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."