From: University Of Maine Athletics Website(left) Assistant Captain Billy Ryan leads the Black Bears into Magness this weekend
Maine travels west to open the 2007-08 campaign at the University of Denver. The trip is 4,436 miles round trip from Orono to Denver. The Black Bears hope to start and end the 2007-08 season in the Mile High City as the 2008 Frozen Four is also going to be played in Denver.
The series is a match-up of two of the premier college hockey programs in the nation. The two teams met in the 2004 National Championship game in which Denver won 1-0. Last season, Maine was 23-15-2 and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four for the fourth time in six years. Denver ended the season with a record of 21-15-4.
Maine and Denver have met 17 times with the Black Bears holding an 11-6 advantage. Maine has won three of the last four meetings between the two schools. The lone loss in that span, however, was the 2004 National Championship game at the FleetCenter in Boston.
Like DU, Maine features a large Freshman class on its roster for the 2007-08 campaign. Among the ten rookies are seven forwards and three defensemen.
Maine also returns 16 letterwinners from the 2006-07 season which saw the Black Bears win the NCAA East Regional and advance to their 11th Frozen Four in school history. Billy Ryan is Maine's leading returning scorer. He finished with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points in 40 games last season. He had six power play goals and a pair of game-winners.
Maine's Colorado Connections
- Maine rookie defenseman Jeff Dimmen is from Colorado Springs.
- Maine captain Travis Ramsey and Denver's Julian Marcuzzi each played for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
- Maine's Ben Bishop and Denver's Chris Butler both hail from the St. Louis area.
No comments:
Post a Comment