Lem Randall, a sophomore forward for the University of Maine men's hockey team, was named Hockey East's Reebok Player of the Week.

Randall scored a goal and two assists in two games at the Florida College Classic in Estero, Florida.

The Boston College men's hockey program has gotten its second commitment from a Mainer this season. The New Hampshire Junior Monarchs announced that Brian Billett, a junior at Kennebunk and a goalie with Monarchs, has given a verbal commitment to the Eagles.

Billett is 9-1-1 this season for the Junior Monarchs' A team, with a .923 saves percentage and a 2.37 goals-against average. Sean Tremblay, general manager of the Monarchs, said Billett is expected to join the Eagles for the 2010-2011 season.

The NCAA prohibits college coaches from discussing recruits before they have signed a National Letter of Intent.

Maine defenseman Simon Danis-Pepin will miss today's game against Colgate in the Florida College Classic after spraining his ankle. Danis-Pepin, a senior co-captain, has five assists in 16 games.

One year, two players had to re-route their flights out of Minnesota from Bangor to Orlando, Fla., then take a taxicab to their final destination, three hours south of Disney World.

Another year, a few bags of equipment were lost somewhere between Maine and Florida and the University of Maine men's hockey team had to improvise, borrowing shin guards, elbow pads and skate laces from the local minor-league hockey team, and even rummaging through lost-and-found bins for spare pieces of equipment.

But this season, the Black Bears and their equipment made it from Bangor International Airport to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the Florida College Classic. The Black Bears open the tournament tomorrow against Colgate.

While the "getting there" part wasn't much trouble for the Black Bears, returning to Orono in time for practice Christmas morning was another story. Because of winter storms that hit the midwest, many players had to find alternate ways to get back to campus. Maine goalie Scott Darling re-routed his Chicago-to-Bangor flight to Boston, and drove back to Orono with teammate Will O'Neill, who lives in Salem, Mass.

Some of Darling's teammates also scheduled their arrival for a reasonable hour on Dec. 24, but that changed because of airport delays and cancellations.

"Technically, a lot of us made it back early morning on the 25th," Maine forward Tanner House said.

If you read the story in the Maine Sunday Telegram about Gustav Nyquist, one thing to elaborate is that his rights are held by the Detroit Red Wings, who drafted him in June. According to the NHL Players Association, the Red Wings will retain his rights through his four years of college - if Nyquist decides to stay at the University of Maine for those four years. If he decides to leave Maine early, he is property of the Red Wings until June 1 of that year. If he stays at Maine for four years and/or graduates, he's property of the Red Wings until Aug. 15 of that year.

Until 2005, a team could draft European players and retain their rights until they were 31. An example of that was Teemu Selanne, who joined the Winnipeg Jets in 1992, four years after he was drafted, This isn't the case now with the new collective bargaining agreement, which restricts the amount of time teams can retain the rights to players.

***

It's interesting to note that the Red Wings' trademark is drafting European players and developing them either in their system or overseas. Jim Nill, the assistant general manager of the Red Wings, explained that to keep the team competitive the organization turned to drafting and developing European prospects in the late 1990s. This was in order to fill a void that was created when the team traded away high draft picks for players such as Brendan Shanahan (in 1996, for Keith Primeau, Paul Coffey and a first-round pick), Larry Murphy (in 1995, for Dimitri Mironov and a second-round pick) and Chris Chelios (in 1999, for Anders Eriksson and two first-round draft picks).

Since 1995 the Red Wings have won five Stanley Cups, but couldn't boast first-round draft picks like Joe Thornton, Roberto Luongo and Vincent Lecavalier, who were taken in the 1997 and 1998 drafts. Ideally, the Red Wings wanted to draft a 6-foot-1 forward with strength and speed, who could step into the lineup and make an impact right away. But not everyone could take a player like Thornton in the first round, so Nill explained that the Red Wings turned to drafting and developing European draftees such as Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom - who are still going strong in the Red Wings' current lineup.

***

The national polls will return next Monday. Until then, stay warm.

Nick Pryor, a defenseman with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, has verbally committed to the University of Maine. Bucs Coach J.P. Parise confirmed Pryor's commitment.

"He's a kid who has all different kinds of skills," Parise said of Pryor, who decided not to go to Wisconsin after committing to the Badgers as a 14-year-old. "He's had a difficult past couple of years and things didn't work out with him with the national (U-18) program. He didn't have a good experience. But he was drafted by the Buccaneers and had a tremendous camp in summer, and after everything that happened, he's having fun again."

Pryor has scored four goals and eight assists in 20 games with the Bucks. His father, Chris, is the director of hockey operations for the Philadelphia Flyers.

***

Sean Tremblay, general manager of the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, e-mailed me this morning with an update on two of Maine's recruits who are in the Monarchs program.

Tremblay said he expects Matthew Mangene to sign with Maine during the spring signing period, which begins on April 8, 2009, and that Adam Shemansky will join the Black Bears as a recruited walk-on. Mangene, a forward, has scored nine goals and 11 assists in 22 games this season. Shemansky, a forward, has scored five goals and 18 assists in 16 games this season.

Kelen Corkum, a forward who also verbally committed to Maine (and whose father is Maine assistant Bob Corkum), has nine goals and four assists in 13 games.

The NCAA prohibits college coaches from discussing recruits before they have signed a National Letter of Intent.

Also, Tremblay gave me a quick update on Brian Dumoulin of Biddeford, a defenseman who has three goals and 16 assists in 23 games with the Monarchs. The Monarchs play the Boston Junior Bruins at 7:30 tonight at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H., and Tremblay expected a gathering of scouts from the NHL, ECAC and Hockey East at the game.

"Tonigt is a huge night for him," Tremblay said of Dumoulin, who has signed to play at Boston College next season.

While the Notre Dame football team looks to finish the season above .500, the Irish hockey team is undefeated in its past 14 games. With that, Notre Dame is atop the national polls again, No. 1 in both the USA Today/USA Men's hockey Top 15 poll and the USCHO.com/CBS College sports top 20 poll.

Maine got 62 votes in the USCHO.com poll, behind No. 20 Dartmouth (103) and Minnesota-Duluth (87), and nine votes in the USA Today poll, behind No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha (33) and Wisconsin (25).

Maine has 10 days off before it opens the Florida College Classic on Dec. 27 against Colgate.

***

Hockey East named Maine goalie Scott Darling its Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week. Darling had 44 saves in two games against Union. Darling is currently fourth in the nation with a .944 saves percentage and fifth in the nation with a 1.4072 goals-against average.

And speaking of goalies ...

ORONO - John Gravallese had his little black book ready. No, not that kind. In the spirit of the holiday season, Gravallese, a referee in the four-man Hockey East officiating crew, was making a list of those who were naughty at the end of Maine's 5-1 win over Union.

The officiating staff called nine penalties after the horn sounded, after tempers flared on the far side of the ice from the benches # four against Maine and five against Union, including a game disqualification of Union defenseman Mike Wakita, who left the penalty box to participate in an on-ice skirmish.

"Maybe they got a little frustrated," Maine forward Gustav Nyquist said. "I didn't see what happened, but I hope no one gets suspended."

Here's a list of those penalties, nine of 28 that were called at the 20-minute mark of the third:

Union: Mike Harr (instigating, charging); Jason Shaffer (hitting after the whistle), Brock Matheson (hitting after the whistle), Wakita.

Maine: Matt Duffy (hitting after the whistle), Kyle Solomon (hitting after the whistle), Mike Banwell (hitting after the whistle), Chris Hahn (hitting after the whistle).

No word on what Gravallese had to say about those who were nice. Let's leave that up to Santa.

***

A bit more about Lem Randall's goal at 19:00 of the second period, which came under official video review. On the scoring play, Randall was tangled with another player in front of Union goalie Corey Milan and it appeared he was inside the crease, a no-no in hockey.

***

Skate with the Bears from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday at Alfond Arena. It'll be the last time you can see the Black Bears in-state until after the New Year.

ORONO - Scott Darling made 22 saves as the University of Maine men's hockey team defeated Union 5-1 in its final home game before the holiday break.

Gustav Nyquist scored two goals while Spencer Abbott, Lem Randall and Robby Dee also scored for the Black Bears.

Mike Wakita scored at 7:05 of the third for Union (8-7-1). Union goalie Corey Milan made nine saves.

Maine (10-5-1) has the next two weeks off before playing in the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla. Maine opens the four-team tournament Dec. 27 against Colgate.

Three stars
1. Gustav Nyquist, Maine
2. Scott Darling, Maine
3. Keif Orsini, Maine

The Maine hockey team completes its home schedule for the calendar year tonight against Union, and won't return to the Alfond until Jan. 4, when the Black Bears face New Hampshire at 4 p.m.

The Black Bears juggled the lineup last night, and it looks as if for the most part, last night's lineup will remain intact:

Forwards:
Robby Dee-Chris Hahn-Kyle Solomon
Brian Flynn-Tanner House-Gustav Nyquist
Theo Andersson-Jeff Marshall-Brett Carriere
Lem Randall-Keif Orsini-Spencer Abbott

Abbott is back in the lineup, playing right wing in place of David de Kastrozza.

Defense
Ryan Hegarty-Matt Duffy
Mike Banwell-Simon Danis-Pepin
Will O'Neill-Jeff Dimmen

Hegarty replaces Josh Van Dyk at left defense. Typically, Hegarty plays in every other game but was a healthy scratch the past two games.

Goalies
Dave Wilson
Scott Darling - starter
Josh Seeley

Scratches:

De Kastrozza, junior forward
Mark Nemec, freshman defense
Glenn Belmore, sophomore forward
Nick Payson, redshirt freshman forward
Kevin Swallow, junior forward

Changes, changes, changes.

After tonight's 3-1 win over Union, freshman forward Gustav Nyquist said it's actually comforting to have players who want to compete for a spot on the Black Bears' roster day in and day out. If you got to look at tonight's lineup, you saw that there were plenty of changes # Chris Hahn teamed with Robby Dee and Kyle Solomon on the second line, and Lem Randall going from the second to the fourth line, for instance.

Shuffling the lineup wasn't just about giving guys a chance to play in a nonconference game.

"Really, it just because we had a couple players who had been practicing in a while but they hadn't had opportunities to play in a game," Maine coach Tim Whitehead said. "There were other guys who played well but not exceptionally well and we felt it was important to juggle a little in hopes of getting an extra goal."

***

The Black Bears killed off a pair of 5-on-3 chances, the first created late in the second when Mike Banwell was penalized for roughing/contact to the head at 17:51, followed by Will O'Neill being penalized for crosschecking 13 seconds later.

Then, in the final three minutes of the game, Lem Randall was called for slashing at 17:59, followed by Chris Hahn for interference less than 40 seconds later.
Union finished 0 for 7 on the power play.

"Like many times, special teams are a huge part of the game but in this case, the 5-on-3s were great," Whitehead said. "(Union) had some good chances … but we did well on the penalty kill, Scott (Darling) was very composed in the net and our 5-on-3 goal at the end, that would have been quite deflating if we hadn't capitalized on that 5-on-3."

Brian Flynn converted a two-man advantage for the Black Bears at 12:45 to tie the game at 1-1. Flynn's goal came after Adam Presizniuk scored for Union, and after the Black Bears played what appeared to be a stretch of offensively disorganized hockey.

"We've been trying to focus on our starts, to make sure we have good starts," Tanner House said. "To bounce back the way we did was huge for us. Every time this team seems to get down a goal, it seems to ignite us a bit."

***

Skate with the Bears on Sunday, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Alfond Arena. It's the last time you'll get to see them before the New Year and before they leave for the Florida College Classic in Estero, Florida.

ORONO - Tanner House, Gustav Nyquist and Brian Flynn combined for five points as the University of Maine hockey team defeated Union 3-1 at Alfond Arena.

House and Flynn each had a goal and an assist, while Nyquist added an assist for the Black Bears.

Adam Presizniuk gave Union a 1-0 lead 8:58 into the game, but Flynn, Matt Duffy and House scored three unanswered goals for the Black Bears (9-5-1).

Corey Milan made 34 saves for Union (8-6-1), while Scott Darling made 22 saves for Maine.

The Black Bears continue the nonconference series against Union at 7 p.m. Saturday at Alfond Arena.

Three stars:
1. Tanner House, Maine
2. Matt Duffy, Maine
3. Corey Milan, Union

***
Changes, changes, changes.

After tonight's 3-1 win over Union, freshman forward Gustav Nyquist said it's actually comforting to have players who want to compete for a spot on the Black Bears' roster day in and day out. If you got to look at tonight's lineup, you saw that there were plenty of changes # Chris Hahn teamed with Robby Dee and Kyle Solomon on the second line, and Lem Randall going from the second to the fourth line, for instance.

Shuffling the lineup wasn't just about giving guys a chance to play in a nonconference game.

"Really, it just because we had a couple players who had been practicing in a while but they hadn't had opportunities to play in a game," Maine coach Tim Whitehead said. "There were other guys who played well but not exceptionally well and we felt it was important to juggle a little in hopes of getting an extra goal."

***

The Black Bears killed off a pair of 5-on-3 chances, the first created late in the second when Mike Banwell was penalized for roughing/contact to the head at 17:51, followed by Will O'Neill being penalized for crosschecking 13 seconds later.

Then, in the final three minutes of the game, Lem Randall was called for slashing at 17:59, followed by Chris Hahn for interference less than 40 seconds later.
Union finished 0 for 7 on the power play.

"Like many times, special teams are a huge part of the game but in this case, the 5-on-3s were great," Whitehead said. "(Union) had some good chances … but we did well on the penalty kill, Scott (Darling) was very composed in the net and our 5-on-3 goal at the end, that would have been quite deflating if we hadn't capitalized on that 5-on-3."

Brian Flynn converted a two-man advantage for the Black Bears at 12:45 to tie the game at 1-1. Flynn's goal came after Adam Presizniuk scored for Union, and after the Black Bears played what appeared to be a stretch of offensively disorganized hockey.

"We've been trying to focus on our starts, to make sure we have good starts," Tanner House said. "To bounce back the way we did was huge for us. Every time this team seems to get down a goal, it seems to ignite us a bit."

***

Skate with the Bears on Sunday, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Alfond Arena. It's the last time you'll get to see them before the New Year and before they leave for the Florida College Classic in Estero, Florida.

ORONO - Tanner House, Gustav Nyquist and Brian Flynn combined for five points as the University of Maine hockey team defeated Union 3-1 at Alfond Arena.

House and Flynn each had a goal and an assist, while Nyquist added an assist for the Black Bears.

Adam Presizniuk gave Union a 1-0 lead 8:58 into the game, but Flynn, Matt Duffy and House scored three unanswered goals for the Black Bears (9-5-1).

Corey Milan made 34 saves for Union (8-6-1), while Scott Darling made 22 saves for Maine.

The Black Bears continue the nonconference series against Union at 7 p.m. Saturday at Alfond Arena.

Three stars:
1. Tanner House, Maine
2. Matt Duffy, Maine
3. Corey Milan, Union

The Black Bears play their last pair of home games this weekend before Christmas break, and this will be their last organized ice time until Dec. 25, when the team meets for a morning skate before leaving for Estero, Florida, for the Florida College Classic tournament.

"With exams, the ice will be open, so you try to get on it as much as you can," Maine defenseman Will O'Neill said. "This is the best time to get some rest."

Now as far as all of the indulgences of the holidays?

"I'm a little worried about that," O'Neill admitted, laughing. "Getting too much pie and cake into you, it can be a problem. I'll limit myself to a couple pieces."

Maine center Chris Hahn will fly home next Wednesday, leaving Boston and flying through Toronto to get to Regina, Saskatchewan.

"There's definitely a challenge, staying focused," Hahn said. "You show up in Florida after being home for a week, and guys are going to have to take it upon themselves to stay focused."

***

If you want a little pre-game reading, here's a story on Union center Mario Valery-Trabucco, courtesy of the Albany Times-Union. Valery-Trabucco, a Montreal resident who was born in Venezuela, is Union's second leading scorer with three goals and six assists.

And if you're a New Jersey Devils fan, there's a familiar name in the Union lineup. Kelly Zajac is the younger brother of New Jersey center Travis Zajac.

***

If you've got tickets for Maine's game against the United States U-18 team Jan. 2 at the Cumberland County Civic Center, double-check the location listed on the ticket. Season-ticket holders originally were sent tickets for the game that were printed with "Alfond Arena" and not the CCCC. Re-printed tickets already have been mailed to season-ticket holders.

***

The lineup is a bit juggled for tonight. Chris Hahn will center Maine's top line, but will have new linemates - Robby Dee and Kyle Solomon. Also, Jeff Marshall will have his fifth linemate this season in Theo Andersson.

Scratches for tonight's game for Maine:
Spencer Abbott, freshman forward
Mark Nemec, freshman defense (Nemec has yet to play in a game this season)
Glenn Belmore, sophomore forward
Nick Payson, redshirt freshman forward
Kevin Swallow, junior forward
Ryan Hegarty, freshman defenseman (This is the second game in a row Hegarty has been scratched)

One notable returnee to tonight's lineup is freshman forward Andersson, who is playing in his first game since Nov. 1. Andersson has missed the past eight games.

Only a couple days after Teddy Purcell skated at Alfond Arena with the Manchester Monarchs, the L.A. Kings called up the former UMaine player.

Also, former UMaine goalie Ben Bishop was recalled by St. Louis yesterday, to fill in for the injured (yet again) Manny Legace. Bishop is 1-0-1 with a 2.41 goals-against average and is expected to be a backup to Chris Mason.

Notre Dame is still No. 1. After opening the season 2-3-0, the Irish are unbeated in their last 12 games and atop this week's USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Top 20 poll and this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Top 15 poll.

Maine received 35 votes in the USCHO.com poll and six votes in the USA Today poll.

If you look at the Hockey East schedule for the rest of December, you'll notice that there's only one conference game between now and the New Year - UMass-Lowell at Boston University on Friday.

Many teams will take the next two weeks to face nonconference opponents and play in holiday tournaments, including Maine, which will face Union College of the ECAC on Friday and Saturday at Alfond Arena.

Looking at the Hockey East standings, the Black Bears are tied for fifth with Boston University, each with 11 points.

After losses at Vermont and at Northeastern, getting two points at Merrimack was critical for the Black Bears.

"It was nice to get that win," Maine forward Brett Carriere said after Sunday's 3-2 win over the Warriors in North Andover. "It was definitely a win that we needed, especially after giving up two games, as close as they were."

The national polls will be released later this afternoon.

***

WPXT-TV in Portland will televise Friday's game between Union and Maine.

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Gustav Nyquist, Tanner House and Brett Carriere scored for the University of Maine hockey team Sunday in a 3-2 win at Merrimack.

Carriere's goal was the eventual game-winner for the Black Bears (8-5-1, 5-4-1 Hockey East), who led 2-1 going into the third period but only put three shots on goal in the third period.

Maine faces Union on Friday and Saturday in a pair of nonconference games at Alfond Arena.

Three stars:

1. Chris Hahn, Maine
2. Scott Darling, Maine
3. Adam Ross, Merrimack

***

One thing of note today: Special teams dominated this game. Maine and Merrimack finished a combined 4 for 14 on the power play, with each team scoring two power-play goals. Maine had gone 1 for 22 in the past five games on the power play.

Penalties, however, were an issue. The two teams combined for 19 penalties, with 10 coming against Maine.

The game wasn't that much out of control, save for a 10-minute misconduct against Merrimack defenseman Joe Loprieno after Gustav Nyquist's goal 40 seconds into the game, and a pair of roughing penalties assessed against Maine's Jeff Marshall and Merrimack's Rob Ricci with 16:52 left.

"I'll have to watch the tape," Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said. "It was a little frustrating but it's good to see tonight that the refs were calling penalties. As far as our team, we've been very disciplined all year but if that continues, that could become a concern."

***

Maine's last three games have been decided by a 3-2 score - losses at Vermont and Northeastern, followed by a win at Merrimack.

"The last couple games we had opportunities to win those games," Whitehead said. "It's, I think, a process for our team to recognize how precious these games are and we can't squander any opportunities."

Well, the blog is back in action after a few days off, and the Black Bears are preparing to face Merrimack at 2 p.m. at Lawler Arena here in North Andover.

The Black Bears (7-5-1, 4-4-1 Hockey East) have lost their past two games - a 3-2 loss at Vermont on Nov. 29 and a 3-2 loss in overtime Friday at Northeastern.

Freshman goalie Scott Darling was named Hockey East's Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month, finishing November with a 4-1-1 record, a 1.32 goals-against average and a .951 saves percentage. Darling is currently fifth in the nation in goaltending leaders with a record of 5-3-1, a goals-against average of 1.43 and a saves percentage of .942.

Merrimack (4-7-3, 2-6-2) plays its first game since Nov. 29, a 4-3 upset of No. 15 New Hampshire.

New Hampshire defeated UMass-Lowell 3-2 last night to sweep the season series from the River Hawks. (Yeah, can you believe it, this weekend marks the completion of one series?) Maine and Merrimack will conclude the season series this afternoon; Maine won and tied in the last meeting Nov. 21-22 at Alfond Arena.

Scratches for this afternoon's game for Maine:

Ryan Hegarty, defense
Theo Andersson, forward
Nick Payson, forward
David de Kastrozza, forward
Glenn Belmore, forward
Robby Dee, forward