ORONO — Bright spots have been few and far between for the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team this season

The Black Bears’ 1-8-0 record is the program’s worst beginning since the 1985-86 season when Maine started at 1-11-1. Maine’s 0-4-0 record in Hockey East play is the worst league start for the Black Bears since joining Hockey East in 1984.

Turning the season around will not be any easier this weekend. The Black Bears head to Lowell to take on the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, ranked 17th in the country in USCHO.com’s weekly poll.

Scoring is the biggest concern for the Black Bears. Maine has been outscored 30-10 by its opponents. This is no surprise considering the Black Bears parted ways with players that accounted for 46.6 percent of the squad’s goal scoring and 55 percent of its assists last season while playing crucial minutes on the power-play and penalty-kill units.

Maine’s power-play unit — traditionally the strength of the team — is clicking at an abysmal 2.3 percent success rate this season, converting on just one-man advantage in 44 opportunities.

Due to a rash of injuries on the team, head coach Tim Whitehead has been forced to put inexperienced players into key roles.

Sophomore forward John Parker (broken foot) and junior forward Jon Swavely (torn quadriceps) are out until January. Senior Forward Kyle Beattie (concussion) is doubtful for this weekend and red-shirt freshmen Billy Norman (sprained ankle) is also sidelined.

Whitehead confirmed that sophomore forward Stu Higgins is doubtful for this weekend’s series after injuring his leg while blocking a shot last weekend.

Injurieshave forced Whitehead to plug freshmen into roles he didn’t anticipate them having to fill early in their career.

“The guys that are able to step in are gaining great experience, and in the long run that will help our program,” Whitehead said. “ One of the few big positives this season has been the play of the freshman class.”

All nine freshmen listed on the Black Bears’ roster have registered playing time this season and four freshmen have tallied at least one point.

“All nine guys are getting valuable experience and getting their feet wet,” Whitehead said. “They’re showing us that they can play well at this level, so that’s certainly been the lone bright spot and we’ll keep building off of that.”

Devin Shore, Ben Hutton, and Steven Swavely have each logged significant time on the power play, and Ryan Lomberg and Will Merchant have each seen action on the team’s first line.

“It’s tough for sure, you always have to keep telling yourself to just play your game and do what got you here and kind of let the rest take care of itself,” said Shore. “I put too much pressure on myself sometimes and at time it doesn’t help so you just have to take that pressure, use it for good, and stay focused and play your game.”

Freshman goaltender Matt Morris picked up the only win on the season for the Black Bears. He stopped 21 shots in a 4-3 victory over Army in the Ice Breaker Tourney’s consolation game.

“You always want your freshmen to play. Everyone has freshmen in the line up,” Whitehead said. “When they’re playing on the power play, penalty kill, first and last minutes of the game, and important faceoffs combined, that’s not a good sign.”

While rookie inexperience isn’t ideal in crucial moments of games, freshmen have accounted for a large chunk of the team’s minimal production this season, accounting for 37 percent of the team’s total offense.

“Again, it’s not that some of them are in the lineup, we want that every year,” Whitehead said. “To have so many of them playing key roles right now isn’t ideal. It’s great for them, but not great for wins and losses.”

While the Black Bears’ record reflects Whitehead’s words, the players and coaches are refusing to use injuries and inexperience as excuses.

“It’s tough coming in like that,” junior forward Mark Anthoine said. “Every player has to come in and do what they can, and obviously some have bigger roles than others right now in situations they probably aren’t familiar with at this level. It’s going to come down to a team effort for their games to step up.”

Anthoine is quick to point out that young players have seen what they’re up against.

“We may need some time to get accustomed to each other, but pretty soon the season will be well underway,” he said. “The new guys are just as much a part of the team as the juniors and seniors.”

Whitehead added that it will simply come down to the effort the team puts into working to become better.

“It’s going to take time, it’s just comes down to work,” he said. “Brian Flynn, Spencer Abbott, or even Gustav Nyquist didn’t become the players they were over night. It took a lot of work day in and day out to become elite players and that’s the process these players are going through right now. We’re going to keep building to improve, and keep working and elevating our skill in practice.”

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