Men’s Hockey: No. 8 Terriers to host No. 9 UMaine in crucial Hockey East series 

By Justin Davids

Facing off in Hockey East action, Boston University men’s ice hockey (6-3-1, 3-1-1 HE) will host the University of Maine Maine Black Bears (6-1-1, 3-0-1 NCHC) at Agganis Arena. Both teams will play each other for the first time this year, looking to build off impressive wins last week. 

“They’re a very good team playing really well and we’re looking forward to it,” said coach Jay Pandolfo. 

The No. 8 Terriers, sweeping its home-and-home series with UMass Lowell last weekend, will seek to end No. 9 Maine’s strong start to the season, coming off of two excellent performances against then-top ranked Boston College. 

In recent history, BU has won seven of their last eight matchups against the Black Bears, including a perfect three-game sweep last season. 

If the Terriers want to continue their dominant play against the Black Bears, they will need to beat Hockey East Goaltender of the Week Victor Östman, who posted a .929 save percentage against the Eagles last week. 

Maine’s freshman brothers Bradley and Josh Nadeau have been a big reason why the Black Bears have taken storm in the NCAA this season as well. 

Leading the NCAA in points (18), BU freshman forward Macklin Celebrini will look to end Maine’s hot streak. “We can’t change our game for a team, so I think we just need to focus on our game and just keep getting better and build off last weekend,” Celebrini said.

The Terriers and Black Bears will clash as top-ten teams for the first time since 2010, when No. 5 Maine and No. 1 BU tied 2-2 at Agganis. 

Maine hasn’t been a highly-touted organization in a very long time, so it’ll be interesting to see if they start to become a threat in the Hockey East. 

“It Feels like a little bit like the old days when I actually played at BU. The BU Maine rivalry back then and it’s been a lot of fun. I know Maine travels well too with their fans and they certainly did back in the day,” said Pandolfo. 

No. 8 Boston University Men’s Hockey begin their home-and-home against Maine this Friday Night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm and 8 pm respectively and will be available to stream on ESPN +.