Last year was supposed to be "the year" in Orono. It obviously was not, as Tim Whitehead's crew lost in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs to end their season. Maine was the biggest surprise to me last year. They were so talented with Nyquist, Dee, Abbot, House, Flynn, and Dimmen, some people had the Bears winning the league. Maine returns Flynn and Abbot but loose Dimmen, Dee, Nyquist and House. Maine biggest losses though, come on the defensive side of the puck, as they loose Dimmen, Van Dyk, and Banwell. All in all though, UMaine hockey runs on how their goaltending is. If Sean Sullivan can come up big for the Bears this year then I believe Maine could get back to the Garden and be a potential threat to BC and BU. Heres another thing, Time Whitehead needs to go. I have said this once and I will say it again, . Maine has had so many talented teams the last couple year and have done NOTHING. Whitehead is a great recruiter, but is not a motivator like Jerry York and Jack Parker. In the end I believe Maine will be just average this year, finishing fourth in Hockey East, and getting revenge on Merrimack to get back to the Garden, but loose to BC in the Semis.
Key Returnees- Spencer Abbot, Matt Flynn, Mike Cornell.
Key Losses- Gustav Nyquist, Josh Van Dyk, Tanner House, Jeff Dimmen.
Prediction-Loose in Hockey East Semis to BC.
What about Will O'Neill as a key returnee, he's a very talented defensemen who lost a lot of time because of an injury last year, but when healthy he is great (and he's the co-captain). Also in "Key Returnees" it says Matt Flynn, its Brian Flynn.
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