University of Maine hockey fans are used to seeing Bradley Nadeau take National Hockey League-caliber shots and use his speed and elusiveness to get past opponents.
A different side of Nadeau's game has surfaced recently, and it was evident in last week's 4-1 loss to Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals. It's a physical element.
Nadeau landed a solid body check on the forecheck against BU.
“You don't get a lot of (open) ice, so you have to fight for every corner. Sometimes that's what you have to do to create a scoring opportunity,” he said at MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. said Nadeau, the University of Maine's leading scorer heading into an NCAA regional first round game against ECAC champion Cornell on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Denver and the University of Massachusetts will begin the tournament at 2 p.m., with the winners competing Saturday at 4 p.m. for a spot in the Frozen Four, to be held April 11-13 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“Towards the end of the year, you get more involved physically,” Nadeau said. “If we continue to work hard, we will have chances to score. Because of the line that we have, it helps me and our line create offense. To continue to produce offensively and help the team. We must keep moving forward.”
Nadeau, who has 19 goals and 27 assists, joins his older brother Josh, a freshman right wing and second-leading scorer on the team (18 goals and 27 points), and junior center Nolan Renwick (two goals and nine points). There is.
Nados was centered around junior Harrison Scott (ages 14 and 12) and senior co-captain Linden Breen (ages 9 and 21) earlier this season.
“Everyone is good on our team. It doesn't matter who we play with. As long as we work hard, the production will continue,” Nadeau said.
The game against Cornell University will feature contrasting styles.
Cornell is the stingiest team of the 64 Division I programs, allowing just 1.88 goals per game.
In addition to being a strong defensive team, the Big Red uses their size to circulate the puck on the forecheck.
Of the 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament, Cornell has the heaviest weight at 192.4 pounds per player and is tied for second at about 6-foot-1.
Maine is the lightest of the 16 teams at 186.6 pounds per player and tied for the shortest at 6 feet with Michigan State and Omaha State.
Cornell's top six scoring forwards have an average height of 6 feet 3 inches, while the University of Maine's defensive corps averages just under 6 feet tall.
“We're going to have to play fast,” Maine head coach Ben Barr said. “We can't let them catch up to their forecheck. Fast play is our team's strength. It compresses (the opponent's) time and space (with the puck).
“That's our advantage. If we have a chance to get to the puck and get the puck up and get it out of the (defensive) zone, we have to do it. If the puck is down in the corner and there's a 6-foot If you have three 3-inch players, that's an advantage for them. Then they get to the net, get the puck to the point, get the puck to the net. They're really good at that,” Barr said. said.
He said Cornell has been “one of the best-coached teams year in and year out” under head coach Mike Schaefer. They never win over themselves and are very hard and heavy. That will be a really good test for us. ”
“They're very deep. They play four lines and six defensemen, and they have a goaltender (Ian Shane) who's been on his feet this year,” said lead junior defenseman and co-captain. David Breazeale said. “We're going to have to dominate the net front and corners. We're going to have to manage the puck well and play heavy and hard.”
Nadeau said the Black Bears “need to keep it simple” against a solid defensive team like Cornell. You have to put the shot on the net. With our attacking power, we should be able to score some goals.”
Complementing Nadeaus, Breen and Scott, Donavan Hall had nine goals and 14 assists for the 23-11-2 Black Bears. The defense's top scorers are Brandon Chabrier (6 and 16 points) and Brandon Holt (4 and 11 points). Freshman goaltender Alvin Boiha is 10-6-1 with a 2.01 points per game and .916 save percentage.
Cornell, 21-6-6, is led from the front by Gabriel Seager (14 & 28), Dalton Bancroft (12 & 19), Kyle Penny (9 & 17), Jonathan Castagna (11 & 14), and Ryan Walsh (12). I've been doing it. &Ten). Ben Robertson (5&18) and Tim Rego (2&8) are the primary point producers from the blue line ahead of ECAC Goaltender of the Year Shane (21-4-6, 1.70, .922).
