Analysis: UMaine power play is thriving thanks to player’s net-front presence

University of Maine fourth-year hockey coach Ben Barr calls junior left wing Thomas Freel a “throwback” player who lives at the opponent’s net-front.
That net-front presence has been particularly productive on the power play. Freel currently leads the nation in power play goals with six. All of his goals have come with the man-advantage.
“Since the day he got here, that’s where he thrives,” said Barr. “That’s why he’s such an effective player.
“He gets his stick on the puck, he can take hits and stay there. He’s now refining how he does it. It’s great to see him get rewarded for it,” Barr added.
Freel had a power play goal in Friday night’s 5-0 win over visiting Merrimack and a pair in Saturday night’s 6-0 triumph.
Freel, an alternate captain, is the type of player you love to have on your team but that you despise if he plays for the opponent.
“He is the definition of a guy who is going to be gritty at the net front,” said senior center, linemate and alternate captain Harrison Scott. “He is a big-time player who is going to step up when the team needs him the most. He’s a phenomenal player who puts the back in the back of the net.”
Freel said being a net-front presence has always been one of his strengths.
“It’s some place I really take pride in being. It worked for me in juniors. It took me a couple of years to kind of adapt to the college level. The timing is a little different, the physicality is different, obviously, and so, thankfully, things are starting to work for me now,” said the Scottish-born winger who grew up in Ottawa and was a 35-goal scorer in his last season of junior hockey.
But Freel said the power play success isn’t about him.
“The guys around me are doing a great job moving the puck and getting it to the net,” Freel said. “I’m just trying to find space and, fortunately, pucks are bouncing to me right now.”
Freel spends a lot of time working on his net-front play, including tip-ins, both during and after practice.
“If I can help the team get one extra goal on the power play every couple of weeks because of the time I’m spending doing tip-ins after practice, it’s all worthwhile,” said Freel.
His role also entails serving as a screener which often results in defensemen doing everything they can to move him which can be painful.
Linemate Scott, who currently leads the nation in points per game at 2.14 and is tied for second in overall points with 15 on five goals and 10 assists in seven games, is another of the players who is constantly working on his game during and after practice.
“They work extremely hard. That’s why they keep getting better and better,” said Barr.
Just seven games into the season, Freel has already tied his single-season high for goals at UMaine. He had six goals and 16 assists in 37 games last year and has 6 & 3 this season.
Scott transferred to UMaine from Bentley of the Atlantic Hockey League where he had 12 goals and 14 assists in 65 games over two seasons.
At UMaine last season, he had 15 goals and 12 assists in 37 games including the lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Cornell in the program’s first NCAA Tournament game since the 2011-12 season.
Scott, the Hockey East Co-Player of the Week, has now registered a point in eight straight games beginning with the Cornell game.
The Merrimack sweep was impressive but it should be pointed out that due to departures and injuries, the Warriors had just two of their top 10 scorers from last year’s team on the ice.
And all three goalies, two sophomores and a freshman, are newcomers.
“I feel for them with all their injuries and their goaltending situation. They were down a bunch of really good players and their goalies don’t have a ton of experience. The guy (AIC transfer Nils Wallstrom) who played Saturday is a really good goalie but it was his first start because he’s been injured. I’ve been on that side of it before,” said Barr. “It was a perfect storm. It was one of those weekends where everything went against them.”
There were several positive takeaways from the weekend as the 6-0-1 Black Bears, ranked fifth in the country in both national polls, prepare to take on No. 2 Boston College (5-1) in Chestnut Hill, Mass. for a two-game set on Friday night at 7 and Sunday afternoon at 1.
Sophomore right wing Josh Nadeau and graduate student center and co-captain Lynden Breen each scored their first goals of the campaign on Friday night.
Nadeau was the team’s second-leading point-producer and goal scorer last season behind his brother Bradly with 18 goals and 27 assists and Breen has scored 30 goals over the past two seasons.
That gets the monkey off their backs so they can settle in and relax.
Even though players try not to let a scoring drought impact them and the other parts of their game, the longer it goes the more likely it will.
It’s human nature.
UMaine’s power play went 5-for-11 in the series which elevated the Black Bears to 26.5 percent on the year, 13th best in the country among 64 Division I schools.
Special teams are so important. The Black Bears are tied for 16th on the penalty kill at an 88.9 percent success rate.
And sophomore goalie Albin Boija was razor sharp.
He stopped all 30 shots he faced while playing 112:33 of the 120 minutes.
It isn’t easy for goalies to stay sharp in games where their team has big leads but he did.
“His mental strength is phenomenal. He doesn’t lose his focus,” said Barr. “Even when he doesn’t see a ton of shots, he still comes up with big saves when he has to and that’s hard to do.”
With two games at BC followed by two against Boston University in Orono the following weekend, the Black Bears will see just how good they really are.