The Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 26: Maine
Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.
If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.
And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Maine Black Bears! Maine started their program in 1977, playing in DI as an independent. They moved to Hockey East in 1984, and are ever presents in the conference. They enjoyed two periods of success: the late 1980s-early 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. During these timeframes, the Black Bears would have 11 Frozen Fours and 2 national titles, including a historic 42 win season in 1992-1993. However, Maine appear to have fallen off ever since Tim Whitehead was fired in 2013.
With this in mind, the worst season for the Black Bears is…
2015-2016 Record: 8-6-24 (W-D-L); Hockey East: 5-2-12 (W-D-L; 11th/12th)
Wins: Vermont (x2), Princeton (x2), Colgate, @Amworst (x2), Merrimack
Ties: Michigan State*, North Dakota*, @Union, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Quinnipiac
Losses: @Union, @Quinnipiac, Amworst^, Princeton^, @Boston College (x2), @Lowell, @UNH, UNH, @UNH, Colgate, UConn, Boston, @Boston, Providence (x2), @Notre Dame (x2), Merrimack, @Northeastern (x4)-
*Ice Breaker at Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, ME
^ Capital City Classic at Sun National Bank Arena, Trenton, NJ
-Two of these games were regular season games; the following week, Maine would face @Northeastern for the Hockey East tourney, first round. Huskies win in two. Hence, the (x4) notation.
Biggest Beatdown: UNH 7 - Maine 0
Head Coach: Red Gendron
It was poor Red’s third season in charge of the Black Bears. Will Merchant had the most goals, with 13. Blaine Byron had the most assists (16). In goal, Rob McGovern and Matt Morris shared being between the pipes (2.78 GAA, .905 save percentage and 3.54 GAA,.901 save percentage, respectively).
To start the season, Maine went a three tie streak, which is better than losing, I suppose, against North Dakota, Michigan State, Union. Then followed a losing streak that extended into mid-November against the likes of Quinnipiac, Amworst, and Lowell. A four game winning streak would end the month, in series against Vermont and Princeton.
December saw the unusual distinction of facing New Hampshire four times, two of which were considered to be non-con games. Only one tie was obtained. The new year saw a split series with Colgate. Afterwards, Maine had a home series with UConn; only a tie was obtained. A tie against Quinnipiac preceded a home-and-home sweep by Boston Univ. January would win with a road series sweep against Amworst.
A home series (against Providence) and an away series (to Notre Dame) led to a sweeping of the Black Bears. A split series with Merrimack softened things up before losing to four straight away to Northeastern, two of which were in the Hockey East tourney.
Things did pick up slightly for Maine in the 2016-17 season, getting 11 wins. As mentioned earlier, Maine had a golden age but plummeted straight down to earth. Only time will tell if they can resume their mantle as Hockey East elite or continue as bottom feeders.
For Week 6 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following schools: UMass Amworst, UMass Lowell, and Mercyhurst. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:
| School | Username | Tentative Date |
|---|---|---|
| UML | u/LantisEscudo | 7/13 |
| Northeastern | u/therevengeance | 8/2 |
| Penn State | u/saucysalesman | 8/8 |
| RPI | u/Nicholas1227 | 8/16 |
| Union | u/azurearmor | 8/22 |
| Vermont | u/LocksTheFox | 8/23 |
Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.
Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:
Posted Jul 11, 2017, 9:54 PM UTC