The NHL playoffs are back, and this is a good thing. For the next several weeks, puck fans can see the greatest show on Earth in the form of four rounds of postseason hockey.

Like I said, the playoffs are a good thing. But this shouldn’t blind us from a simple and obvious truth that gets hidden by the greatness of the sport.

Gary Bettman needs to be impeached.

Can we do that? I mean, is it possible to physically — not violently — remove a commissioner from his position if he has essentially done nothing but harm the sport he is supposed to govern and preserve?

People get fired all the time for not doing what they get paid to do. The NHL commissioner is certainly not doing what he’s getting paid to do. The man has a net worth of over $30 million according to DaveManuel.com, and a good chunk of that comes as a perk of being the chief executive of a major North American sport. The man wants for nothing.

No, we — the fans and pundits of the NHL — can’t impeach him. It would take a vote from the owners who, ironically, he’s supposed to work for, not in opposition to.

I say ironically because of the simple and well-documented evidence against Bettman that seems to suggest he’s never actually worked for the owners, players or fans.

Gare Bear has held his seat since February of 1993, and in that time, has done more to damage hockey in the U.S. — but not in Canada, because not even the Almighty himself could lessen our northern brethren’s love of hockey, eh? — than any other commissioner in any other major sport… ever.

Thanks to three lockouts, the NHL has lost almost as many games to work stoppages than any of the three other major sports combined at over 1700. In that same span of time, the NBA, MLB and NFL have lost 788, 938 and one game, respectively, with the NFL’s one axed game being an exhibition.

The 2004-2005 lockout was the longest work stoppage in sports history, and the only time a full season has ever been thrown away for any reason. And what was that reason, you ask? To work on the league’s salary structure. OK, that’s fair. The NHL is notorious for its misgivings when it comes to collective bargaining. Except they needed to get rid of almost half the games a year ago to work on the same exact thing, almost as though Bettman decided, “Hey, it didn’t work last time. We messed up. Think I could get a do-over?”

The NHL was coming off its highest-grossing season in terms of revenue generated at $3.3 billion in 2011-2012, and was poised to continue that growth last season before the shortened season halted that progress and lost money for pretty much everybody.

But wait, there’s more.

Bettman’s failed attempts at league-expansion and the fallout from placing teams in non-hockey markets like Florida, Nashville, Atlanta and Phoenix is also well-documented.

While the Tampa Bay Lightning have “thrived”, and I use that term loosely here, thanks to a recent Stanley Cup win and the fact that franchise centerpiece Steven Stamkos is a bona-fide top five NHL forward, the rest haven’t been so lucky. The Predators have done OK thanks to the product they put on the ice most every season, but the Panthers continue to suffer financially mostly because they rely too much on filling the seats to make money without any lucrative TV deals or superstars in a place where hockey just simply is not popular.

Atlanta, the former home of the Thrashers, relocated to Winnipeg, which made sense. But the fact that there was a franchise there in the first place seems idiotic to me, and it has Bettman’s stench all over it.

Phoenix is perhaps the coupe de grace of this segment; the crowning jewel of Bettman’s league expansion fiasco.

Despite the fact that the Coyotes do seemingly vie for playoff spots year in and year out in an uber-competitive Western Conference, Phoenix remains one of the worst places to play hockey not because of the weather — the Dallas Stars are a very successful franchise in a similar area of the country — but because of the lack of interest and attendance they receive.

The crazy part is that this could have been avoided before our favorite commissioner swooped in to spoil the day. The NHL paid $140 million in 2009 to buy the Yotes, preventing Research and Inc. Chairman and savvy businessman Jim Balsillie from acquiring the franchise. Why? Balsillie wanted to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario, a place they likely would have thrived. But that made way too much sense for Gary to allow.

Bettman’s list of botchery does not end there.

He allowed John Spano to buy the New York Islanders without any money — yes, without a dime — and wanted to enact procedures that would reduce player salaries by 15-20 percent by eliminating signing bonuses for contracts, cutting the salary cap down even more and increasing the amount of time a player must spend in the league before he is eligible to test the market in free agency. And if the concussion epidemic infiltrating our sports was a dinner party, the NHL, thanks to Gary and his cabinet, would probably only show up for dessert. It’s been that bad.

He’s acting like a CEO, not a commissioner who is supposed to be the caretaker of the sport. He tried to emulate his buddy, former NBA Commissioner and former Bettman boss David Stern, by implementing a hard salary cap. That’s all well and good, but when you forget to restrict the max number of years for contracts, teams circumvent that measure — quite easily, I might add — by signing players to outrageous 13-year, $196 million deals like we’ve seen in Minnesota with Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.

The man is inept.

He has possibly the greatest team sport in the world at his disposal — and the product on the ice every night is the sole reason, in my opinion, that the NHL stays afloat — but seems completely content to derail its progress in the U.S. at every turn.

Call up Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein — it’s time to get this man out of office, before it’s too late.

It’s discussed every season, in virtually every professional sport, and there’s no right answer.

Should teams who have locked up top playoff spots — and more interestingly, home ice in the postseason — sit key players, or at the very least, limit their ice time, during the last few games of the regular season in the hopes this will rejuvenate them for a long playoff push?

The question comes up more often in football than the other four major North American sports — and has historically and curiously centered around the Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning, which I’ll get to in a second — but this season, it has become a hotly discussed issue among hockey pundits now that the Boston Bruins have locked up home ice throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs with their 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

The Bs had been chased by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have since clinched the Metropolitan Division, for the East’s top spot.

Although there has already been evidence that Boston is opting to rest its players as the regular season winds down, that doesn’t mean the debate over sitting players is over.

Should the brain trust that is General Manager Peter Chiarelli, President Cam Neely and head coach Claude Julien decide to rest its older players in favor of giving its more highly touted prospects real NHL experience?

Let’s look at the pros and cons.

Pros

– It allows them to rest veteran cogs and minute eaters likeZdeno Chara, fellow defenseman Johnny Boychuck, wingers Jarome Iginla and Chris Kelly and goaltender Tuukka Rask — guys they’ll need to be at their best if they want to raise the Stanley Cup this spring.

– Key future prospects like Ryan Spooner,Alexander Khokhlachev, Joe Morrow and goaltender Niklas Svedberg get valuable ice time to prepare them for when they will be needed to contribute in the near future.

– It gives Julien and Chiarelli the opportunity to experiment with the offensive depth chart, giving guys who’ve cooled off recently like Reilly Smith a chance to hit the reset button while simultaneously getting a better read on who should play with who when the postseason begins.

– Injury prevention. The less they play, the less likely they are to go down and be out for the postseason.

Cons

– Resting players and pairing others with unfamiliar teammates could compromise the rhythm, unity and momentum this squad has generated in the last month.

– Assuming they clinch the East, there is still the possibility of relinquishing their hold on the President’s Trophy to one of the Western Conference contenders — namely St. Louis, the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks — which in turn means they wouldn’t have home ice in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Although anyone who can count can see that I’ve listed four pros and only two cons, let’s look at Manning’s history to see what we’re left with:

Manning and the two organizations he’s played for in his professional career under center have had mixed results when trying to sit the one-time Super Bowl champion in the latter stages of the regular season.

In 2006, with the top seed in the AFC secured and virtually no reason to risk injuring their franchise cornerstone, Manning played every game for the Indianapolis Colts. He would go on to raise the Lombardi Trophy in addition to being named MVP.

The Colts opted to rest Manning in their final regular season games the next two seasons, both of which ended with first round playoff exits at the hands of the San Diego Chargers.

Indianapolis had a shot at a perfect season when they ran out to a 14-0 record in 2009, but elected to rest Manning in the final two contests. They lost both games but did reach the Super Bowl that year before falling to the New Orleans Saints.

Manning would play the full 16 games in 2010 before being ousted by the New York Jets in the first round of the playoffs once again, and would relive that fate two years later, this time with the Denver Broncos, with a home loss against the Baltimore Ravens in his first postseason with his new club.

Okay, so it’s obviously difficult to conclude what’s best with such mixed results in such a small sample size, and it’s even harder to quantify what kind of effect playing younger prospects down the stretch has on their effectiveness when they become regulars later on. So what about home ice in the Stanley Cup Finals?

The Bruins have punched a ticket to vie for Lord Stanley’s most famous hardware twice in the last three seasons, and the outcomes of both years seem to debunk the value of having home ice at all.

Boston beat the Vancouver Canucks on the road in Game 7 in 2011 to win the Cup, and the Chicago Blackhawks, despite winning the President’s Trophy and securing home ice last season, used two road wins — one of which being the series-clinching Game 6 — to top Boston and bring home hockey’s most coveted prize.

So, what are we left with? In a word: inconclusiveness.

The pros outweigh the cons when it comes to resting players, tipping the scale slightly in support of giving guys some sort of a respite in these final two weeks. But Manning’s tale is a cautionary one, regardless of the sport he plays or the incomparable emphasis that is put on quarterbacks in the NFL.

This dilemma is why Chiarelli, Neely and Julien make the big bucks, and the decisions they’ve made are why their franchise has been one of the top organizations in the NHL for many years.

Despite how murky a situation like this can become, a few things remain certain: the debate will rage on for years to come; only an organization truly knows what is best for its athletes and coaches in these situations; and there will be playoff hockey in Boston this spring.

Not many people would call Bangor one of the three great cities in North America today. But at the height of the state’s lumber industry in the late 1800s, the idea wasn’t so far-fetched.

The University of Maine’s Woodsmen Team draws from that tradition every day in its attempt to educate and provide students competition opportunities outside the realm of normal sports, and it’s been successful in that venture since its inception 40 years ago.

According to the club’s website, this team is “a co-ed organization dedicated to maintaining the old woods skills and competing on the intercollegiate level throughout the Northeast and Canada.”

Bangor was once the lumber capital of the world. Thanks to this longstanding student organization, a glimpse of that history still remains in the area.

“It’s mostly just for people to have fun and do something that’s a little bit different,” said Joe Roy, a fifth-year wildlife ecology major and veteran Woodsmen Team member. “We log in Maine. A lot of people have a logging history, and a lot of us did firewood and this and that growing up. This is just a way to compete in those things.”

The team, which also does small wood jobs for faculty and community members in addition to their practices and competitions, competes against teams throughout the region and Canada including: Unity College and Colby College in Maine; the University of New Hampshire; the University of Connecticut; the University of Vermont; the University of New Brunswick; Dartmouth College; and others.

They’ve had three competitions so far this academic year, including a home event held on Feb. 22 in which the women took home first place and the two men’s teams took home second and sixth, respectively. They are scheduled to compete at Colby College April 12 before preparing for the Northeast Regional event in New York near the end of the month.

Although the Woodsmen Team generally draws forestry and wildlife majors to its ranks, Roy said that they welcome all students to join the team regardless of their area of study.

“It’s a little different [than other club teams and sports on campus],” he said. “It’s still a club, but with other club teams, you still have to try out and actually make the team. Whereas with us, anybody can come in regardless of experience. We have people on the team who have never touched an ax or a chainsaw before they came here, and we also have people who were doing this stuff in high school.

“It’s a great learning experience,” he added. “People come in and they don’t know anything, and when they leave they know how to use a chainsaw safely — they know how to use proper safety equipment. You’ll know how to split your own firewood safely, and you’ll understand that doing your own firewood is still a thing that people actually do.”

Six people from each team compete at each meet in various events — six singles events, three doubles events, two triples events and several team events. Although there are multiple ways these meets are ultimately decided, they are usually scored similarly to that of a track and field meet – where each event is worth a certain number of points and the total scores from each are tallied at the end to determine the overall team winner.

Some of the events include, but are not limited to: the cross-cut, the bow saw, the log roll, fire building, the axe throw, the speed chop, the pulp toss and the quarter split. Just as the events themselves vary, so are the goals the team sets for itself heading into a meet.

“Some of us know that we have the ability to compete against the top teams like Unity [College] in certain events,” Roy — whose favorite events are the underhand chop, the standing block chop, the pulp toss and the triathlon — said. “The newcomers usually try and top the personal bests they’ve set to that point. Obviously the goal is to win, but overall it’s about improving.”

All of the events are designed to simulate traditional logging activities from the turn of the century, according to the team website, and each tests a different strength. In other words, you don’t have to be the Brauny Man to compete against the top collegiate woodsmen in the region.

“One thing that’s nice about the Woodsmen Team is that there’s something for everyone,” Roy said. “Even if you’re not the burliest woodsman, there are still technique-based events like fire building that you can excel at. It’s not like some sports where you have to be a certain body type to do it.”

The senior also commented on how much better this team has gotten, even in the few years he’s been a regular.

“Last year, it was more like people were going into events looking for more individual success,” he said. “This year, we’re becoming much more competitive as a team. Practice is becoming much more serious and involved. I think coming in second and beating Unity [considered the top team in Maine and one of the best in the region] at our UMaine event in some of our chopping events really caused us all to realize that we are becoming a lot more competitive than we were.”

In addition to Roy, team members include: Team President Nicole Whitney, Megan Woods, Chris Nystrom, Brad Jones, Brendan Giroux, Drew Johnson, Bronte Sone, Tom Kmetz, Colin Bridge-Koenigsberg, Julie M. Churchill, Gradeigh Cameron, Megan Dood, Mike Bunero, Tish Carr, Julia Osborn, Kirsha Finemore, Justin Richards, Sam Preston and Ian Hay.

Roy says that one of the best parts about this club is the fact that he gets to compete outside in events that really cater to the passion he already has for working in the woods, but that the greatest lesson comes in the knowledge you retain that will stick with you long after you leave the Orono campus.

“Even if you’re not necessarily going to be using a chainsaw or what have you all the time, you at least now know safety measures and how to operate it and be safe around it,” he said. “That’s a life skill that’s slowly becoming less and less common, but it’s also a skill that could prove extremely valuable to you one day.”

The UMaine Woodsmen Team can be found online on Facebook and Twitter, as well as on the UMaine website.

Two late surges by 18th-ranked Notre Dame University led to two different outcomes for the University of Maine men’s hockey team this past weekend.

The Black Bears survived the Irish’s late push in Friday night’s game before falling victim to it the following evening to secure the weekend split.

UMaine is 13-10-2, 7-5-2 in Hockey East after securing their first road win of the year. The Black Bears, 1-9-2 in true road contests this season, now find themselves in a tie for fourth place in the conference with rival University of New Hampshire. They host Merrimack College for another two-game set Feb. 14-15.

Notre Dame moves to 16-12-1, 5-9-1 in Hockey East after Saturday night’s win snapped a three-game skid. The Irish, 13-5-1 at home in 2013-14, are locked in an eighth-place tie with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with five games left to play in the regular season. They travel to Rhode Island to take on Providence College for a pair of games Feb. 14-15.

Ouellette, controversy aid Black Bears to first road win

The Black Bears hadn’t won a road game since a 4-3 victory over rival UNH on March 8 of last season. The Black Bears needed 36 saves from senior netminder Martin Ouellette and some help from the officiating crew to break that road winless streak when they squeaked by the No. 18 Irish 2-1 at a sold-out Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind. Friday night.

The Irish appeared to knot the score at 2-2 with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, but senior left wing Jeff Costello’s potential game-tying goal was called back after a video review by the referees determined he had pushed Ouellette into the net with the puck covered up.

Costello had put life back into Notre Dame’s chances less than a minute earlier with his ninth goal of the season that got the Irish on the scoreboard with senior goaltender Steven Summerhays pulled in favor of the extra attacker. His 10th goal of the year would have likely sent the game to overtime had it not been nullified.

UMaine junior forward Connor Leen began the scoring with his fourth goal of the year just 59 seconds after puck drop before sophomore forward Steven Swavely produced the eventual deciding goal with 6:39 left in the final period. Swavely’s eighth goal of the season comes in his first game back after suffering a knee injury that had kept him out the past four games.

Leen’s goal came off a feed from freshman forward Josh Henke after he had won the puck behind the net. Leen collected the puck in the middle of the slot, took a stride and wired one past Summerhays’ glove to break the scoreless drought. Freshman forward Cam Brown also earned a helper on the play.

The Irish nearly tied it on a number of occasions later in the period and in the middle stanza, but Ouellette stayed strong between the pipes, denying junior left wing Austin Wuthrich’s shot from the left circle with the glove before stuffing senior right wing Michael Voran’s point-blank attempt late in the second.

Summerhays, who leads the nation in shutouts with five, finished with 29 saves on 31 shots in the loss.

Swavely’s eventual game-winner came despite heavy possession from Notre Dame throughout the final period.

The sophomore was credited with the tally after deflecting senior defenseman Brice O’Connor’s wrist shot from the right point past Summerhays to put UMaine up 2-0. Sophomore defenseman Ben Hutton earned the secondary assist.

The Irish pulled Summerhays in the final minutes, leading to Costello’s rebound goal following freshman center Vince Hinostroza’s shot that created a huge scrum in front of Ouellette. A similar play led to Costello’s would-be game-tying goal before it was called back.

This was the third straight loss for the Irish.

They outshot the Black Bears 37-31.

The two teams combined to go 0-5 on the power play Friday night.

Rust pots two in closing moments, leads Irish to 3-2 comeback win

The Fighting Irish put together yet another last-ditch effort in the closing moments against the Black Bears Saturday night, but this time, they came away with two crucial points.

Summerhays was pulled again with 80 seconds left in the game in favor of the extra skater, leading to two goals by senior right wing Bryan Rust in the final 1:08 to cap another wild finish between these two Hockey East foes.

Rust wasted no time with the 6-5 advantage, wristing one past Ouellette from the high slot to tie the game at 2-2 with his 10th goal of the season, with assists going to senior center T.J. Tynan and senior defenseman Shayne Taker.

His 11th came with Summerhays back in net on a rush through the neutral zone. He took a pass from senior defenseman Stephen Johns and gained the blue line before wristing one by Ouellette from the tops of the faceoff circles for the eventual game-winner with 43.6 seconds left in regulation.

Ouellette performed phenomenally once again, racking up 39 stops on 42 shots. The senior turned aside 76 of the 80 shots he faced over the weekend to earn the two-game split.Summerhays produced 20 saves in the victory for Notre Dame.

Brown got the Black Bears on the board first with just over eight minutes remaining in the first period. He managed to jam one inside the right post after beating Summerhays behind the net. Junior defenseman Jake Rutt and Henke earned the assists.

The Irish would tie it at 1-1 on the power play five minutes later with Tynan’s seventh tally of the year. Hinostroza worked the puck off the left-side boards before finding sophomore left wing Mario Lucia below the goal line. He fed Tynan in the slot where he could roof it past Ouellette to knot the score.

Hutton would net his 10th of the season on a 5-on-3 power play on a bad angle shot to the left of Summerhays midway through the second period. The goal, assisted by O’Connor and sophomore forward Devin Shore, marked Hutton’s sixth power play tally of the year, the most of any defenseman in the nation. He is now the 17th Black Bear defenseman in program history with 10 or more goals in a season.

Notre Dame was able to prevent a UMaine equalizer in the closing seconds following Rust’s tallies to secure the 3-2 win.

The Irish outshot the Black Bears 42-22 Saturday night. UMaine finished 1-3 on the power play while Notre Dame went 1-6 with the extra skater.

The No. 20 University of Maine men’s hockey team bounced back from a 3-2 loss Friday night with a 4-2 win the following evening to split their two-game series with the University of New Hampshire this past weekend.

It was the first home-and-home series between the two rivals since March of 1995.

The Black Bears – 12-9-3 overall, 6-4-2 in Hockey East play – lead the all-time series with a record of 60-51-6. They get back on the ice with a two-game set at Notre Dame University Feb. 7-8 after having next weekend off.

The Wildcats – 14-13-1 overall, 6-6-0 in Hockey East – host the Irish in a two-game set of their own Jan. 31 and Feb. 1

Black Bears still winless on the road after 3-2 loss to UNH

UNH used two second period goals, the eventual game-winner coming from junior forward Jay Camper, to best UMaine 3-2 in the first game of the rivals’ home-and-home series at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H. Friday night.

The loss drops the Black Bears to 0-8-2 away from the Alfond this season. They have been outscored 32-15 in road games in 2013-14.

Camper’s first goal of the season came less than three minutes into the third period to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 3-1 off a feed from freshman forward Tyler Kelleher on a three-on-two.

UMaine senior goaltender Martin Ouellette got the start between the pipes, stopping 24 of the 27 shots he faced in the loss. Junior Casey DeSmith earned the win for the Wildcats after mustering 34 saves at the other end.

UNH senior forward Nick Sorkin and UMaine sophomore forward Will Merchant each scored in the opening three minutes of the first period to set the tone.

Sorkin’s 14th goal of the season came just 47 seconds after puck drop on a two-on-one with senior center Kevin Goumas. Sorkin elected to keep it himself, beating Ouellette at the far post to open the scoring.

Merchant’s first official tally of the year came just under two minutes later when he capitalized on a fortunate deflection in the slot following a wrist shot from freshman forward Josh Henke. Merchant used the heavy traffic in front of the crease to wire one past DeSmith and knot the score at 1-1.

UNH senior defenseman Eric Knodel would give the Wildcats the 2-1 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the second period despite a dominant territorial edge by the Black Bears.

He took a pass from sophomore blue-liner Brett Pesce at the center dot and hammered one towards the net, catching Ouellette off guard and finding the net for his sixth goal of the season.

UMaine senior forward Mark Anthoine would bring the Black Bears within one once again with Ouellette pulled in favor of the extra skater, stuffing the puck past DeSmith on the doorstep with 54.7 seconds to go in regulation, but that is as far as the comeback would go. It was Anthoine’s seventh goal of the year.

The two teams played in front of a sell-out crowd at the Whit, UNH’s fourth straight sell-out game.

The Black Bears outshot the Wildcats 34-27. Both teams finished 0-1 on the power play.

Shore’s four points leads UMaine to 4-2 comeback victory over UNH

ORONO, Maine – After going pointless in the first game of the home-and-home against the Wildcats the previous night,  UMaine sophomore forward Devin Shore responded in a big way at the Alfond on Saturday.

Shore – one goal, three assists – had a hand in all four Black Bear tallies to lead UMaine to a 4-2 comeback victory over UNH to earn the split in Game Two.

“Devin Shore is one of the elite players who have played here,” UMaine head coach Dennis Gendron said. “The kid is a special player. He’s even more special because of his leadership qualities – the way he takes care of himself, how he conducts his business on a daily basis.”

The Wildcats, who took a 2-1 lead into the final period, gave up three third period goals to the Black Bears Saturday night. They had been 12-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes this season, while the Black Bears had been 0-6-1 when trailing after two periods.

“That’s a tough thing to do,” Gendron said. “If you look at the stats, I think that’s the first time this year where we’ve come back from being down going into the third period to win a game. There’s only a few [in Hockey East] where teams have won after being down after two periods. That’s a testament to these kids and what they did tonight.”

The Wildcats began the scoring on the power play less than five minutes in on a goal by Pesce before Shore answered him a little over two minutes later.

Sorkin would find the twine to give UNH the 2-1 lead with just under six minutes to go in the second period before UMaine freshman defenseman Eric Schurhamer’s tally early in the third tied it and Lomberg’s eventual game-winner gave the Black Bears their first lead of the series with around 10 minutes to go in regulation. Freshman forward Brian Morgan would convert on an empty-net chance in the final minute to seal it for the Black Bears.

UMaine was able to carry the play throughout in terms of time on the puck and shots despite being down heading into the final 20 minutes. They finished with a 37-25 edge in shots.

“I think just as an entire team we wanted to elevate our intensity [going into the third],” Shore said. “We were playing well, we were battling, but we needed to start willing the puck into the net no matter [what it took].”

Ouellette and DeSmith got the start between the pipes once again for the two rivals. Ouellette finished with 23 saves on 25 shots while DeSmith mustered 33 saves in defeat.

Pesce’s goal came via a one-timer after a Knodel feed from the point. He was able to beat Ouellette low on the stick side to begin the scoring. Goumas also earned a helper on the play.

Shore tied it at one off assists from sophomore defenseman Ben Hutton and Lomberg after corralling his own rebound. He managed to beat DeSmith with a wrister from just inside the left circle for his 12th goal of the season.

Sorkin’s goal came despite sustained pressure from the Black Bears in the attacking zone with less than six minutes to play in the middle period. He took an Agosta feed and managed to get off a snap shot that beat Ouellette with a little help from the post to take a 2-1 lead into the final frame.

Schurhamer’s goal ignited the Black Bear comeback 2:29 into the third on a wrist shot from the left point following a slick cross-ice pass from Shore through the slot.

Lomberg’s eventual game-winner came off another great effort from Shore, who stole the puck in the attacking zone before finding his linemate for the one-timer from the right slot to put UMaine up 3-2.

“I got the initial shot away and their guy picked it up on the other side of the net,” Shore said. “He looked up ice, and fortunate for us, he wasn’t expecting me to come in behind him and I was just able to catch him off guard. Ryan made an unbelievable shot.”

“Coming into the third period, I thought we were in good position,” UNH head coach Dick Umile said. “But Maine came back and that [Lomberg] goal was a killer for us.”

Shore’s fourth and final point came on Morgan’s empty-netter after he managed to fight through a few Wildcat defenders in his own zone before finding the freshman forward up ice. UNH had pulled DeSmith in favor of the extra attacker with 1:09 to go in regulation.

It was Morgan’s fifth tally of the year.

The Wildcats were without two of their top scorers in defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk and forward Grayson Downing, while the Black Bears were minus first line winger Steven Swavely and junior center Stu Higgins.

The two teams played in front of a sellout crowd of 5,125 people, UMaine’s first sellout since their 5-1 win over Boston College on Nov. 23.

By Jacob Posik

ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team defeated the Providence College Friars by a score of 1-0 Sunday afternoon thanks to sophomore forward Audra Richards’ first period tally.

The game wrapped up the season series between the teams. Having lost to Providence in the two prior matchups by scores of 8-1 and 4-2, this victory was especially sweet for the Black Bears. The win also came on the 8th annual Hockey East Skating Strides game to help fight breast cancer. UMaine moves to 3-14-5 overall and 1-8-3 in conference with the win, while Providence falls to 10-15-0, 5-7 against Hockey East opponents.

The only goal of the game came at the 19-minute mark of the first period. Richards forced a turnover that turned into a breakaway at the other end. She was able to snipe the puck passed Providence sophomore netminder Sarah Bryant high on the glove side for the eventual game-winner.

“I was just trying to make a play and get my teammates involved,” Richards said. “It felt great when I saw it go into the net.”

The second period was scoreless, with the Black Bears outshooting Providence 9-6 in the period. UMaine had a great opportunity to score midway through the period on a second breakaway attempt, but Bryant thwarted the opportunity to keep the Friars within one.

Providence’s best scoring chance of the afternoon came in the middle period when junior forward Beth Hanrahan stole the puck in the offensive zone, spun and sent a shot at UMaine sophomore goaltender Meghann Treacy. The puck clapped off the crossbar to preserve the shutout.

The game remained close and competitive throughout the final period, but Providence wasn’t able to sneak the puck past Treacy. Bryant was pulled with two minutes remaining in regulation but could not beat Treacy despite having the extra attacker.

Treacy stopped all 27 shots she faced in the victory to clinch UMaine’s first shutout this season.

“She’s playing well,” UMaine coach Richard Reichenbach said. “She’s getting confident in net, and her play is a result of that.”

The Black Bears return to action Jan. 24-25 for a two-game set against Northeastern University in Boston. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

Providence has a two-game set of their own against the University of Connecticut that begins Jan. 26.

By Anthony Panciocco

 It was feast or famine for the University of Maine women’s basketball team over the past week. The Black Bears captured their third straight conference win Tuesday night against the University of Vermont before getting a taste of their own medicine when they took on the University at Albany Saturday afternoon.

UMaine remains an even 9-9 on the year. Their 3-2 mark in conference play has them sitting in the fourth spot in America East behind the 4-0 Great Danes, the 3-0 University of New Hampshire Wildcats and 3-1 Stony Brook University.

The Black Bears get back into action when they visit the University of Massachusetts-Lowell Riverhawks Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.

Wood, Wallace lead Black Bears to rout of rival Catamounts 92-62

BANGOR, Maine — University of Maine sophomore forward Liz Wood scored the 500th point of her young career Tuesday night, leading the women’s basketball team to a 92-62 blowout of the University of Vermont Catamounts at the Cross Insurance Center.

The victory was the third straight conference win for UMaine, marking their first three-game winning streak since the 2004-2005 season. All three games were won by 12 or more points.

The Catamounts bounced back to beat the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to improve their record to 5-12 overall and an even 2-2 in America East play.

Wood led UMaine with 22 points on the night to go along with six rebounds. Senior guard Ashleigh Roberts added 16 points, five boards and four assists.

The Black Bears wasted no time early on, getting out to an early 9-0 lead led by four points from Roberts and three from Wood, who made the first six shots she took. They continued their pressure after a Vermont timeout, bringing their lead to 15-5 just 4:17 into the game.

“Our coach has been talking about coming out and being the aggressor,” Wood said. “We have had a bad habit of coming out and kind of feeling our way into the game, but today I think we did a good job of coming out early and establishing ourselves.”

The Catamounts rallied back to cut the lead to six, but the Black Bears were able to keep them at arm’s length until the end of the half. Freshman guard Kylie Butler led the Catamounts on a 9-3 run to bring the score to 35-28, but it would not last long. The Black Bears went on a 13-7 run of their own, amassing a commanding 48-35 lead going into halftime.

Vermont, the best offensive rebounding team in the America East Conference, led 25-17 in rebounding through the first half.

Vermont freshman guard Jordan Eisler scored four of the Catamounts’ first six points to get her team off to a fast start in the second, but was matched shot for shot by the Black Bears. Though they were able to get things going early in the half, the Catamounts could not gain any ground on the Black Bears and failed to cut the lead to less than 10.

UMaine sophomore sharpshooter Chantel Charles, freshman guard Sigi Koizar and sophomore center Anna Heise all pitched in to extend the second-half lead. Down the stretch, redshirt senior Cherrish Wallace dazzled with several backdoor passes on fast breaks that led to easy layups. She finished the night with a double-double consisting of 13 points and 10 assists.

“By now my style is running — I like to run a little bit so now that those guys have been playing with me they see me running, and they’re doing the same thing. It’s a good feeling when I can see them cutting to the basket,” Wallace said.

The game marked just the fourth of Wallace’s career at UMaine. She graduated from Baylor University in 2012, where a serious leg injury limited her to just one season of play. She was cleared to play over winter break and has wasted no time making an impact, averaging 10 points per game.

“Basketball-wise it has been a different kind of mindset getting back into things, but these girls have been great helping me get used to everything here,” said the transfer. “I’ve been playing with them, and I’ve been here since September so I’ve had to get adjusted fast, but they have done a good job of helping me and taking me in.”

The Black Bears had a huge second half on the glass led by Wood and Roberts, finishing the game with 36 boards to Vermont’s 37 after trailing 25-17 at the half.

“We did not feel like we were giving the rebounding effort we needed to, and we really challenged the post players at halftime and I felt they really did [respond],” UMaine head coach Richard Barron said. “Mikaela [Gustafsson] and Anna [Heise] did a much better job.”

Vermont struggled shooting the ball, hitting on just 39.1 percent of their shots from the field to the Black Bears’ efficient 53.6 percent clip.

The Catamounts travel to Durham, N.H. on Monday to take on the University of New Hampshire Wildcats in another conference tilt.

Roberts’ 22 not enough as Black Bears fall to conference-leading Albany

A second-half surge from the University at Albany proved to be too much for the visiting Black Bears Saturday afternoon, using a 21-6 run after the break to coast to an 84-56 win.

The Great Danes remain undefeated in America East play at 4-0 with a 15-3 record overall. Roberts paced the Black Bears with 22 points on 2-4 shooting from downtown.

The Black Bears lead the all-time series between the two teams with a record of 16-11, but Saturday’s loss marks their eighth straight defeat against Albany. The Great Danes snapped UMaine’s three-game winning streak and extended their own winning streak to five.

Albany got out to an early five-point lead, but UMaine sophomore guard Lauren Boding hit a long three-pointer to tie things up at five. Bodine was a large part of UMaine’s success in the first half, going 3-4 from beyond the arc. She finished the game with 9 points and three boards.

Sophomore forward Shereesha Richards led the Great Danes on a 10-2 run halfway through the first frame. Richards scored 9 of her 19 points in the first half. She was the driving force behind Albany’s success in the contest, grabbing 11 rebounds and going 9-15 from the field.

Roberts hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding and Wallace hit a jumper to end the half down 26-30. Wallace went on to dish out four assists and grab three boards to add to her 7 points. At the half, the two teams looked poised for a hard-fought second half that would not come to fruition.

Albany started off the second half on a strong 21-6 run that put them up 51-32. Junior forward Sarah Royals had a stellar second half, scoring 16 of her 23 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting display.

The Black Bears kept at it, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers in the last 10 minutes before Albany’s  11-3 run sealed it.

Rebounding was a big issue for the Black Bears as they were outdone on the boards 38-25, including a 13-7 disparity on the offensive glass. The Great Danes, who rank first in rebounding margin in America East, were able to capitalize on their 13 offensive rebounds, scoring 16 second-chance points to UMaine’s 6. Richards led the Great Danes with 11 rebounds.

The Black Bears’ 18 turnovers stalled their offense and led to 23 Albany points at the other end, most of which occurred in the first half. They also struggled shooting the ball, shooting just 38.3 percent to Albany’s 56.7.

The Great Danes put their perfect conference record on the line when they travel to take on Binghamton University Monday at 7:30 p.m.

By Chelsea Gillies

The University of Maine indoor men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in their first scored meet of the season on Friday and Saturday at the Bates invitational. Both teams finished strong, with the men’s team taking first place and the women finishing second.

On the men’s side, UMaine junior James Reed finished first in both 60-meter events, winning the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.09 seconds and the 60-meter sprint with an impressive time of 6.98 seconds.

Jacob Johns grabbed a second place finish with a time of 2:35.51 1000-meter run, while UMaine senior Kelton Cullenberg took first place in the 3000-meter with a time of 9:04.76.

UMaine’s Jarrod Lenfest,  junior Ryan Hardiman and freshman Jesse Orach all finished strong during the 5k. Lenfest took second place with a time of 15:29.68, Hardiman was third with a time of 15:45.59 and Orach finished fourth with a time of 16:01.16.

Freshman Tyler Martin had a final height of 1.93 meters during the high jump, while junior Nathaniel Meade finished the long jump in first with a mark of 6.87 meters. Meade placed first overall in the triple jump with a mark of 14.99 meters.

The UMaine men finished in first place with a score of 266 points. Bates followed in second with 172, while Colby College, the University of Southern Maine, and St. Joseph’s College were the next three finishers on the men’s side.

On the women’s side, UMaine freshman Katelyn Guilmette took fifth place in the 60-meter sprint with a time of 8.27 seconds. Sophomore Carolyn Stocker finished in third place in the 5k with a time of 19:02.92.

UMaine sophomore Mary Scanlan took first in the 800-meter with a final time of 2:26.64. Junior Rachel Wilkinson took second place in the mile run with a time of 5:20.70, while freshman Shannon O’Neil finished first in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:03.14.

Ashley Donohoe came in second place during the shot put with a toss of 11.30 meters, while teammate Jaclyn Masters grabbed a second place finish in the pole vault with a 3.38-meter final height.

UMaine finished strong in all three relay events. During the 4×200-meter relay, the Black Bears took first place with a time of 1:48.42. They would snag a first place finish once again in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 4:10.17. In the 4×800, UMaine finished strong with a time of 10:07.51.

The women’s team finished tied with Colby for second overall with 148 points behind Bates College with 222.50 points. USM [140], Husson University [26.50] and St. Joseph’s [15] rounded out the field on the women’s side.

The Black Bears will compete next week in the Joe Donahue Invitational hosted by the College of the Holy Cross and the Terrier Invite Jan. 24-25.

By Cody Lachance

Texas A&M University quarterback Johnny Manziel has nearly achieved it all in college. From becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman award, breaking numerous offensive records and becoming a college partying icon, Manziel doesn’t have much else to achieve in school and has declared for the 2014 NFL Draft.

The 21-year-old has the potential to be a top five pick in this year’s draft, with teams like the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns all looking to add a potential franchise quarterback. Manziel is arguably the most dynamic quarterback of this class given his ability to be a playmaker both with his legs and with his arm.

The best fit for Manziel would be to be drafted with the number one overall pick by the Texans. Johnny Football would be staying at home in the state of Texas, while joining a team that is a quarterback away from being a dominant force in the AFC.

New head coach Bill O’Brien will bring his offensive mindset to a team that already sports one of the top defensive units in the league. With a strong defense behind him, the Texans could allow Manziel to mature on the field by being able to back him up defensively when he makes rookie mistakes.

The Texans also have the offensive pieces in place to give Manziel weapons to dominate in his rookie season. Wide receivers Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins provide a solid one-two punch at the receiver position that can allow Manziel to spread the field to open up holes for dominant running back Arian Foster. The Texans could easily become a playoff team again in a relatively weak AFC South division.

Along with the on-field success he could have, the Texans could get a redo on a situation that they had back in the 2006 NFL Draft. The Texans had the first overall pick that year as well, and it was thought that they would draft University of Texas QB Vince Young, another fan favorite in the state. Instead, the Texans went with defensive end Mario Williams and watched as Young fell to the Tennessee Titans at No. 3. This time around, Houston can draft their stud in-state QB to help take the team to new heights in the NFL.

Johnny Manziel could be the most exciting player in this year’s draft. The Houston Texans need to add flair and skill at the QB position, and Manziel is just the player to do so. A fresh start is exactly what this team needs after a hugely underachieving output in 2013, and the O’Brien/Manziel combination might just be the place to start.

By Jacob Posik

On Thursday of last week, Major League Baseball owners gave the OK to expand the use of instant replay league-wide. This issue has caused quite the controversy amidst the league and its fans, who are concerned that expanded replay will affect the integrity of the game. Baseball is also considered the slowest of the four major North American sports, and bringing replay into the league may make games even longer than they already are.

However, recent big plays in the league have begged for replay in the sport, and it’s tough to argue with the questionable outcomes that have happened on the field.

Most recently, last year’s World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals exemplified several questionable calls, including the walk-off obstruction call that ended Game Three.

Another bad call was seen in 2010, marking the most recent upsurge in public outcry for the implementation of instant replay in baseball.

Armando Galarraga, then pitching for the Detroit Tigers, pitched a perfect game for 8 and two-thirds innings before first base umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland Indians base runner Jason Donald “safe” at first base. Upon further review, it became apparent that Galarraga threw Donald out a step before he reached the bag. Not only was this the wrong call, but the result of the play also tarnished Galarraga’s chance to make history.

 It is evident by these findings, as well as the positive effects expanded replay has had on other professional sports like the NFL, that it’s time for the MLB to make this change.

The new system will allow managers to have one replay opportunity during the course of a game, and a possible second if their first challenge is upheld. After both teams’ challenges are gone, and from the 7th inning onward, umpires have the authority to trigger a replay.

This system is not perfect. There is a chance that more than one incorrect call could be made between innings 1-7. This is also when the bulk of the game will be played. However, MLB executive Tony La Russa expects that after this change, nearly 90 percent of plays in a game will be reviewable, which is a step in the right direction.

The process needs tinkering, but after years of watching the NFL and NBA benefit from the use of replay, baseball is finally catching on.

By enabling expanded replay and challenges among team managers, the integrity of the game can be improved by making the correct calls on the field. There is nothing more disappointing to fans than their team being negatively affected by a bad call. In most of these instances, the calls are a result of poor judgment on the behalf of the umpire. Like in the Galarraga case, sometimes umpires just make incorrect calls.

Human error can be eliminated by allowing expanded replay, and by ratifying its existence in the league last week, MLB owners are creating a more fair contest between teams for the future of the sport.