Despite his younger brother Bradley signing with the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, University of Maine All-Hockey East third-team freshman winger Josh Nadeau will return to Orono next season, along with co-captains Linden Breen and David Breazeale. It's the same.
Breen is the center and Breazeale is the defense.
The Black Bears are coming off a memorable 2023-24 season that saw them advance to the Hockey East semifinals and NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011-12.
The team's record was 23 wins, 12 losses, and 2 draws, the most wins since the team's 28 wins, 12 losses, and 2 draws in 2005-06.
They lost to Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals and to Cornell University in the first round of the NCAA Springfield Regional by the same score, 3-1.
Maine finished the season ranked 10th in one national poll and 11th in another.
“I've had some (professional) offers, but I want to be here,” Josh Nadeau said in a Zoom interview Wednesday. “I love it here. We need to be more confident and have a better season heading into next year. We have a really special group of guys here. It's like a family. We all work around the rink every day. I enjoy being there. We are working hard to get better.
“We have a lot to prove this year, just like how the season ended last year,” Nadeau said.
Breazeale echoed Nadeau's sentiments.
“I'm excited to be back,” said Breazeale, who will be a senior next season and has professional offers. “This is a special place for us. We have made great memories here. This past season was really special.
“I'm looking forward to seeing what we come back with next year. We want to go even further than we did this season and contribute as much as we can,” Breazeale added. “My heart is here and I want to continue this journey and see it through to the end.”
Mr. Breen was not available for an interview.
Josh Nadeau was a first-round pick (30th overall) out of Carolina last summer and was the team's leading scorer behind his older brother, who got a chance to play in Carolina's final regular-season game in Columbus.
Josh Nadeau had 18 goals and 27 assists for 46 points in 37 games. He had one fewer goal than his older brother, who was named to the All-Hockey East Second Team and All-Rookie Team.
Josh Nadeau was 17th nationally among players from 64 Division I programs in points per game (1.22). He tied for ninth with five winning goals and tied for 14th with eight power play goals.
Josh Nadeau said he wants to work on speed and strength in the offseason.
“I want to be able to hold the puck longer and stuff like that. And I'm not quite where I want to be in terms of speed,” he said.
Breazeale said he wants to be more consistent in his decision-making with the puck.
“I want to play smart and intelligent. That's a big part for me. I also want to work on my stride and pivot. My explosive movements,” Breazeale said. “Those are important. We want to be consistent on defense and work on our offense as well. I'm going to work on getting the puck through more from the blue line to give the forwards a chance to put the puck in the net. is.”
The University of Maine lost No. 4 forwards Cole Hanson, Felix Trudeau, Reid Pavic and Parker Lindauer to the transfer portal, along with No. 3 goaltender Connor Androlevitz. Left winger Ben Poisson has exhausted his eligibility, and right winger Donavan Hall and backup goaltender Victor Ostman signed professional contracts rather than returning for a fifth season.
All the defense members returned, but Breeze Ale was the only upperclassman. All the other defensemen were sophomores or freshmen.
The University of Maine has added four forwards to the transfer portal: Clarkson University's Charlie Russell, Massachusetts Lowell's Owen Fowler, University of Massachusetts' Taylor Makar and Colgate University's Ross Mitton, who was the team's leading scorer last season. Obtained from.
There will also be some new additions, with Maine head coach Ben Bahr saying there is a possibility that one or two more players could be added to the roster.
Coach Barr, who will begin his fourth season on the main bench in the fall, said next year's team will be “the most deep we've ever had.”
In addition to losing leading scorer Bradley Nadeau, Hall is now the team's fifth leading scorer (9 goals, 15 assists) and Poisson is tied for eighth (6 and 9 points).
However, Coach Barr said, “I don't see why we can't have the same offensive power.''
His team averaged 3.22 goals per game, which was 16th best in the country.
“For us, it's going to be a matter of will, whether we have four lines, six or seven defensemen and two goalies who can play (at a high level),” Barr said. “It's not about surviving the shift, it's about thriving within it.
“When you can have this much depth in our program, it’s going to be very hard to beat anyone,” Barr said.
He said there's no one to replace Bradley Nadeau and the special chemistry between his linemates from last season and the brothers from their time in the British Columbia Hockey League can't be replicated.
But the Black Bears have seven of the 12 forwards who played in the BU-Cornell playoff game back, and Coach Barr said, “We have some great players coming here between freshmen and transfers.” It pointed out. Guys like Josh and Linden (Breen) are smart players, so we have to find guys who can play the same way. We will try many things like we did this year. ”
Nadeau has been playing on a line this season featuring Breen, Nolan Renwick and Harrison Scott, with all three returning.
Breen was third among team scorers (9 goals, 21 assists), and Bentley University transfer Harrison Scott was fourth (15 goals, 12 assists).
Breazeal said the return of Josh Nadeau and Breen is “huge for our forward group.”
He said he has “a lot of faith” that the team will have the players to compete in the national championship next season.
“We know what's in our rooms and what our culture is,” Breazeale says. “We want to build on last year's achievements. We saw the potential we could do.
“We love the guys we have back. We believe we're a worthy group to compete for a national championship. That's the goal,” Breazeale said.
