2008 Woodie Awards
Hockey upsets Friars
Bishop joins Maine hockey's 50-win club
Caleb Savage
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Maine Sports
The University of Maine Black Bears and Ben Bishop got back on track and defeated the Providence Friars 4-0 on Saturday night earning "Big" Ben Bishop his fourth career shutout, and his third against the Friars. With the win, UMaine improves to 8-10-2 on the season and 4-7-2 in Hockey East play.
Bishop's performance was stellar. He blocked 41 shots and collected his 50th career win to make him the fifth goalie in UMaine history to garner 50 wins or more. He now ranks among greats like Garth Snow, Scott King, Blair Allison and Alfie Michaud.
When asked what it felt like to be added to such an elite group in the history of UMaine hockey, Bishop said, "It is a great honor to then see these players go on and play in the NHL, and it would be nice to get 67 wins, to break Garth Snow's record of 66 wins."
Each goal was scored by a different Black Bear, with Matt Duffy contributing the first goal for UMaine. The Black Bears have yet to lose a game this season in which they score the opening goal. From there, the Black Bears held back nothing. The score remained 1-0 through the second period, but once the third period started the Black Bears fired on all cylinders.
UMaine scored less than five minutes into the third period, when Wes Clark tallied his fourth goal of the season to put the Black Bears up 2-0. Shortly after Clark scored, Jeff Marshall fired a shot from between the circles to beat the Friars' goaltender. With a commanding 3-0 lead late in the third, the Black Bears finished the Friars off with an empty-netter from Vince Laise to secure the game for UMaine.
Saturday night's game saw an excellent performance from every Black Bear, and for a goalie to record a shutout it requires the whole team to play well. Bishop is grateful for the performance of his star defender Brett Tyler, who "came up big in the game, and cut off a few plays where he was faced with a two on one. Brett had a really good game and saved a couple of goals," Bishop said.
Recently, Bishop's old roommate, Mike Lundin, who is now playing in his rookie season for the Tampa Bay Lighting, was selected to play for the NHL's Young Stars Team.
"Mike was a really humble guy, and it is so cool for him to be so successful," Bishop said. The UMaine Alumnus will play on Saturday, Jan. 26, as part of the NHL All-Star weekend. The game will start at 7 p.m. and can be seen on the Versus channel.
This Friday night the UMaine Black Bears welcome the eighth-ranked Boston College Eagles to Alfond Arena and hope to pull away with another win against the team who is tied for first place in the Hockey East standings.
"This is a big weekend for our team. If we win, it will bring our team back on the map and be the next step into making the postseason," Bishop said.
Bishop's performance was stellar. He blocked 41 shots and collected his 50th career win to make him the fifth goalie in UMaine history to garner 50 wins or more. He now ranks among greats like Garth Snow, Scott King, Blair Allison and Alfie Michaud.
When asked what it felt like to be added to such an elite group in the history of UMaine hockey, Bishop said, "It is a great honor to then see these players go on and play in the NHL, and it would be nice to get 67 wins, to break Garth Snow's record of 66 wins."
Each goal was scored by a different Black Bear, with Matt Duffy contributing the first goal for UMaine. The Black Bears have yet to lose a game this season in which they score the opening goal. From there, the Black Bears held back nothing. The score remained 1-0 through the second period, but once the third period started the Black Bears fired on all cylinders.
UMaine scored less than five minutes into the third period, when Wes Clark tallied his fourth goal of the season to put the Black Bears up 2-0. Shortly after Clark scored, Jeff Marshall fired a shot from between the circles to beat the Friars' goaltender. With a commanding 3-0 lead late in the third, the Black Bears finished the Friars off with an empty-netter from Vince Laise to secure the game for UMaine.
Saturday night's game saw an excellent performance from every Black Bear, and for a goalie to record a shutout it requires the whole team to play well. Bishop is grateful for the performance of his star defender Brett Tyler, who "came up big in the game, and cut off a few plays where he was faced with a two on one. Brett had a really good game and saved a couple of goals," Bishop said.
Recently, Bishop's old roommate, Mike Lundin, who is now playing in his rookie season for the Tampa Bay Lighting, was selected to play for the NHL's Young Stars Team.
"Mike was a really humble guy, and it is so cool for him to be so successful," Bishop said. The UMaine Alumnus will play on Saturday, Jan. 26, as part of the NHL All-Star weekend. The game will start at 7 p.m. and can be seen on the Versus channel.
This Friday night the UMaine Black Bears welcome the eighth-ranked Boston College Eagles to Alfond Arena and hope to pull away with another win against the team who is tied for first place in the Hockey East standings.
"This is a big weekend for our team. If we win, it will bring our team back on the map and be the next step into making the postseason," Bishop said.
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