Maine Sports Media: Maine Black Bears Hockey

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Various media outlets have reported that Maine Black Bears Men's Hockey Head Coach Tim Whitehead confirms that Scott Darling has been released from the team to start his pro career with the Phoenix Coyotes.

The CMSB reported this back on March 8th.

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PHOTO COURTESY BANGOR DAILY NEWS/BRIDGET BROWN
Bruins win fight, lose war in 3-0 lost to Penguins at the Garden.

Red Sox get righty Celestino to complete Kotchman trade.

Brady skipping offseason workouts to stay with family.

Black Bears getting ready for a semi-final showdown with BU at the TD Bank Garden.

Black Bear's Gustav Nyquist and junior defenseman Jeff Dimmen earn All-Hockey East Honors. Nyquist was also named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

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Josh Reddick and 1st Base Coach Ron Johnson (Photo Kelly O'Connor/SittingStill.net)

John Lackey looked to be in mid-season form allowing only 2 hits in 4 innings, but the Sox lose to the Mets 4 –2 on St Patty’s Day.

Celtics celebrate a win on St. Patty's day at the Garden 109-97.

Red Claws clip Albuquerque in the Toros' first trip to the Expo 122-95 with the St. Patty's game ever played at the expo.

Pirates staying in Portland. (You already knew that, though)

For 4 Maine Black Bears Hockey players, Friday night means something special.

Ian Rapoport tackles the whispers from Patriots fans about Tom Brady's off-season work ethic.

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Wakefield, Mass. - In the first weekend of 2010 Hockey East Tournament action, the games proved to be to an exciting beginning to the second season, launching Hockey East fans into the playoff atmosphere around New England on the Road to the Garden. No. 8 Vermont upset the regular-season champion and top seeded UNH in an overtime thriller on Sunday, while No. 4 Maine knocked off No. 5 UMass-Lowell in overtime in the decisive third game. No. 2 Boston College defeated No. 7 UMass in two games, while No. 3 BU edged No. 6 Merrimack in a three game set.

The Minutemen outshot BC 38-32 in Game 1 and owned a 14-7 advantage in the final frame, but their fierce two-goal comeback in the third period fell short. BC’s Cam Atkinson (Greenwich, BC) recorded his second career hat trick in the game with a four-point effort, while teammate Joe Whitney (Reading, Mass.) registered his 100th career point. Freshman goaltender Parker Milner made 33 stops in the win. The Eagles cruised to sweep the series with a 5-2 victory on Saturday night at Conte Forum to advance to the Garden for the sixth consecutive season. Barry Almeida (Springfield, Mass.) scored a game-high three points (2g,1a).

Merrimack made their first tournament appearance since the 2004 season this weekend skating fiercely with the defending tournament champion Terriers for three games. BU took a 1-0 lead in the series with a 3-2 win Friday night. On Saturday, Merrimack earned their first victory in Agganis Arena in the last 11 tries with an exciting 3-2 overtime victory. Merrimack rookies Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) and Brandon Brodhag (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) scored the first two goals for the Warriors but it was junior Joe Cucci’s overtime gamewinner that counted most. In Sunday’s tilt the Terriers took control and skated past the Warriors in a quick 3-0 victory. Kieran Millan (Edmonton, Alb.) stopped all 36 shots in the Sunday’s shutout effort.

UNH scored five unanswered goals to blast past the eighth ranked Catamounts in a 7-4 win in Game one of the quarterfinal series. Saturday night was a different story at the Whittemore Center as both teams struggled to get on the board. Vermont pulled out a shutout win scoring the lone goal from rookie David Pacan (Ottawa, Ont.). Defensive Player of the week Rob Madore (Pittsburgh, Pa.) rebounded from the previous night stopping all 17 shots he faced in the contest. In Sunday’s overtime thriller, senior forward Jay Anctil (Wolfeboro, N.H.) stunned the top ranked Wildcats and netted the overtime game-winner. Brian Foster (Pembroke, N.H.) recorded 50 saves in his finale at the Whittemore Center. Rob Madore stopped UNH’s 34 shots and earned his second shutout in as many nights.

Maine will travel south to Boston for the weekend after an overtime victory lifted them past UML in the best of three series. Jeremy Dehner (Madison, WI) and Ben Holmsrom (Colorado Springs, Col.) scored for the River Hawks in the win Friday. The Black Bears returned on Saturday determined to win and shutout UML by a score of 2-0. Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ont.) and Tanner House (Cochrane, Alb.) each registered a goal apiece in the winning effort. Senior goalie Dave Wilson (Caledon East, Ont.) earned his first shutout of the season stopping all 23 shots that came his way. On Sunday, Maine edged out a overtime 3-2 victory. Player of the Week Will O’Neill (Salem, Mass.) took control of the game with his three-point performance, which including two goals for the Black Bears. Tanner House popped a quick one at 5:10 into the overtime period to lift the Black Bears past UML by a score of 3-2.

Courtesy Hockey East

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TIM WHITEHEAD POSTGAME

PHOTOS FROM GAME

Link to game recap of the 5-2 Maine loss.

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TIM WHITEHEAD POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

GAME PHOTO ALBUM

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I haven't been this depressed over a win since Bernard Pollard ended the season in week one last year (by the way, Pollard had a 70 yard Int return yesterday. Karma is a fickle whore). With that, off we go...

Dammitt, Randy...

By now we have heard everyone's take on Randy Moss's crapfest of a game yesterday. The good news is the Patriots won in spite of it, which may be the best way to handle it. Why? Because for a guy like Moss, who is as emotional as my 6 month-pregnant wife, sometimes it is a nice wake-up call to remember that this team can win without you. By the way, let's all thank the Carolina Panthers for telling us they thought Moss had quit. I mean, let's face it, if there is one team that can spot a quitter, it's an entire team of quitters (Oh, hi Julius Peppers getting blocked by Chris Baker).

I expect this to be a turnaround game for Moss, and perhaps we look back on this as the low point for the season and it can only go up from here. (My goodness the Kool-Aid tastes extra good this morning!)

Oh, you cheeky Giants...

What's worse, losing like the Patriots did on a Monday night to New Orleans, or handing a win to a division rival in primetime like the Giants did last night? The Philadelphia Eagles are not the New Orleans Saints, but they certainly looked like it against the Giants last night. The Eagles aren't going to beat Minnesota or New Orleans, but they are probably going to win a division that's full of underachievers and should be breaking in two new head coaches next year in Washington and Dallas. To put up 38 points and lose in this league is unacceptable, and the Giants lost their chance to patch this together and make another late season run. On the bright side, Eli Manning, who has been playing with an awful foot injury and dealing with inconsistent play from his receivers all season, will now be able to attend his brother's playoff games, like he did in 2006.

Maine Black Bears hockey is back (kind of)...

Okay, so this isn't the Shawn Walsh team of old, but I have to give Tim Whitehead some credit. As many were calling for his head after last year's debacle, Whitehead has quietly turned the program in the right direction. The Black Bears have won 5 straight and are currently sitting with a 7-4-1 record in Hockey East, which matches their entire Hockey east win total of last season. If this team plays half this good in January and February, it would be an improvement over the same stretch from last season. Maine needs Black Bears hockey to do well, it's an identity, a staple, like the Packers are to Green Bay, the Cowboys are to Dallas, and the Red Sox are to New England. So for now, hats off to Whitehead for turning things around while many were waiting for his last day on his job. Let's see if this momentum can continue.

The Red Claws are off to a good start...

The Maine Red Claws, after an opening night loss in the Dakotas, have now won 5 straight after last night's come-from-behind win. It's clear that so far this team has been put together, from top to bottom, the right way. Austin Ainge is not only young and energetic, he also has a fantastic basketball mind and eye, and it seems as though he has no problems playing people from deep down on the bench (You know, that thing Doc Rivers NEVER does). They play a run and gun style that is entertaining for the crowds and should translate to wins.

The Virtual Waiting room to a Bridge Year

I have to give the Boston Red Sox credit. The can literally tell their fans "Hey, expect us to not win a World Series this season", and it is STILL impossible to get a ticket on the first day. I waited in that virtual waiting room for a very long time (6 of my twitter followers did as well) and never made it in to buy tickets. One of my followers said they never got through and had to buy by phone. After a week of non-deals and the very real possibility fan favorite Jason Bay isn't coming back, ticket sales were still strong, and people still showed up to fanfest at Fenway. Red Sox fans are among the most loyal in the world, and it is going to be very, very interesting how the fans react if Jeremy Hermida is the opening day left-fielder next season. On the bright side, if you guys all renew your Red Sox nation cards, maybe there will be enough money to sign a low-risk, high reward pitcher like Chien Ming Wang (I just had to duck a brick that was thrown at me).