Back on the farm

Providence's Hoggan working toward another NHL shot

He is 2 games shy of his 100th career National Hockey League contest.

For both the St. Louis Blues and, more recently, the Boston Bruins, he accounted himself quite nicely in roles on various third and fourth lines.

This year, Jeff Hoggan hasn't gotten so much as a sniff of The Show, but it's not stopping him from coming to the rink every day with the right attitude. Saturday night in Portland, Hoggan scored a shorthanded goal in the third period to help force overtime before scoring the clinching goal in a shootout to lead Providence to a 4-3 win over the host Pirates.

There's not a lot that makes sense about Hoggan's career, and Providence head coach Scott Gordon is the first to admit as much.

"He's a guy that you look at his career and you probably wouldn't expect him to be in a shootout, but he's got a knack for scoring goals on a breakaway," Gordon said.

In 212 career AHL games, Hoggan has just 48 goals -- and he's got only a pair in 98 NHL contests. Even in a 4-year collegiate career at Nebraska-Omaha, the 29-year old right wing wasn't able to hit 100 points for his career. Hoggan did, however, log 252 minutes in penalties in college, and he's got 215 in the AHL, testament to his role at virtually every stop along the way as a checker.

"He's the type of guy that he just wins battles and he competes hard," Gordon said. "(But) he's got speed ... and he doesn't complicate things."

Hoggan said he's naturally been disappointed at not seeing the NHL this season after playing 46 games under then-Boston coach Dave Lewis in 2006-07, but he's not dwelling on what might be.

Through 30 games, Hoggan has 13-11--24 totals -- just 12 point shy of his career best set with Houston in 2003-04.

"I always remain with a positive attitude," said Hoggan, a native of -- fittingly -- Hope, British Columbia. "I definitely want to be up, but I keep telling myself to just keep working hard and things will work out."

The team's runaway start to the season (an AHL-best 56 points through 34 games) has helped Hoggan stay positioned in the present.

"Winning makes it a lot easier, and you never get down," he said. You just keep pushing."

Road warriors

P-Bruins win 3rd game in as many nights away from home

PORTLAND -- The Providence Bruins have remained remarkably consistent throughout the first half of the season, racking up the American Hockey League's best record, while the Portland Pirates have sought that trait for their own game.

Perhaps predictably, then, in a game where a "complete 60 minutes" is stressed in every dressing room across the continent, the more consistent Bruins twice erased 2-goal deficits to post a 4-3 shootout win over the Pirates at the Cumberland County Civic Center tonight.

Jeff Hoggan scored the clincher in the shootout, not long after scoring his 13th goal of the year with Providence shorthanded midway through the third period to help force overtime. The Atlantic Division-leading Bruins (27-5-2-0) capped off a 3-road-games-in-3-days trip with their third straight victory.

"As lousy as they probably felt going into this game, knowing how much energy they exterted, they found a way to get it done," Providence coach Scott Gordon said of his team, which also benefited from goals from Pascal Pelletier (league-leading 21st of the year) and checker Byron Bitz.

Portland (18-12-2-2) received first-period goals from Jason King and Brendan Mikkelson to open the early 2-0 lead, with Mikkelson netting his third of the year with the team on the power play. Geoff Platt's 15th of the year (11th with the Pirates) made it 3-1 for Portland in the first minute of the second period.

Then the Bruins went to work turning the momentum of the game, chipping away bit by bit, shift by shift.

"We haven't been in that situation too often," Gordon said of playing from behind. "But one of the things about our team, we've come pretty close to playing a full 60 minutes every night. For that reason, it might not be the first period, it might not be the second, but it might be in the third, we'll come up big.

"We're going to have a big period for ourselves, and our guys have gotten used to that."

Portland coach Kevin Dineen was left looking for more from his team.

"There a team that's played a lot of hockey in the past couple of days, and we didn't take advantage of that as well as we could have," Dineen said.

"We had our moments where we were playing a solid brand of hockey, and the trick is to try and keep that going through 60 minutes. We definitely had some consistency issues with that tonight."

Gerald Coleman stopped 29 shots for the Pirates, while counterpart and AHL-leading goaltender Tuukka Rask made 26 saves in the Providence nets.

For the complete game summary, click here.

It's deja vu all over again. Again.

Watching the Zamboni on cruise control during the 1st intermission at the 4 C's, where Portland leads Providence 2-1, I realize it's been three years since I covered the Providence Bruins on a daily basis.

Here's a list of what's the same in Providence, and what's not.

THE SAME: Scott Gordon is head coach.
DIFFERENT: Everybody sitting on the bench in front of him.

THE SAME: Trainer Michael Poirier, a Rhode Island native.
DIFFERENT: Without tough guy Steve Parsons on the roster, there's a lot less blood and broken knuckles for Poirier to tend to.

THE SAME: The P-Bruins are good enough to lead the AHL's Atlantic Division.
DIFFERENT: Their power play is atrocious, just 24th in the league entering the night. It's a far cry from the days when Lee Goren, Matt Herr, Martin Samuelsson and Keith Aucoin made the man-advantage go.

THE SAME: The Baby Bruins logo.
DIFFERENT: The Baby Bruins game sweaters.

THE SAME: Gordon probably still believes I don't have a clue about hockey.
DIFFERENT: Gordon's got a bona fide No. 1 netminder in Tuukka Rask this time around, instead of the Andrew Raycroft-Tim Thomas platoon of days gone by.

THE SAME: I gotta say, I still love going to the rink.
DIFFERENT: With 2 little pucksters of my own around the house these days, I get up a heck of a lot earlier on game days.

The game's darkest moments

When the horn sounds on the final game of a season, and the banks of lights thunder into darkness in the rafters of an arena, what happens next?

For most of us, we watch the transaction wires and get ready for next year's training camp. That camp convenes in September, and by the season's opening in October, we've forgotten about those third- and fourth-liners, those sixth- and seventh-defensemen that are either in another league, with another team or out of hockey altogether.

We forget about them almost as easily as they forget about the game -- and not because they wanted to. The Toronto Star's Randy Starkman has this great piece from last Sunday's paper.

It's a must read.

Game of the Week (12/27): Providence at Portland

What: American Hockey League
When: 7:05 p.m, Saturday
Where: Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland

PROVIDENCE (24-5-2-0, 1st in Atlantic Division): The Baby Bruins are the creme-de-la-creme of the AHL'S Eastern Conference, tearing through the league to the tune of just 5 regulation lossess. Tuukka Rask is one of just 3 goalies in the entire league with a sub-2.00 GAA (1.99) and has a stint with the parent club on the resume. Pascal Pelletier is the league's leading goal-getter with 17 goals, and he sits 5th in overall scoring with 35 points.

PORTLAND (17-12-2-1, 3rd place in Atlantic Division): The Pirates have moved into 3rd place in the division despite going just 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Andrew Ebbett has stepped up through the team's rash of call-ups and injuries and sits 7th in the AHL in scoring at 9-25--34. Gerald Coleman, the Manchester Monarchs aside, is beginning to play very well -- and he carries a 3.06 goals against average.

YOU SHOULD KNOW: There's always a big crowd on hand at the 4 C's when Providence is in town. It's produced a spirited rivalry over the past several seasons, and it's a chance for Maine hockey fans to see Boston's top prospects up close and personal. Portland is an impressive 12-4-1 on home ice this season, and this could prove to be a great launching point for the Pirates to make a run leading up to the All-Star Game next month.

Former Black Bears still like the old digs

ORONO -- Eric Weinrich couldn't remember too many nights like this at the Alfond. Scott Pellerin felt like a kid again during the morning skate. Teddy Purcell picked up right where he left off.

Fresh off a Hockey East Rookie of the Year campaign with the University of Maine last winter, Purcell scored two goals as part of a 3-point night to lead the Manchester Monarchs to a 6-2 win over Weinrich's Portland Pirates in an American Hockey League game played at Alfond Arena on Tuesday night. All the while, Pellerin -- the 1992 Hobey Baker Award winner while with the Black Bears -- beamed from his perch as an assistant coach behind the Monarchs' bench.

The Monarchs scored four power-play goals against Portland, which was playing its first home game away from the Cumberland County Civic Center in the 15-year history of the franchise.

Weinrich, a U.S. Olympian from Gardiner who helped launch the Maine hockey program to national prominence with a Frozen Four appearance in 1988, the local boy made good, took to the cozy Alfond Arena ice almost 20 years after leaving to embark on his professional career.

Despite the loss, Weinrich, who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League, chose to look at the positives -- the opportunity to play hockey in the place where it started for him and the chance to help bring the professional game to an area that rarely sees it.

"It was fun, yeah," Weinrich said, who appeared to be in form. "Every hockey game's great. It would have been nice to get the win -- losing 6-2 is no fun, but we played as hard as we could. Everybody at UMaine really made it a great day for us, and it felt like home here."

Whereas the Alfond atmosphere has become something of a 7th man for the Black Bears over the years as they established a program of national significance, the same couldn't be said for the Pirates. The four-goal loss equaled the team's worst this season.

Though Portland didn't fare well in its foray onto surrogate ice, Maine has fared quite well by contrast when using the Pirates' home barn as its own. Since becoming a Hockey East school, Maine is 14-2-3 alll-time in games played at the Civic Center.

Pellerin and Purcell are both quite accustomed to winning hockey at the Alfond. Purcell scored 16 goals in 40 games for Maine last winter in helping lead the team to the Frozen Four, and his 43 total points as a rookie for the Black Bears were the most scored by a Maine freshman since a pretty good player led the team to the 1993 national championship -- a kid by the name of Paul Kariya.

Purcell picked up right where he left off last year. With his three points, he moved into the AHL scoring lead with 11-26--37 totals.

"It was pretty nice. To be fortunate enough to play for Manchester against Portland up here was pretty special," Purcell said. "It was a special night."

Manchester head coach Mark Morris certainly felt it was special.

"I'd like to have Teddy play up here all the time," he quipped with a smile.

Neither Weinrich nor Purcell said they were nervous heading into the contest.

"I think the morning skate really did take some of that out, yes," said Weinrich, who earlier in the week had worried about nerves creeping into his game. "I didn't feel nervous at all. But that's the way hockey goes. If you're not on the winning end, it's not much fun."

"It was a pretty cool night," Purcell said. "I was trying to hold back the smiles a little bit."

Purcell, Monarchs power up against Pirates

ORONO -- Teddy Purcell stole the show in the return of several former Black Bears to their old haunts on Tuesday night.

Purcell moved back into the American Hockey League scoring lead with a 2 goals and an assist in the barn he used to call home, leading the Manchester Monarchs to a 6-2 win over the hosts-away-from home Portland Pirates. The game was played at the University of Maine's Alfond Arena, the first time Purcell had been back to the cozy little rink since scoring 16 goals and 43 points as the Hockey East Rookie of the Year last year while at Maine.

Manchester continued to torch the opposition with the league's best power play, scoring 4 times Tuesday with the man advantage. Purcell first scored as the Monarchs built a 3-0 lead in just over 22 minutes (the team's 3rd goal on just 6 shots), and he also set up Matt Moulton's power play strike late in the second period to thwart a brief comeback attempt by the Pirates.

"Obviously, we got some fortunate bounces and the power play was clicking tonight," said Purcell, who now has 11-26--37 totals on the season. "It was just one of those nights where luck was a little on my side."

Purcell and David Meckler added third-period goals for Manchester (12-12-3-1), which blanked Portland 4-0 last Friday night and registered only 21 shots on goal. Bruno St. Jacques and Brandon Segal had the goals for the Pirates (16-12-1-1).

In addition to Purcell, the game featured the return of former Black Bears Eric Weinrich, a Pirates defenseman, and Scott Pellerin, Manchester's assistant coach. Weinrich played 18 years in the NHL, while Pellerin also played in the NHL after winning the Hobey Baker at Maine in 1992.

The game was the first home game played away from the Cumberland County Civic Center in the 15-year history of the franchise.

Click here for the complete game summary.

Weinrich gets to go home again

PORTLAND -- Every rink has its own echoes, the sounds players hear when the stands are empty. Pucks shriek as they careen into Plexiglas, sticks rattle lyrically across the frozen floor and goalie pads thunder throughout the spacious rafters. The sounds vary just a bit from building to building.


In 20 seasons of professional hockey, Gardiner native Eric Weinrich has heard the echoes everywhere, from old barns like Chicago Stadium and the Boston Garden to the amenity-laden new complexes like Philadelphia's Wachovia Center and Vancouver's General Motors Place.



But the echoes that resonate the loudest to Weinrich, still to this day, come from tiny Alfond Arena on the University of Maine's Orono campus.




"One of my best memories was the first practice we had (at Alfond)," said Weinrich, who played for the Maine Black Bears from 1985-88. "We had to wait until midnight, and we went out and there was like a full house there for our first practice. It was like basketball's Midnight Madness. For a freshman, that was a pretty cool experience."

Tonight, Weinrich gets to go back. Set to turn 41 on Wednesday, the American Hockey League's oldest player will be on the ice when his current club, the Portland Pirates, hosts the Manchester Monarchs at Alfond at 7:05 p.m.

Read the complete story in today's Kennebec Journal.

Around the boards (12/17): Maineiacs moves highlight Sunday action

During the holiday trading period, the Lewiston Maineiacs officially split ties with disgruntled forward David Taylor.

Taylor, who left the team the day after a 4-point night in a win over Halifax on Dec. 5, was flipped to Shawinigan in exchange for defenseman Guillaume Durand. Durand, 19, was taken off Shawinigan's roster earlier this season.

Taylor left to return to AAA hockey, and after leaving Lewiston, he told a French-language newspaper that he felt an anti-Quebec sentiment existed in the Maineiacs organization. Maineiacs head coach and general manager Ed Harding laughed at the notion, saying if anything, he was guilty of being hardest on American-born players on the team.

Taylor had 6-9--15 totals in 26 games with Lewiston this season. Durand notched 3 assists in a 4-game playoff exit at the hands of the Maineiacs last year.

LEWISTON 4, VICTORIAVILLE 2: Newcomer Pier-Olivier Morin was one of 4 different Lewiston goal-scorers on Sunday, as the Maineiacs won their 3rd straight heading into a 10-day Christmas break.

Stefano Giliati scored his 20th of the season, and Danick Paquette also scored as part of a 3-goal second period for Lewiston. Lucas LaBelle had the other Lewiston goal.

AHL

PORTLAND 1, SPRINGFIELD 0: Gerald Coleman made 25 saves to earn the shutout at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Carter's shorthanded goal, his 3rd goal of the season, came just over a minute into the third period and stood up as the game's only tally. Portland has now won 4 of its last 5 games.

HOCKEY EAST

No. 10 NEW HAMPSHIRE 2, MAINE 0: Bobby Butler scored early in the first period and Peter LeBlanc added an empty-netter for the Wildcats at the Whittemore Center.

Ben Bishop made 31 saves for Maine, which has won only 1 of its last 8 games (1-5-2).

AHL: Pirates feeding off team chemistry

The minor leagues may be the toughest place in the hockey world for a team to form.

Injuries come and go, just as they do anwhere in the game, at any level. Roster moves compound the chemistry formula -- as players are shipped off to the National Hockey League to fill voids there, those holes to be plugged here by East Coast call-ups.

College rosters change only once a year; even NHL rosters aren't in flux the way they are in the AHL. The Portland Pirates have been hit especially hard by recent comings and goings, but Saturday's night's 4-3 overtime win over Springfield may serve as a springboard through a grueling stretch of games over the holidays.

"It's extra motivation for us to go win like that, so close to Christmas," said Pirates center Geoff Platt, who arrived at the rink just 20 minutes before face-off after being demoted by Anaheim earlier in the day and then proceeded to assist on the game-tying goal late in the third period.

"You're emotions run a little lower, just because it's that time of the season where everyone wants to be with their families and wants things to be easier. It boosted the morale of the whole team."

After playing with the Ducks, Platt said he knew as soon as he hit the Cumberland County Civic Center Saturday that this was a tightly knit group of players -- one that has won 3 of its last 4 contests.

"A great indication was when I came back here, a player like (Ryan) Dingle who was traded here, and it's like right away -- and I haven't been here in 2 weeks -- and he's already a full-fledged member of the team," Platt said. "The whole team has already embraced him. It's great, and I'm happy to see it from everyone in the entire organization."

The Pirates were blanked, 4-0, at Manchester on Friday and twice trailed the Falcons by 2 goals on Saturday. Defenseman Brian Salcido said the team learned a few lessons in the loss to Manchester, namely that they couldn't afford to quit mid-stride.

Salcido scored on the power play to make it 3-2 midway through the third period, and Andrew Ebbett scored the equalizer with 2:33 remaining in regulation.

"You never see that with a team that wasn't connected like we are," Platt said.

"Everyone's really close," said Salcido, a 2nd-year pro out of Colorado College. "I don't think anyone really takes anything for granted, and we really treat everyone like family. Whether you get called up or sent down or whatever, we're all on the same team and we're all pushing for the same things. I think it's really important for a team when you have that."

Salcido also said he recognizes the difficulty of playing in the minor leagues, where rosters seem more fluid than anywhere else. But the atmosphere in the Portland room seems to be succeeding despite the uncertainty.

"We're getting better each day," Salcido said. "We had a couple of injuries there, a couple of call-ups, but it really kind of forces you to mesh -- on the ice, in the locker room and outside of the rink with each other. It's a big stretch right before Christmas, so hopefully we can get some wins going into the break."

AHL: Pirates rally for win

Wirtanen lifts Portland in overtime

PORTLAND -- Dead in the water with just minutes remaining in what was shaping up to be another disappointing effort, the Pirates found a way to create a little more home ice magic.

Portland scored twice in the final 11 minutes of regulation to force overtime on Saturday night at the Cumberland County Civic Center, and then the Pirates got Petteri Wirtanen's goal with under a minute to play in overtime -- lifting the home team to a 4-3 win over the Springfield Falcons.

The goal was Wirtanen's 3rd of the season; the win was the team's 10th in 14 games at home.

"We were down early and we never stopped," said defenseman Brian Salcido, who had a goal and two assists. "We were down yesterday a few goals, too, and I think everybody started sulking a little bit. Tonight, we kept pushing and we realized as a team we needed to keep doing what we were good at."

Part of the reason the Pirates found themselves in a 3-1 hole was their penalty-box procession. After being whistled for 7 minor penalties through the first 2 periods -- leading to power-play goals for Falcons Marc Pouliot and Mathiew Roy -- Portland stayed out of the box completely in the third, save for a Brandon Segal fighting major.

That allowed Salcido to thread a slapper through traffic at the 9:15 mark to pull the Pirates to within 3-2, and then Andrew Ebbett scored his 8th goal of the season with 2:27 remaining in regulation to draw the home team even.

"Coach (Kevin Dineen) came in and called us out a little bit," Ebbett said of the discussion in the Pirates dressing room during the second intermission.

Portland goaltender Mike McKenna made 23 saves, one of them on Liam Reddox's penalty shot at 12:44 of the third. Reddox, who opened the night's scoring early in the first period, swooped right and then left, and his shot along the ice was thwarted by McKenna's pad.

McKenna also had a hand on the overtime goal, which came with the teams skating three aside. He tried to freeze the puck at the edge of his crease when things got scrambly around him, but referee David Banfield told him to play it.

Salcido picked it up, fired up the right wing wall to Stephen Dixon, and Dixon centered for a streaking Wirtanen -- who reached out with the blade of his stick to re-direct the puck past Jeff Deslauriers (42 saves).

Click here for the complete summary.

AHL: Mid-game meanderings

Just a few things to think about as we pass the halfway mark here at the 4-C's Resort in downtown Portland, where the Pirates trail visiting Springy (in the hockey vernacular) by a 2-1 count...

- Amazing how good a team can look when it's not sitting in the penalty box. The Pirates got off to a dreadfully slow start in this one, and it wasn't so much from a lack of either execution or effort. They were shorthanded for nearly all of the first 10 minutes of the contest. Once they stayed out of the bin, the game picked up considerably.

It's not rocket science, this thing called hockey...

- Umm, this just in: Mathieu Roy can flat-out shoot the puck. He just toasted Portland goalie Mike McKenna with a one-timer that McKenna didn't see until after it glanced off him and jiggled the net behind him. (That made it 3-1, with Springfield's 2nd PPG of the evening)

- Good to see Colin McDonald cashing a paycheck for playing the game at this level. I knew Colin way back when, when I was covering an underachieving Providence College program. McDonald was a hot prospect -- taken in the 2nd round of the 2003 Entry Draft by Edmonton -- when he hit Providence, but he was lost in the fog. He saw Paul Pooley leave the program after his first 2 years, marred by a knee injury, and then had to work through the next 2 years as former Pirates bench boss Tim Army put his stamp in the Friars.

In 27 games entering tonight, McDonald has 6-8--14 totals, and he picked up a helper on a Liam Reddox goal back in the 1st period for his 9th assist of the campaign.

Portland Pirates: In the nick of time

Help has arrived for the Portland Pirates.

Parent Anaheim announced late Saturday afternoon that center Geoff Platt, who's posted 16 points in just 9 games with the Pirates before his recall to the Ducks, and defenseman Bruno St. Jacques are on their way to Portland. Platt didn't make it to the Cumberland County Civic Center in time for the pre-game warmup, but he did make it in time to stretch out below the concourse and get into the Portland lineup for tonight's game against the Springfield Falcons.

On Friday, Anaheim completed a trade for Doug Weight from St. Louis. They also activated defenseman Scott Nidermeyer, allowing them to send St. Jacques back to Portland. St. Jacques was believed to be in the building prior to face-off against the Falcons.

The Pirates announced less than 20 minutes before face-off that Bobby Ryan has been recalled to Anaheim. Ryan, second on the Pirates in scoring, has 10-14--24 totals in 25 games with Portland this season.

Around the boards (12/14): Pirates blanked by Monarchs

The Portland Pirates opened a 4-in-5 stretch by being blanked 4-0 by the Manchester Monarchs in a disappointing performance on Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

The Monarchs scored 3 power play goals in the American Hockey League matchup.
Former University of Maine standout Teddy Purcell was among the 4 different goal-scorers for Manchester (11-11-2-1). Rookie Erik Ersberg made 21 saves for his 1st professional shutout.

After back-to-back Saturday-Sunday games at home against Springfield, Portland (14-11-1-1) will play host to Manchester at Alfond Arena in Orono on Tuesday.

QMJHL

LEWISTON 3, RIMOUSKI 1: Stefano Giliati had a goal and an assist and Peter Delmas made 18 saves on the road to lead the Maineiacs to a home-and-home sweep of the Oceanic.

Danick Paquette netted his 14th goal of the season for Lewiston (21-13-1-1), and Marc Bourgeois also scored.

Team Canada: Bernier gets nod

Lewiston Maineiacs goaltender Jonathan Bernier will be with Team Canada when it begins its run at the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic next week.

Bernier joins Steve Mason of the London Knights in the OHL as the 2 goalies on the squad. He was last year's QMJHL playoff MVP after leading the Maineiacs to the President's Cup.

Lewiston teammate Kevin Marshall, a defenseman, was a longshot to make the squad and did not earn a roster spot.

AHL: Platt's back

Not only do the Portland Pirates have ECHL call-ups Matt Christie and Ryan Dingle to bolster the lineup this weekend as they begin a 4-games-in-5-days stretch.

They've also got the return of Geoff Platt.

Platt, who played 4 games for parent Anaheim in the NHL after a recent recall, is expected to be in the lineup for the Pirates tonight against Manchester.

Platt has 7-9--16 totals in his 9 games with Portland. Originally acquired in a trade with Columbus (where he'd been playing with their minor-league affiliate in Syracuse), Platt was scoreless with 2 PIM.

Game of the Week (12/14): Manchester at Portland in Orono

What: American Hockey League

When: 7:05 p.m, Tuesday

Where: Alfond Arena, University of Maine, Orono

PORTLAND (14-10-1-1, 4th place in Atlantic Division): Winners of 2 in a row heading into Friday night's game at Manchester, the first of 4 in a 5-day span, the Pirates are just 5-5 in their last 10 outings as they battle a roster in flux. Geoff Platt and Bruno St. Jacques were both recently recalled to parent Anaheim, other players have been traded in unrelated deals, and injuries have taken their toll. Andrew Ebbett's 27 points (7 goals, 20 assists) pace the team, but the defense has been good. Only Providence has allowed fewer goals in the division. Both active-roster goaltenders Mike McKenna and Gerald Coleman have save percentages at .900 or better with goals against averages below 2.90.

MANCHESTER (10-11-2-1, 5th in Atlantic Division): Teddy Purcell shocked the Maine hockey community when he left Orono after his freshman season, but he's shining in the professional game as a playmaker. He leads the Monarchs with 8-25--33 totals, and the 25 assists are tops in the league through Thursday. Manchester has 3 players among the league's top-18 in scoring, but the team doesn't have much balance. Only 5 teams in the Eastern Conference have scored fewer goals.

YOU SHOULD KNOW: The game is the first home game in the 15-year history of the Portland franchise to be played away from the Cumberland County Civic Center, and it marks a homecoming for people on both benches. In addition to Pirates defenseman and alternate captain Eric Weinrich, Manchester assistant coach Scott Pellerin was a Hobey Baker Award winner at Maine in 1992, and last year's Hockey East Rookie of the Year while at Maine, Purcell, plays for the Monarchs and led the AHL in scoring entering the weekend.

Around the boards (12/12): Chaput leads Lewiston

Center Stefan Chaput's hat trick led the Lewiston Maineiacs to a 5-2 win over the visiting Rimouski Oceanic in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Tuesday night.

Chaput now has 17 goals on the season.

The Maineiacs were down 3 players heading into the night, with goaltender Jonathan Bernier and defenseman Kevin Marshall both with Team Canada for its tryout camp in advance of the World Junior Championships. Winger David Taylor left the team last week.

After Chaput and Rimouski's Olivier Fortier swapped goals, Lucas LaBelle and Chaput scored to open up a 3-1 lead for Lewiston (20-13-1-1). Chaput and Chris Tutalo extended the lead in the 2nd period.

Peter Delmas had 25 saves in the win.

Phillippe Cornet scored the other goal for Rimouski (13-23-1-0), which is coached by Clem Jodoin, who was at the helm of the Maineiacs for the franchise's first 4 seasons. Jodoin was not at the game Tuesday, however, as he was with Team Canada.

HEA: Maine's Duffy Player of the Week

It's been a week of firsts for the University of Maine's Matt Duffy.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman from Windham notched his 1st career hat trick in the Black Bears' 3-1 over Merrimack at Alfond Arena on Saturday. On Monday, it was announced that -- for the 1st time in his career -- the junior Duffy was named the Hockey East Association's Player of the Week.

Duffy's only other multiple-goal game for Maine came 2 years ago when, as a freshman, he netted a pair in a Hockey East quarterfinal game against UMass-Lowell to earn Rookie of the Week honors.

Duffy has 4 goals this season to tie him for the team lead.

Around the boards (12/10): Pirates finish off 4-point weekend

Duffy hat trick leads Maine, Colby gets split

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The Portland Pirates scored 3 goals in a span of 2:15 in the second period Sunday afternoon, holding off the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for a 3-2 win in the American Hockey League.

Ryan Dingle scored his 1st professional goal in the second-period flurry, and Gordie Dwyer and Tyler Bouck also scored for Portland (14-10-1-1, 4th in Atlantic Division). Mike McKenna made 24 saves for the win.

The victory came on the heels of a 5-4 win at division-leading Providence on Saturday night.

Matt Christie scored a pair of goals in the win, negating a 2-goal night from P-Bruin Jeff Hoggan. Gerald Coleman posted 31 saves for Portland.

HOCKEY EAST

UMAINE 3, MERRIMACK 1: Maine native Matt Duffy accounted for all the scoring for the Black Bear scoring on Saturday night, as Maine in some small part avenged a 2-game weekend sweep at the hands of the Warriors last month.

It was the 1st career hat trick for Duffy.

NESCAC

COLBY, BOWDON SPLIT PAIR: Freshman goalie Cody McKinney made 24 saves as Colby held off Bowdoin 3-1 in the 1st game of a weekend home-and-home on Friday, and then Ryan Blossom and Thomas Herd scored in the 3rd period on Saturday night to lift the Polar Bears to a 5-3 win for the split.

Colby is now 4-3-0 on the season, while Bowdoin is 5-2-0. With a 4-1-0 conference record, the Mules sit atop the early NESCAC standings.

QMJHL: Roy, Remparts flat-foot Maineiacs

LEWISTON -- Playing under the watchful eye of his father, one of the most celebrated netminders in the history of the sport, Jonathan Roy took a mighty first step toward establishing his own identity on Friday night at the Androscogging Bank Colisee.

Roy made 27 saves for Quebec, earning just his second career Quebec Major Junior Hockey League win by leading the Remparts to a 4-1 decision over the Lewiston Maineiacs.

"He's been playing very well for us, and to be honest with you, I'm very happy with the way he's playing," said Patrick Roy, an NHL Hall of Famer and the Remparts' head coach, the guy who gave Jonathan a chance at Victoriaville gave up on him last season. "The last four for five times he's been in the net for us, he's been really sharp. His confidence has come in, and I'm very happy with the way he's handling things."

Roy's Rempart teammates took some of the pressure off of his shoulders early, building a 2-0 first-period lead off the sticks of Angelo Esposito and Felix Petit. From there, Roy did the work -- stopping 12 of the 13 shots he faced during Lewiston's best period, the second period.

Only the hot hand of Danick Paquette, who has three goals in the last two games for the Maineiacs, was able to push one past Roy -- but Maxime Sauve (goal, assist) answered less than a minute and a half later to make it a two-goal lead once again.

"For me, it's really special," said Roy, who ended up in junior AAA after Victoriaville passed on him last winter. "It was a difficult year (last year). I talked about not playing hockey, but I decided to bounce back from that. For me, I've been working hard, and that's what's been working the last few games."

Neither Patrick nor Jonathan, however, are willing to bite on comparisons to one another.

"I'm just not going to play into that," said Patrick, himself a 3-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's best goaltender and a 4-time Stanley Cup winner. "I think he has enough pressure on himself... Jonathan is Jonathan."

"I don't try to be like him," Jonathan said. "He's way up there -- and I'm not going to aim for what he's accomplished. That's why I look at guys like (Maineiacs goalie Jonathan Bernier), guys that are going up there right now. It releases stress off my shoulders."

Bernier was hung out to dry far too often by his Lewiston teammates, and though he couldn't always bail them out, he did a masterful job of it midway through the game.

With the Remparts on the power play and defenseman Pierre Bergeron camped out in the low slot to recieve a centering pass from the left wing, Bernier stacked his pads and slid left to right across the crease -- waving a glove in the air to rob Bergeron of a sure goal.

Still, the entire Lewiston room was left deflated after dropping what they felt could have been a better result entering the night.

"Coach (Ed Harding) had a real simple game plan for us, and we absolutely didn't follow it," said Lewiston pivot Stefan Chaput, lamenting the lack of a backcheck on behalf of his mates which allowed the odd-man rushes to produce goals.

"We didn't follow the game plan. What Quebec's good at is jumping in the play and creating odd-man rushes. We gave up three goals on odd-man rushes," Harding said. "We didn't shoot the puck enough. We think we're a pretty fancy, pretty cute team offensively, and we're not that way.

"We need to start getting more pucks to the net."

The times the Maineiacs did do that, of course, ran into a red-hot Roy -- one who resembled his old man on a few occasions. And it was Patrick who brought his son to Quebec to give him the opportunity.

"I just felt he deserved a chance," Patrick said. "I felt he belonged in the league."

NESCAC: Colby, Bowdoin renew rivalry

Colleague Travis Lazarczyk has the preview of this weekend's home-and-home series between Colby and Bowdoin.

Two traditionally strong Division III programs here in New England, they routinely engage in a heated rivalry. It's good stuff -- and an EXTREMELY tough ticket.

QMJHL: 2 Maineiacs to try out for Team Canada

The Lewiston Maineiacs bus will likely be a little lighter in the coming weeks.
Goaltender Jonathan Bernier and defenseman Kevin Marshall are both on the list of 37 players invited to Team Canada's tryout camp in advance of the World Junior Championships later this month in the Czech Republic. Team Canada opens camp on Monday.

Bernier is 7-6 in 14 games for the Maineiacs this season, and his most recent performance was a 36-save night against Quebec Major Junior Hockey League leader Halifax on Wednesday. Property of the Los Angeles Kings, where he opened this season, Bernier has a 2.94 goals against average and .904 save percentage on the year.

In his 3rd season with Lewiston, Marshall boasts 7-15--22 totals from the Maineiacs blue line this year, tying him for 6th overall among QMJHL defensemen. Marshall's plus-10 rating leads the team.

*****

Team USA announced its roster on Wednesday, and with only 4 exceptions, it is comprised exclusively of college players. Notable among the selections is James vanRiemsdyk, a freshman forward at the University of New Hampshire who was drafted this year by the Philadelphia Flyers.

AHL: Maine's Moore faring well

Followers of University of Maine hockey won't be surprised by the success former Black Bear Greg Moore is finding at the professional level.

After scoring just 8 goals in his first full season with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League last year, Moore already has 11 goals and 23 points this season for Hartford in just 22 games. What's more -- pun intended -- the 6-1, 225-pound right wing out of Lisbon led the AHL with a plus-16 rating entering the week's action.

Moore has been so solid that he earned a brief call-up with the parent New York Rangers, a team laden with talented forwards, making his debut on Nov. 21.

In 4 years at Maine, Moore scored 66 career goals and registered 106 points, topping out in his senior year with a career-high totals of 28-16--44.

Old time hockey serves Maineiacs well

Both coaches downplayed all the rough play in Wednesday night's 6-1 Lewiston win over Halifax in a matchup of the defending Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion and the team pegged by most at the quarter-pole to win this year's title.

Halifax Moosheads coach Cam Russell said it was just nice to see his team stick up for one another for the first time in a while. Counterpart Ed Harding said he was happy for some of his guys who got involved, but no so thrilled to see others become a tad undisciplined.

No matter what was being said in the aftermath of a true, old-time hockey slugfest at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, both teams were trying to send one another a message. Most importantly, the Maineiacs wanted to serve notice that they are in this to repeat as QMJHL champs.

"We need to bring that to our game, and that's what we did, especially against those guys," Lewiston goaltender Jonathan Bernier said of the team's physical presence -- finishing checks, taking penalties and dropping the gloves when called upon. "All these teams want to beat us, especially because we were the champions last year. We need to battle every game."

In all, there were a total of 8 fighting majors handed out, a series of post-whistle scrums teetering on the edge and a whopping sum of 109 minutes in penalties doled out by referee Guy Pellerin -- including the misconducts that don't count in official QMJHL statistics. For the pundits who crave more bite, more sandpaper in their NHL product, Wednesday's tilt among top-notch junior squads was testament to the way the game used to be played everywhere, at every level.

"It was actually kind of nice to see," Russell said. "We hadn't seen it at all this season. It was good to see the players stick together."

Bernier stopped short of saying the fisticuffs were openly discussed beforehand -- but the 20-year-old veteran of a few seasons in The Q, who said he learned about leadership from the team's run to the Cup last spring, did suggest that the team needed to respond against Halifax.

"We learned how to be a winner last year, and there's nothing better than that," Bernier said. "They have some good players, some skilled guys, so if we can put a body on them it can help us. That's what we did tonight."

Harding saw his team take some steps toward being successful over the course of the long season, too. The fighting and the physical accountability the Maineiacs displayed may prove to be more important to their fortunes in February and March than the 4 third-period goals they scored or their 2 power-play tallies.

"For some guys it was good," said Harding, whose team has split 4 meetings with Halifax and has handed the Mooseheads 2 of their 7 regulation losses. "I really challenged Jakub Bundil (who fought Halifax's Shawn O'Donnell just 41 seconds into the second period). I wasn't real satisfied with the way he had stood up before, and I think I really irritated him. I needed to see a little life out of him, and I needed to see life out of some other guys, too.

"Guys standing up for each other, I'm really happy about that."

QMJHL: Maineiacs put hammer down on Mooseheads

LEWISTON -- The Lewiston Maineiacs may have figured out how to put the pedal down against Quebec Major Junior Hockey League competition.

After 2-goal leads disappeared in each of their 3 previous games, the Maineiacs scored 4 goals in the third period Wednesday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee to pull away to a 6-1 win over the league-leading Halifax Mooseheads. David Taylor scored twice and added a pair of helpers in the victory for Lewiston, which pulled to within 6 points of Halifax in the Eastern Division.

Danick Paquette also scored twice in the win, his 11th and 12th goals of the season, as Halifax suffered only its 7th regulation loss of the year -- and worst since an identical loss to St. John's back on Oct. 10.

"We're challenging this team for first place, and we needed these 2 points before Christmas," Paquette said.

Jonathan Bernier stonewalled the Mooseheads, who played without QMJHL-leading scorer Jakub Voracek, who has returned to the Czech Republic to play for his country in the World Junior Championships. Bernier finished with 36 saves for the Maineiacs (19-12-1-1).

"I just focused myself to make the first save," Bernier said.

"As long as I stay focused, and I saw a lot of shots from the outside, it's easy to stay focused and make the save."

Lewiston led 2-0 on a first-period goal from Paquette and a 2nd-period power-play strike from Taylor, whose centering pass hit a stick in the crease and deflected through the legs of Halifax goaltender Pierre-Olivier Pelletier (15 saves).

The Mooseheads (21-7-0-4) cut the lead in half with a power-play goal of their own with under 5 minutes remaining in the second, courtesy of Ryan Hillier's 20th goal of the season.
After blowing a 2-goal lead last week en route to a shootout win over Moncton, and then following that by blowing multi-goal leads in back-to-back losses to Acadie-Bathurst, the Maineiacs were a much better 3rd-period team this time around.

"We struggled the past 2 games with the lead, and we just came out ready to play," Paquette said through Bernier, who was acting as his translator.

Click here for a complete box score.

Game of the week (12/5): Halifax at Lewiston

What: Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday

Where: Androscoggin Bank Colisee, Lewiston

LEWISTON (18-12-1-1, 7th place): The Maineiacs return home after a 3-game road trip that saw them beat Moncton in a shootout before losing 2 in a row to Acadie-Bathurst. Lewiston is led by goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who started the year with the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League. Since returning, Bernier is just 6-6 with a 3.09 goals against average and .897 save percentage. Stefano Giliati leads the Maineiacs in scoring with 18-17--35 totals. Defenseman Kevin Marshall is plus-8 for the season with 7-13--20.

HALIFAX (21-6-0-4, 1st place): Jakub Voracek leads the team that has scored the most goals in the league and is far and away the best team, having lost only 6 of its 31 contests in regulation. Voracek has 34 assists, tops in the Q, to go with his 16 goals (50 points) -- one of 4 Mooseheads ranking in the top-18 league-wide. Peter-James Corsi has 17-21--38 total and Ryan Hillier stands at 19-17--36. Tomas Knotek is the QMJHL's leading rookie point-getter with 11-24--35.

YOU SHOULD KNOW: Both teams have hit road blocks recently, however small. Despite its impressive overall mark, Halifax is just 1-1 in its last 2 outings, while Lewiston is a loser of 2 straight coming into tonight while having dropped 4 of its last 10 decisions.

Portland Pirates: Geoff Platt, we hardly knew ye

Surprising absolutely nobody -- at least judged solely by his play through the first third of the season -- Portland Pirates center Geoff Platt got the call on Tuesday.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks recalled Platt, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound Toronto native, has 41 games of NHL experience on his resume with Columbus.

In just 9 games with the Pirates after being acquired via a trade last month, Platt, 22, was Portland's dominant offensive player, posting 7 goals and 9 assists. Including his time in Syracuse earlier this season, he has 11-12--23 totals to tie him for 13 in the overall AHL scoring race.

Platt's posted modest totals of 4-10-14 in NHL games.

Home, sweet home

The last college hockey game I'd covered came in March of 2004.

It was then that the end of my incarnation as a hockey writer coincided nicely with the end of Paul Pooley's head coaching career. In a matter of days, in events completely unrelated to one another, Pooley resigned at Providence College and I was offered a job on the sports desk here in Maine. I honestly thought when the horn sounded on the Providence-UMass Lowell game, it was the end of hockey for me.

When the puck dropped on Saturday's Colby-Castleton State game at Alfond Rink, and the Mule forecheckers raced off into the Spartan zone, I took a swig of coffee and smiled. It was so good to be back.

Division III hockey is a far cry from the Hockey East Association, but the pace, the integrity, the heart is still there. And it felt good afterwards to talk about systems, odd-man rushes and 5-man forechecks.

Unwittingly, Michael Belliveau certainly added something to the equation, too. It's long been said that hockey players are far and away the best athletes for the media to deal with, and I've got no squabbles with that. There's something about the aww-shucks nature of the Canadian kids, too, that adds to it. No pretense, suppressed egos and an understanding of hockey as a way of life that you just don't find in American-born players.

I've found myself missing the Lowell-to-Worcester-to-Manchester weekends of my days covering the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins, and I've also thought a lot lately about the buildings I visited while covering the Friars -- Alfond Arena, the Whittemore Center, Matthews Arena. Great hockey barns all of them.

It's good to be back in the rink...

Morning Sentinel: Belliveau plays big, lifts Colby

WATERVILLE -- Michael Belliveau spent most of last season wishing he could pitch in. Saturday at Alfond Rink, he got around to doing something about it.

The Colby College sophomore scored a pair of goals and assisted on 2 others, leading the Mules to a 6-3 win over Castleton State College.

Read the complete story in today's Morning Sentinel.

Around the boards (12/1): Ryan leads Pirates to win

Maineiacs fall on road; UMaine loses exhibition

PORTLAND -- Bobby Ryan scored a pair of goals and Geoff Platt extended his point-scoring streak to an American Hockey League-best 8 games, as the Portland Pirates downed the Worcester Sharks 6-3 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Ryan Carter, Stephen Dixon, Platt and Brett Festerling also had goals for the Pirates. Mike McKenna made 27 saves to earn the victory in the nets.

2nd-year defenseman Brian Salcido continued his solid play, earning the game's No. 1 star with 3 assists. Salcido's 5-17--22 totals lead all AHL defensemen.

ACADIE-BATHURST 5, LEWISTON 4 (QMJHL): Tomy Joly and Cameron Critchlow scored in the 3rd period as the Titan rallied for the victory on home ice. Joly finished with 2 goals on the night.

Jakub Bundil was one of 4 different goal scorers for the Maineiacs, and his goal early in the second handed Lewiston a 4-3 lead. Matt Bordeau, Chris Tutalo and Billy Lacasse also scored in the loss.

Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves for Lewiston.

NEW BRUNSWICK 2, MAINE 1 (Exh.): Luke Gallant scored a 5-on-3 power play goal midway through the third period to lift New Brunswick in the exhibition at Alfond Arena in Orono.

An Andrew Sweetland power play goal 3 minutes earlier had pulled the Black Bears into a 1-1 tie.

Five's for fighting

Mules make 5th period their own

Everything about the 1st period worked for Colby on Saturday at Alfond Rink, everything but the red light behind Castleton State goaltender Jay Seals.

The Mules outshot the Spartans handily. They held Castelton to just 3 total shots across 3 power play opportunities. They cycled the puck, made good decisions and kept the visitors hemmed deep in their own end.

The Mules did everything they had to do on home ice, that is, except score.

"The way our schedule is, playing Friday nights and then Saturday afternoons, it's always about the 5th period of the weekend," said Colby coach Jim Tortorella. "It's about the 2nd period of the 2nd game of the weekend. We talk about it all the time, about winning that period."

It's just what the Mules did Saturday, scoring 4 times in the 2nd period against Castleton and turning that momentum into a 6-3 win over the ECAC East Spartans. Sophomore Michael Belliveau scored 2 of the goals and set up the 2 others, while the team's leading scorer, T.J. Kelley, also scored in the frame. Kelley and Belliveau finished the game with identical 2-2--2 totals.

That 2nd period effort was the difference between a lackluster weekend split and a weekend sweep that builds momentum heading into an emotional home-and-home weekend next week with rival Bowdoin College.

It certainly helped the Mules, too, that Castleton spent the weekend on the road -- having lost Friday night at Bowdoin before having to play a 2nd game away from home less some 19 hours later.

"Whether you're on the road and you have to grind it out, or whether you're the home team trying to put the other team away," Tortorella said, "you've got to win that period."

Kelley said Colby came out ready to go for the 2nd, fueled by having successfully killed off 2 lengthy 5-on-3 disadvantages late in the 1st.

"We came out and we wanted to win. I think we just wanted it more. Everybody came out flying, getting shots to net and just getting it deep and working harder," Kelley said. "We were just looking to get shots from anywhere and put it on net. Do that, and you never know what will happen."

NESCAC: Colby 6, Castleton St. 3

Little guy Belliveau comes up big


It was the little guy who did big things for Colby College on Saturday.

Michael Belliveau scored his first 2 goals of the season for the Mules, sparking Colby to a 4-goal second period that sent it en route to a 6-3 win over Castleton State College at Alfond Rink. Belliveau, generously listed at 5-foot-7, had a hand in all 4 of the goals in the period -- his first 4-point effort since his days in youth hockey.

T.J. Kelley also had two goals and two assists for Colby (3-2-0), which completed a weekend sweep of ECAC teams after beating Skidmore at Alfond on Friday. Kelley's 5 goals lead the team.

"I missed a lot of last year with an injury," Belliveau said. "It was very frustrating. Sitting out and watching was hard, just in a sense of not helping the team."

Colby coach Jim Tortorella thought Belliveau was the game's No. 1 star.

"He's got a little bit of edge to him, a little bit of skill and his work ethic is second to none," Tortorella said. "(Belliveau's second goal), he took a couple of whacks at it, and he just took the heat. He knew he was going to get beat up by a couple of guys. He got the game puck tonight, clearly, just because of that effort."

Being small doesn't faze Belliveau, a native of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

"With my size it actually works as an advantage sometimes," Belliveau said. "When you're small, it's harder to pin you against the boards. Skillwise, I'm probably not as good as other guys out there, but I just try to get to the net and bang at rebounds."

Up next for the Mules, a home-and-home with NESCAC rival Bowdoin College next weekend.

For a complete box score, click here.

Game of the Week (11/22): Vermont at Maine

What: Hockey East Association
When: 2 p.m., Sunday
Where: Alfond Arena, Orono

MAINE (4-6-1, 2-4-1 HEA): The Black Bears have lost 4 in a row, are winless in their last 5 overall and find themselves sitting dead last in the conference for the first time in as long as anyone can remember. The good news? Maine is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games against Vermont. Bret Tyler (3-4--7) and Wes Clark (2-5--7) each lead the Black Bears with 7 points on the season, while Keenan Hopson has 6 career points against the Catamounts, including 3 goals.

VERMONT (3-5-1, 3-2-1 HEA): Winners over UMass by a 4-2 count on Tuesday night, the Catamounts are 6th in the league in the early going. Dean Strong leads the team in scoring with 2-6--8 totals, while longtime standout goaltender Joe Fallon has played every game for Vermong, posting a 3.05 goals against average and an even .900 save percentage.

YOU SHOULD KNOW: Despite the program's strong numbers in its last 10 meetings against Vermont, Maine goalie Ben Bishop hasn't fared particularly well. He's just 1-2-1 in his career against the Catamounts despite a 2.22 GAA and .927 save percentage. Still, Maine's senior class has lost only 2 of 7 meetings with Vermont. Given that both teams are far from peaking right now, expect the home cooking to play well with Maine, which will get itself back on track.