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Head Coach Tim Whitehead enters his seventh season at the helm of the University of Maine men's ice hockey program. With Whitehead behind the bench, the Black Bears have continued the success that has defined the program for two decades. In his first six seasons as head coach, the Black Bears have advanced to the NCAA Tournament all six seasons, reached the NCAA National Championship game twice, played in four NCAA Frozen Fours and won the Hockey East Tournament Championship. Over the six-year period, Maine has a 154-69-26 record. In 11 seasons as a head coach, Whitehead has a career record of 230-164-37. In 2006-07, the Black Bears completed the season with a 23-15-2 overall record and reached the NCAA Tournament for the ninth-straight season. Following wins over St. Cloud State and Massachusetts in the NCAA East Regional, Maine advanced to the Frozen Four for the 11th time in school history. Despite an early 2-0 lead, the Black Bears were defeated by eventual National Champion Michigan State in St. Louis. Statistically, Maine posted the best power play percentage in the nation at 25.4% on the season. Teddy Purcell was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Year, the third Rookie of the Year coached by Whitehead at Maine. Michel Léveillé was named a Hockey East first team All-Star and also was a first team All-American. Josh Soares and Mike Lundin were named to the Hockey East All-Star second team. Academically, Michel Léveillé was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA All-District Team, while five of Maine's six seniors graduated with above a 3.0. In addition, Whitehead was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award as Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career. During the 2005-06 season, the Black Bears had the top penalty-kill in the nation and also had the fifth-ranked power play unit. The overall defense was fifth in the nation. In Hockey East play, Maine was 17-8-2 and finished tied for second in the standings. The team reached the Hockey East semifinals for the third-straight season and earned a bid to their eighth-straight NCAA Tournament. In the NCAA Tournament, Maine defeated ECAC Tournament Champion Harvard 6-1 in the opening game. In the Regional Final, the Black Bears took a 3-0 lead against CCHA Tournament Champion Michigan State and won 5-4 to reach the Frozen Four. In the semifinals, Maine and Wisconsin were tied 1-1 after the first period, however the Badgers went on to a 5-2 win at the Bradley Center. Following the season, Greg Moore was named a first team All-American and Michel Léveillé earned second team All-America honors. In addition, Greg Moore was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Moore was also a Hockey East First-Team All-Star, while Léveillé was named to the second team. Ben Bishop was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, marking five-straight seasons at least one Black Bear has been named to the team. Whitehead was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award for the third time in five seasons at Maine and sixth time his 11 seasons as head coach. Despite a slow start to the 2004-05 season, Maine went unbeaten in eight straight games in January. Key wins down the stretch of the season gave the Black Bears home ice in the Hockey East playoffs for the sixth straight season. Maine advanced to the Hockey East semifinals, where the Black Bears were defeated in double overtime by Boston College. Maine advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time in school history. The Black Bears were up for the task of playing Minnesota on their home ice, as Jimmy Howard had 37 saves in the 1-0 overtime loss. Off the ice, the Black Bears were also successful as 10 student-athletes were named to the Hockey East All-Academic team, the most in school history. The 2003-04 season began with the Black Bears knocking off two-time defending National Champion Minnesota in the first game of the season and captured the Maverick Stampede Tournament title with a 6-2 win over Wisconsin. After winning the first seven games of the season, the Black Bears were ranked first in the nation. A loss at UMass-Lowell on February 27 set the stage for Maine's amazing run in the postseason. Beginning with a 4-3 overtime win in the season finale against Boston College, the Black Bears won eight straight one-goal games. The winning streak included a three-overtime thriller against Massachusetts in the Hockey East Championship, won by the Black Bears 2-1. Maine also pulled together for a 5-4 win over Harvard in the first round of the NCAA's, overcoming a three-goal deficit by scoring four goals in the third period. After a 2-1 overtime win over Wisconsin, Maine faced Hockey East rival Boston College in the Frozen Four and came away with a 2-1 win. The season ended with a 1-0 loss to Denver in the National Championship game. The team led the NCAA in winning percentage and team defense on the season. With the team's 33-8-3 record also came numerous individual honors, with Jimmy Howard, Todd Jackson, Prestin Ryan and Colin Shields all earning second-team All-America honors, the most in a single season for Maine since the 1993 season. Howard was named Hockey East Tournament MVP, and Howard, Ryan, Shields and Jackson earned All-Hockey East honors. Michel Léveillé was named conference Rookie of the Year, Howard was conference Goalie of the Year, Jackson was named Best Defensive Forward and Ryan was named Best Defensive Defenseman. Whitehead was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Trophy. In addition to success on the ice, the Black Bears excelled during the 2003-04 season in the classroom. Maine led Hockey East with seven student-athletes named to the All-Academic Team. Goalie Frank Doyle was named the Top Scholar-Athlete in the conference with a 3.86 grade point average. Doyle and Todd Jackson both earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, with Doyle also earning CoSIDA All-America honors. Doyle was also named the 2004 "M" Club Dean Smith Award recipient. In the 2002-03 season, the Black Bears started fast, compiling a 15-1-2 record before the New Year and was ranked first in either the USA Today/ American Hockey Magazine or U.S. College Hockey Online Poll for seven weeks. On the season, Maine posted a mark of 24-10-5. Whitehead led Maine to the Black Bear Classic and Everblades College Hockey Classic Championships. Maine finished the regular season in third place in the Hockey East standings, just two points out of first place. The Black Bears earned their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament berth where they lost to Michigan 2-1 in the West Regional in Ann Arbor, Mich. Honors for the team included Hockey East Rookie of the Year Jimmy Howard, and Hockey East first team members Martin Kariya and Francis Nault, while Lucas Lawson was named to the second team. Cliff Loya was named the Hockey East/Old Time Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman Award along with earning the New England Hockey Writers Association Outstanding Defenseman Award. Whitehead's student-athletes had success in the classroom as well. Five student-athletes were named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team, while Kariya and Doyle received 2003 Verizon University Division Academic All-District I At-Large First-Team honors. Kariya was named to the National Verizon Academic All-America Men's At-Large Division First Team and won his second-straight "M" Club Dean Smith Award as top scholar-athlete at Maine. Whitehead returned to Maine for the 2001-02 season to serve as an assistant coach under head coach Shawn Walsh. When Walsh passed away on Sept. 24, 2001, Whitehead was named interim coach. Following the season, Whitehead was introduced as the third head coach in Maine history on April 8, 2002. In his first year with the Black Bears, Whitehead led the team to a record of 26-11-7, and finished as the NCAA finalists. The Black Bears finished tied for second in the Hockey East regular season, second in the Hockey East Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Championship game. In the process, Whitehead coached two Hockey East first-team members in Mike Morrison and Peter Metcalf and two All-Americans in Metcalf and Niko Dimitrakos. Whitehead recorded his 100th career victory against Harvard on March 23, 2002 in the NCAA East Regional in Worcester, Mass., with a 4-3 overtime victory. Whitehead, who won the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Spencer Penrose Award as the National Coach of the Year in 2002, finished as the runner-up for Hockey East Coach of the Year. Previously, Whitehead was honored as a finalist for the award in 1997 and 2001. Whitehead came to Maine after serving as head coach of UMass-Lowell for five seasons where he compiled a record of 76-93-11, including a 19-16-3 record in 2000-01 in which the River Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament for the third time in five years. Prior to running the UMass-Lowell program, Whitehead spent five years as an assistant with the River Hawks under former Maine assistant Bruce Crowder. One of their players at UMass-Lowell was current Edmonton Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson, who backstopped his team to the 2006 Stanley Cup finals. Previously Whitehead served as an assistant at Maine in 1990-91 with Shawn Walsh. That team made it to the Hockey East Championship game and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Maine finished the season with an impressive 32-9-2 mark; only four Black Bear hockey teams have won more games in a season. Before coming to Maine, Whitehead spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Middlebury College, and played two seasons of professional hockey in Europe prior to that. Whitehead graduated from Hamilton College in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in government, and earned his master's degree in education from the University of Maine in 1991. Tim and his wife, Dena, are the parents of two children, a daughter, Natalie, 8, and a son, Zachary, 6. |
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