The University of Maine’s hockey team is currently ranked at what’s believed to be the highest it has been ranked since the 2011-12 season.
That was the last UMaine team to reach the Hockey East semifinals and earn an NCAA Tournament berth.
The team is now ranked 13th in the country in the two major national polls released this week, following a 2-1 and 5-4 sweep at Merrimack College last weekend.
During the series, the 5-1 Black Bears received a goal or an assist from 11 different players.
The top line of senior co-captain Lynden Breen between freshman brothers Bradly and Josh Nadeau led the way by combining for four goals and six assists in the two games after being held to just a Breen assist in the split at Quinnipiac the previous week.
Carolina Hurricanes first-round draft pick Bradly Nadeau had three goals and an assist, Breen had a goal and two assists and Josh Nadeau had three assists.
The fact that UMaine’s top line is receiving some supplemental scoring is crucial, as a team cannot rely on just one line for scoring. The Black Bears have received goals from 11 players in just six games — including three defensemen.
Third-year head coach Ben Barr said his team is getting better “but we still have a long ways to go.”
The fact that the Black Bears have gone 3-1 on the road against two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, defending national champion Quinnipiac and Merrimack, is noteworthy for a program that had a 23-game winless streak on the road (0-19-4) before snapping it during the 2017-18 season.
Barr knows what it takes to win an NCAA championship. He has recruited for three NCAA title-winners at Providence, Union and UMass.
The defense corps continues to get better with a junior, four sophomores and three freshmen manning the blue line.
The massive upgrade in mobility and skill on the blue line and the work ethic of the forwards coming back into the defensive zone to help out has enabled them to limit opponents to 2.33 goals per game, which is tied for 12th best in the country among 64 Division I programs.
And they have been without sophomore defenseman Brandon Holt for the last four games (ankle injury). He was one of their top three defensemen a year ago before he suffered a broken pinkie finger and missed the last 12 games.
His return will give them a lift.
All-Hockey East second team goaltender Victor Ostman continues to make timely saves and control his rebounds. He stopped a breakaway with UMaine leading 1-0 in the third period on Friday night in the 2-1 win.
UMaine is averaging nearly a goal more per game than a year ago at 3.33. They averaged 2.56 last season.
That’s intriguing because the power play has gone 0 for its last 17, and is currently operating at 14.3 percent efficiency which is tied for 46th in the country. Once that gets on track, which it should, that will make this team even more dangerous.
Three other aspects of UMaine’s game have been instrumental in its success.
The Black Bears are the least penalized team in Division I at 6.7 penalty minutes per game; they are ninth in faceoff proficiency at 54.4 percent; and their penalty kill is at 89.5 percent, which is 12th best.
Bradly Nadeau leads the team in scoring with eight points on five goals and three assists, with Breen and older brother Josh next with two goals and five assists apiece.
Veteran wingers Ben Poisson and Donavan Houle each have two goals and three assists.
Junior co-captain David Brezeale continues to anchor the defense corps and Barr said sophomore Brandon Chabrier and freshman Liam Lesakowski had solid weekends on the blue line and provided some stability.
Chabrier scored his second goal of the season on Saturday.
Barr also liked the play of freshman winger Sully Scholle, who picked up his first goal.
The UMaine coach said the entire team needs to “click” if they are going to be successful. They can’t afford to have a handful of players not doing their jobs.
It will be like old times this weekend when the nation’s top-ranked team, Boston College, comes to Alfond Arena for Friday and Saturday night contests.
It is a special rivalry that dates back to the UMaine glory days when the Black Bears were going to 18 NCAA Tournaments and 11 Frozen Fours in 26 years and winning two NCAA titles.
UMaine beat BC 2-1 in overtime in the Frozen Four semifinals in Anaheim in the 1998-99 season en route to their second NCAA title.
Greg Brown’s 7-1 Eagles have 14 National Hockey League draft choices, including four first-rounders.
Bradly Nadeau is UMaine’s only NHL draft selection.
“They’re a phenomenal team. Their speed and skill level is different than anything we’ve seen. We’re going to have to do everything right for the whole game. We have to play our brand of hockey,” Barr said.