ORONO - Defenseman Simon Danis-Pepin said this afternoon that he believes he'll be ready to play Saturday when the University of Maine men's hockey team plays at No. 2 Boston University.

"I'll be in," said Danis-Pepin, who sat out of Maine's last four games. Danis-Pepin sprained his left ankle during the holidays, when he slipped on a patch of ice, and has been skating since last week. However, he sat out of Maine's last four games.

From the stands, Danis-Pepin got a different perspective of the game.

"It's part of hockey, stuff like that happens," Danis-Pepin said of his injury. "It was hard to see that loss against UNH, they're our biggest rival. That was a heartbreaker but at the same time you've got to live with it and cheer the team on. I saw things up there that you don't see when you're playing. We've got things to work on for this weekend and for the rest of the season, to make sure we have a winning team."

The Black Bears anticipate his return. Danis-Pepin has five assists in 16 games and can play in all situations.

"It's going to be huge for us," forward Tanner House said. "He makes things happen and a guy his size (6-foot-7) makes it so hard to play against, even in practice today I was frustrated. He's great on the PK (penalty kill) and he's so effective because he's got such a long reach."

***

While one big game is being played tonight - Oklahoma vs. Florida for the BCS championship in football - consider that a Canadian tradition is also being carried out tonight. The Montreal Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs, an Original Six NHL rivalry.

In an informal poll, four of the Black Bears - Danis-Pepin, House, Jeff Marshall and Chris Hahn - picked the Canadiens to win. (Canadians for Canadiens.)

But as far as a national championship prediction goes, House broke ranks. He was the only one of the four to pick Oklahoma.

***

Two days after Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu bit Buffalo's Andrew Peters in the hand (and a day after the NHL suspended Ruutu), a few of the Black Bears gave their thoughts on the incident.

"That's actually the second time I've seen someone bit in a hockey fight," Marshall said. "The first time was back in juniors. I just hope the guy went and got a tetanus shot."

Added Danis-Pepin, "Shed the mitts and do something, but don't start biting. That's not good for your self-image, either."

House believed Peters - or at least his digits - were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Peters shouldn't have had his fingers in his mouth," House said.

E-mail this entry to a friend