Black Bears open Hockey East schedule

ORONO — The Maine hockey team will open its Hockey East schedule this weekend - Friday at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Saturday at New Hampshire. The Black Bears are 1-3, including a split last weekend with Michigan State, and Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said there's plenty to take from the split.

"We had perserverance and determination, especially in the third period," the Maine coach said. "We responded well after a soft goal. It was an honest win. We hit 90 percent of our objectives for that game."

Maine's most notable challenge this weekend is that they'll play on Olympic-sized ice surfaces - 200 by 100 feet, instead of regulation 200 by 85 - both nights at the Mullins Center in Amherst and at the Whittemore Center in Durham.

UNH has struggled at the start of the season, going 0-2-1, while UMass has opened the season 2-0, including a 3-2 win over Boston University (which is 0-2 after Tuesday's 3-0 loss to Notre Dame).

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Tanner House will miss this weekend's games, as he is recovering from a knee injury sustained in the preseason. House, a junior and Maine's captain, has missed the first four games of the season. Whitehead said he expects House to return either next Friday against Vermont or the following Sunday (Nov. 8) against Boston University.

"I started skating yesterday (Tuesday),"  House said. "I'll try again today. Every day it feels a little better."

House wore an orange jersey (injury/noncontact) during Wednesday's practice and was in full gear but did not go at 100 percent. However, he still participated in drills.

Also, senior center David deKastrozza did not practice Wednesday because of an illness, and redshirt freshman defenseman Mark Nemec did not practice. He's wearing a cast on his left hand and Whitehead said Nemec could be out until the end of November.