Two days after opening the season with Saturday's Blue-White intrasquad game, Maine Coach Tim Whitehead has a good idea what his team will focus on this week in preparation for this weekend, when the Black Bears play two games at the University of New Brunswick: team defense and puck management.

The first focus is self-explanatory. But, you might ask, what exactly does puck management entail?

"It's making the right play at the right time," Whitehead explained Monday afternoon. "Like in football, it's ball management, controlling and taking care of the ball, not making high-risk passes. If you don't have a play, where do you put the puck? You don't want to force the play when it's not there. With our team it's about chipping the pucks along the boards, or putting it to space. The key is not to force a play that isn't there."

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Kevin Swallow, a junior forward, suffered a high ankle sprain in the final minutes of the Blue-White game and Whitehead said that Swallow could miss the first two to three weeks of the season. If he returns for the Goal Rush Tournament in Alaska on Oct. 17, that would benefit the Black Bears, but the following weekend (Maine's home opener against Northeastern) could be a more realistic target for Swallow's return.

"We're not going to push him back before he's ready," Whitehead said.

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