SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The University of Maine men's hockey team practiced in Springfield, Massachusetts Wednesday ahead of the team's NCAA Tournament game against No. 12 Cornell.
The game will be played at 5:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center Thursday, following the regional's first matchup between No. 3 Denver and UMass-Amherst.
After its best season in more than a decade, Maine enters the tournament as the No. 6 overall seed.
Co-captains Lynden Breen and David Breazeale said every since head coach Ben Barr came to Orono three years ago, they've been in a "growth mindset" and worked hard in the offseason to bring the program back into the national spotlight.
"We have a whole community backing us, and it's really special for us to be here representing our school and our entire state, and we’re excited to see what we can do in the tournament," Brezeale said during an NCAA pre-game press conference.
"It’s special, we’ve been through a whole load of things since I first came as a freshman," Breen added.
After Breen's freshman season, which was shortened due to COVID-19 concerns, then head coach Red Gendron died unexpectedly. Current head coach Ben Barr came to Orono one month later and Maine posted a 7-22-4 record in his first season behind the bench.
This season, the Black Bears have a 23-11-2 record and were consistently ranked as a top-10 team in the country. Maine, as the No. 3 seed in the conference playoffs, advanced to the semifinal round of the Hockey East Tournament for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
"I'm just excited for the players, and the staff, and the community because it does mean a lot to the whole state. And it's crazy to think it’s been 12 years, but I think the team earned it this year and a big part of that team is our whole community because all the support we get, so it’s exciting to be here really for the whole state of Maine," Barr said Wednesday.
That Black Bear community has been on full display in Orono as games at Alfond Arena sold out multiple times this season and the loyal fans are expected to be out in full force Thursday.
"You know, we're fortunate, every time we play on the road, we kind of have a good following and it shows how important we are to [the fans] and how important they are to us. To have that relationship is huge and it's momentum we've used to our advantage," Breen said.
Barr and his two captains, spoke highly of their opponent who just won the ECAC conference tournament last weekend. Cornell, they said, is a big and strong team and a team that will force Maine to win one-on-battles for the puck and "create chaos" in the corners and in front of the net.
Meanwhile, Maine is fresh off a grueling Hockey East schedule, a conference which featured some of the best teams in the country like No. 1 Boston College, No. 2 Boston University and UMass.
"I don’t think [Cornell has] really played a team the way we play, so I think that’s going to be a big challenge for them and if we play our game, I’m going to like the way things look for sure," Breen said Wednesday.
Despite being the higher seed in this matchup, the Black Bears said they're going into Thursday's game with an underdog mindset. Maine was predicted to finish 9th in Hockey East according to a preseason conference poll.
NEWS CENTER Maine will have live coverage from the Maine-Cornell game Thursday night.