to get better.”
After captaining the Shreveport (Louisiana) Mudbugs to the Robertson Cup given to the North American Hockey League playoff champion last year, Breazeale found himself mulling options.
But he didn’t have any immediate Division I prospects.
“There was one Division I school that wanted me to come in a year or two. I had a lot of good Division III programs that wanted me,” he said.
But UMaine first-year assistant head coach Jason Fortier, who coached the Odessa Jackalopes in the NAHL last year, had liked what he saw from Breazeale.
So UMaine offered him a scholarship.
“Going to Maine was a dream of mine,” he said. “I was so excited to come here and experience it.”
He said it has been an adjustment but he is getting more comfortable with every game.
“Everybody is fast and skilled and their hockey IQs are through the roof. I definitely have to be patient and understand that I am going to make mistakes. And I have to grow from them,” said the 6-foot-4, 201-pound Breazeale.
Breazeale, who was an All-NAHL Southern Division all-star a year ago and amassed nine goals and 36 assists in 140 games over three seasons with Shreveport, said between the UMaine coaching staff and watching video, “we have a lot of stuff available to us” to help them improve.
“He has been thrown right into it coming from junior hockey and he has handled it real well. He is a big-time player for us,” said UMaine graduate student defenseman and Merrimack College transfer Dom Dockery. “He always has a smile on his face, he is a sponge. He wants to learn everything he can from everyone.”
Even though UMaine is winless, Breazeale said “we are trending in the right direction. The coaches are giving us the right tools. It’s a matter of effort and execution.”
Barr said his team will have its hands full this weekend with the “deepest” UConn team he has seen.
Mike Cavanaugh’s Huskies have been led by Ryan Tverberg (4 goals, 5 assists), Jachym Kondelik (2 & 6), Marc Gatcomb (4 & 2) and Vladislav Firstov (4 & 1) along with Jonny Evans (1 & 4). Evans had 14 & 15 in 23 games last season.
Union College transfer Darion Hanson (2.27 goals-against average, .925 save percentage) has been between the pipes.
Adam Dawe (2 & 2), Jakub Sirota (0 & 3) and Ben Poisson (2 & 0) have led UMaine. Matt Thiessen (2.94, .905) and Victor Ostman (3.79, .867) have shared the goaltending.
The special teams battle will be interesting since UConn (2-for-24) and UMaine (1-22) have two of the worst power plays in college hockey. Both are respectable on the penalty kill as UMaine has killed off 17 of 20 and UConn has allowed four power play goals on 25 chances.