University of Maine men’s hockey head coach Ben Barr said the Black Bears’ disappointing season left a “bad feeling” after two successive trips to the NCAA Tournament.
“You feel like you let a lot of people down,” said fifth-year coach Barr, whose team ended the season 18-14-3 and was bounced in the Hockey East quarterfinals with a 5-0 loss to Boston College. “It feels like a failure, and it was.”
While Barr said there were a lot of reasons that contributed to the sub-par campaign, the team’s poor culture and weak goaltending were ultimately too much to overcome. The team had 13 newcomers on the roster this year, and last year’s starting goalie — a finalist for the best college goalie of the season — lost his job to a freshman.
“We weren’t able to re-capture the culture that we need to be a top Hockey East team or a top team in the nation,” Barr said. “We have to learn from it and get better.”
There was a significant turnover with players who scored 64 of UMaine’s 124 goals during last year’s season having departed. The 13 newcomers on the roster include nine from Major Junior Hockey’s three leagues.
It was the first season Major Junior players were allowed to play U.S. college hockey because they used to be considered pros in the eyes of the NCAA for receiving financial stipends.
“Some were great fits and some had stretches of greatness and then they completely disappeared,” said Barr, who noted that some of them were surprised at how hard they needed to work and weren’t able to be consistent performers at the college level.
“It was tough for some of the guys. It wasn’t necessarily their fault. It falls on me and our coaching staff. We have to bring in the right type of people,” said Barr, who feels his team didn’t lack talent.
Goaltending was supposed to be a strength of the team, with second team All American and Mike Richter Award finalist Albin Boija returning and being complemented by freshman Mathis Rousseau, the starting goalie for Canada in the World Junior Championships two years ago.
But it turned out to be a weakness as two-year starter Boija had a miserable season and wound up losing his job to Rousseau for the last six games of the campaign, including the quarterfinal game.
Their combined save percentage of .892 was tied for 49th among 63 Division I programs and it was the worst save percentage for a full season since 2010-11, when sophomore Shawn Sirman and freshmen Dan Sullivan and Martin Ouellette posted an .884 save percentage.
“It’s a tough position,” Barr said. “There’s a big spotlight in that world. When things are good, they’re breaking out statues for you. But when you go south, it really tests your mental fortitude and we definitely struggled there this year.”
Boija, who had a 1.91 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage last season, registered a 2.59 GAA and .899 save percentage. Rousseau also had a 2.59 GAA to go with a .896 save percentage.
They combined for six shutouts, with Boija collecting four, and both had memorable performances.
But they were inconsistent and gave up a lot of goals on initial shots, some of which should have been saved. They also weren’t able to come up with that difference-making save on a consistent basis.
However, they were also victimized by poor defensive zone coverage and costly turnovers by their teammates.
“I really do like both guys. It’s hard to imagine them not being able to get better. I saw Albin [play well] for two years,” Barr said. “And Mathis was just a freshman and it’s tough for a freshman.”
With the fluidity of college sports these days and the fact players can transfer without having to sit out a year, college rosters can vary wildly from year to year.
If both Boija and Rousseau return, it could be a gamble because there’s no guarantee they will be better next season.
“But bringing in another goalie would be a gamble, too,” Barr said.
Goaltending was just one area of inconsistency.
In UMaine’s 18 victories, the Black Bear scored 90 goals. In their 14 losses, they scored only 16.
The team went through a stretch when it lost five consecutive Hockey East games at Alfond Arena and was outscored 11-5.
UMaine went 10-6-1 overall at home after going a combined 28-4-5 in the previous two seasons.
The Black Bear special teams were poor with both the power play (18.7 percent efficiency) and penalty-killing (79.7 percent) ranking 38th in the country.
They actually rank 14th in goals (3.31) and are tied for 25th in goals allowed (2.74).
On paper, the Black Bears will lose only one forward in gritty co-captain Thomas Freel (4 goals, 10 assists), who struggled offensively with just four assists over his last 16 games.
They will lose three defensemen in senior co-captain and first team All-Hockey East selection Brandon Holt (6 & 26), Brandon Chabrier (0 & 12) and Grayson Arnott (1 & 0).
Holt was the team’s leading scorer and was chosen the league’s best defensive-defenseman.
Barr called Holt “irreplaceable.”
But junior assistant captain Frank Djurasevic (5 & 9) and promising freshmen Lukas Peterson (3 & 9), Jeremy Langlois (2 & 7) and Loic Usereau (2 & 5) give them four regulars back on the blue line, along with junior Bodie Nobes (0 & 1 in 15 games) and freshmen Luke Coughlin and Simon Motew, who both had two assists in 10 games.
Barr indicated he will probably bring in a few more defensemen.
Up front, the Black Bears could have two well-established lines back.
The high-powered line of Sully Scholle (7 & 11) between junior and All-Hockey East first team right wing Josh Nadeau (17 & 13) and senior Owen Fowler (12 & 10) combined for 14 goals and 12 assists in their six games together at the end of the year. Fowler has another year of eligibility and was chosen the league’s co-best defensive forward.
The Black Bears will also return the hard-nosed line of sophomore Oskar Komarov (4 & 3) between sophomore Thomas Pichette (5 & 8) and impressive freshman Will Gerrior (5 & 4).
Brown University transfer Max Scott (5 & 13), a junior and brother of 2024-25 UMaine scoring leader Harrison Scott, had a solid season but missed five games at the end of the season due to injury. Junior right wing Charlie Russell (6 & 9) played in all 35 games.
Left wing Justin Poirier was one of the country’s leading freshman goal scorers with 18 along with 11 assists in 27 games but he missed the last eight games due to injury. He had scored just one goal in his previous eight games.
Fellow freshmen Miguel Marques (10 & 13), Jaden Lipinski (3 & 9), Brock James (1 & 2) and Nick Peluso (0 & 2) and sophomore Anthony Calafiore (0 points) can also return.
“It’s not like we’re having to start from scratch,” said Barr, who indicated that he will never again have a team as young as this one was.
Three incoming freshmen who could make immediate impacts up front are Rowan Calvert (31 & 21 in 65 games) from the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League and United States Hockey League players Masun Fleece (23 & 22, 47 games) from Dubuque and Malachi McKinnon (24 & 24 in 57 games) from Youngstown.
Between the transfer portal and the influx of Major Junior players, Barr said it was a “big learning curve” this season.
He also had two new assistant coaches in Rick Bennett and John O’Connor and a new sports performance coach in Drew Bowers.
He said regaining a healthy, hard-working culture is at the top of the list as they look to bounce back from this season.
“Our locker room was inconsistent and that’s a reflection on me. I have to take a look in the mirror and fix it. That’s my job and my staff’s job,” Barr said.