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Men's Hockey Travels to Northeastern and Merrimack
Dec. 2, 2008
The University of Maine men's ice hockey team looks to get back to its winning ways when it travels to Massachusetts this weekend for a pair of games. Maine will face Hockey East leading Northeastern on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 pm, before traveling to Merrimack to play the Warriors on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 pm. A LOOK BACK: The Black Bears saw their seven-game unbeaten streak end on Saturday, Nov. 29 when they dropped a 3-2 decision to Vermont. The Catamounts took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Brayden Irwin at 7:51 into the game. Maine tied it on a goal by Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) at 17:23 of the first period. Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Mike Banwell (Scarborough, Ontario) each assisted on the goal by Nyquist. The Black Bears took a 2-1 lead just 2:54 into the second period on a goal by Flynn. David de Kastrozza (Toms River, N.J.) picked up his first assist of the season on the goal by Flynn. The Black Bears took the 2-1 lead into the third period. Vermont tied the game on a goal by Wahsontiio Stacey at 5:19. Josh Burrows assisted on the goal and then notched the game-winner at 10:28. Maine had several chances late, but was unable to get the equalizer. Maine goalie Scott Darling (Lemont, Ill.) made 20 saves in goal and falls to 5-2-1 on the season. Mike Spillane made 21 saves for Vermont and improves to 5-2-1. The teams both recorded 23 shots in the game. Maine was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Vermont was 0-for-2. SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Gustav Nyquist who has six goals and five assists for 11 points. Brian Flynn has three goals and five assists for eight points. Chris Hahn (Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan) has four goals and two assists for six points. He leads the team in power play goals with three. Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) also has six points on three goals and three assists. Defenseman Josh Van Dyk (Woodstock, Ontario) has five assists on the season. Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) has two goals, both of them game-winners, and two assists, while Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ontario) has a goal and three assists for four points. Simon Danis-Pepin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec) has four assists on the season. Lem Randall (Snow Lake, Manitoba) has a goal and two assists for three points, while Mike Banwell is also adding three points on three assists. Scott Darling is 5-2-1 on the season with a 1.24 goals against average and a .950 save percentage. He has a pair of shutouts. Dave Wilson (Caledon East, Ontario) is 2-2-0 with a 2.76 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. DARLING NAMED PRO AMBITIONS HOCKEY EAST ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Scott Darling was named the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Month for November on Tuesday, Dec. 2. He finished November with a record of 4-1-1 with a 1.32 goals against average and a .951 save percentage. Highlights of the month included 24 saves in a 2-1 victory over second-ranked Boston College, a career-high 35 saves in Maine's 3-2 victory over Providence and recording his second career shutout in Maine's 3-2 blanking of the Friars. DARLING LEADS NATION IN GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: Scott Darling is currently leading the nation with a 1.24 goals against average. He has allowed 10 goals in 482:23 minutes played this season. Darling is second in the nation with a .950 save percentage. FIRST ROAD LOSS: The Black Bears recorded their first road loss of the 2008-09 season last Saturday when it dropped a 3-2 decision at Vermont. Maine had defeated Alaska 2-0 earlier this season in Fairbanks and swept a pair of games at Providence. PENALTY KILL STRONG FOR MAINE: Maine's penalty kill is currently ranked fourth in the nation. The Black Bears have given up just four power play goals in 56 chances this season. Maine is currently killing penalties at a 92.9 percent clip. Maine has currently killed off 35-of-36 opponent power plays. STINGY DEFENSE FOR BLACK BEARS: The Black Bears are allowing just 1.75 goals per game. Maine has allowed three or more goals in a game just three times this season. In the season-opener, Alaska Anchorage potted three goals. Northeastern scored a season-high five goals against Maine on Oct. 24 and Vermont found the back of the net three times on Saturday, Nov. 29. Rookie netminder Scott Darling has only allowed more than two goals once in his career. SHORT-HANDED GOALS: Maine got a pair of short-handed goals on Saturday, Nov. 15 in its 3-0 win over Providence. Both Tanner House and Gustav Nyquist notched short-handed goals. They are the first two short-handed goals of the season for the Black Bears. NYQUIST TIED FOR FOURTH IN HOCKEY EAST IN FRESHMAN SCORING: Rookie Gustav Nyquist is tied for fourth in Hockey East in scoring among rookies. UMass Lowell's David Vallorani, Providence's Matt Bergland and Northeastern Alex Tuckerman each have 13 points, while Nyquist has six goals and five assists for 11 points. His six goals are tied with Boston College's Jimmy Hayes for the lead among freshmen. SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN: Northeastern leads Hockey East with a record of 10-3-2, 7-2-1 in conference play. The Huskies are led by Ryan Ginard who has 10 goals and four assists for 14 points. He has three power play goals and two game-winners. Alex Tuckerman has five goals and eight assists for 13 points. Tyler McNeely has six goals and five assists for 11 points, while Wade MacLeod also has 11 points on four goals and seven assists. Steve Quailer has three goals and eight assists for 11 points, while Steve Silva has a goal and a team-best 10 assists for 11 points as well. Brad Thiessen, who was named Hockey East Player of the Month for October and Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for November, has seen action in all 15 games in goal. He is 10-3-2 with a 1.98 goals against average and a .937 save percentage. Northeastern is coached by Greg Cronin (Colby '86) who is in his fourth season at Northeastern. He has a record of 42-63-17 and an overall record of 62-76-19 in his fifth season as a head coach. He is assisted by Sebastien Laplante (Northeastern `95), Albie O'Connell (Boston University '99), Joe Santilli (Northeastern '07) and John Carratu (Salem State '92). MAINE AND NORTHEASTERN ALL-TIME: Maine and Northeastern have met 99 times with the Black Bears holding a 46-38-15 lead in the series. Maine has won six of the last 10 meetings between the two schools. The two teams first met on Dec. 1, 1977. Northeastern beat Maine 5-0 and 2-1 earlier this season. Danis-Pepin has four assists. Jeff Marshall (Kyle, Saskatchewan) has a goal and two assists. Hahn has two goals against Northeastern, while House has a goal and an assist. Dimmen, Dee and Abbott have each scored a goal against the Huskies. Orsini and Van Dyk are each chipping in with an assist. Wilson has seen action in three games against the Huskies, while Darling has played in one game. NORTHEASTERN CONNECTIONS: Maine's Chris Hahn and Northeastern's Denis Chisholm both hail from Saskatchewan and played for the Notre Dame Hounds. Maine's Scott Darling and Northeastern's Randy Guzior are both from Lemont, Ill. Black Bear Ryan Hegarty and Husky Ryan Maguire are both from Arlington, Mass. SCOUTING MERRIMACK: Merrimack is 4-7-3 on the season and 2-6-2 in Hockey East play. Merrimack is led by Chris Barton who has four goals and five assists for nine points. Pat Kimball has four goals and four assists for eight points. Francois Ouimet is chipping in with seven points on three goals and four assists, while Karl Stollery also has seven points on two goals and five assists. Rob Ricci has four goals and two assists for six points, while Joe Cucci also has six points on a goal and five assists. Andrew Brathwaite and Joe Cannata have split time in goal. Brathwaite is 2-6-0 on the season with a 2.48 goals against average and a .907 save percentage in eight games. Cannata has played in seven games and is 2-1-3 on the season with a 2.15 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. Merrimack is coached by Mark Dennehy (Boston College '91), who is in his fourth season at Merrimack. He has a record of 25-75-15 with the Warriors and an overall record of 28-103-18 in his fifth season as a head coach. He is assisted by Phil Roy (Clarkson '00), Darren Yopyk (Princeton '00) and Tom Welby (Merrimack '01). MAINE AND MERRIMACK ALL-TIME: Maine and Merrimack have met 71 times with the Black Bears holding a 55-10-6 lead in the series. Maine and Merrimack played two weekends ago and Maine won the first game before the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie the following night. MAINE PLAYERS AGAINST MERRIMACK: Maine senior class has played against Merrimack 11 times and have won seven of the games. Duffy leads all Maine players in scoring against the Warriors with four goals an a assist. He had a hat trick against Merrimack last season en route to Hockey East Player of the Week honors. Marshall has three assists, while Will O'Neill has a goal and an assist. Glenn Belmore has a pair of assists against Merrimack. Danis-Pepin, Orsini and Carriere each have a goal against the Warriors, while Dimmen, House, Randall, Van Dyk, Dee and deKastrozza each have an assist against the Warriors. Dave Wilson has seen action in three games in goal against Merrimack, while Scott Darling has played in one game against Merrimack. MERRIMACK CONNECTIONS: Maine's Matt Duffy, Brian Flynn and Mark Nemec (Rouses Point, N.Y.) all played for the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, as did Merrimack's Pat Bowen and Jeff Valleca. Maine's Kyle Solomon played for the Junior Bruins, as did Merrimack's Pat Kimball. Maine's Ryan Hegarty and Merrimack's Joe Cannata both played for the U.S. Under -18 Team last year. CO-CAPTAINS: Simon Danis-Pepin and Jeff Marshall will serve as co-captains for the 2008-09 season. Danis-Pepin has seen action in 109 career games for Maine and has six goals and 21 assists for 27 points. Marshall, who had a breakout season last year, has played in 64 games. He has six goals and seven assists for 13 points. He had a pair of game-winning goals last season. 100 GAMES: Seniors Simon Danis-Pepin and Matt Duffy each played in their 100th career game Friday, Oct. 24 against Northeastern. It is the most games played of anyone on the Maine team. They lead the team, each having played in 109 games in their careers.
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