ORONO, Maine — University of Maine second-year men’s hockey coach Red Gendron knows how to get a player’s attention.
He won’t hesitate to chew a player out if the player isn’t performing up to his capabilities.
But he also knows the best way to make a point is by benching the player.
Several players have endured the embarrassment of watching a game from the stands during the past year and a half.
And Gendron will bench a good player or a veteran mainstay if he feels it is necessary.
Senior defenseman and alternate captain Jake Rutt was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Canisius College. Highly-touted freshman right wing Liam Pecararo, Vesey’s linemate, was in the stands for the 7-4 loss to New Hampshire in Portland.
Gendron will explain his rationale for the benching to the player. Then, if the player responds in a positive way, he will be right back in the lineup.
Freshman left wing Nolan Vesey was a healthy scratch when Maine hosted Vermont on Nov. 29 and has bounced back in dramatic fashion.
Vesey has registered at least a point in five of the six games since his benching including goals in four of his last five games.
He has four goals and two assists over the past six games.
He had two goals and an assist in the sweep of Canisius over the weekend, including Friday night’s game-winner, and was rewarded by being named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Vesey said his benching was a “wake-up call.
“I wasn’t giving as much as coach (Gendron) wanted. He was right. It paid off. Ever since then, I’ve been doing the little things,” said Vesey, who leads the Black Bear freshmen in scoring with four goals and five assists in 19 games.
The native of North Reading, Massachusetts, respects Gendron’s decisions.
“He knows what he’s doing. His track record speaks for itself. It has obviously worked out,” said Vesey, who is hoping he and his teammates can build on the two Canisius triumphs when they visit Hockey East rival, the University of Massachusetts, for a pair of non-conference games this weekend.
Those will be Maine’s final non-conference games as the Black Bears finish with 14 Hockey East games spanning seven weekends.
“Hopefully we’ll keep the ball rolling this week in practice. We’ll have another good week of practice and then head to UMass looking for two more wins,” Vesey, a sixth-round draft choice of the Toronto Maple Leafs, said. “All the guys came back fresh. It’s good to be back and to have a new start to the season in the second half.”
Gendron saw several positives
Gendron saw a lot of positives in the weekend sweep.
“We played better in every phase of our game than the last time we played,” he said. “The guys worked their tails off. They pressured the crap out of Canisius, and they played better defensively.
“We didn’t come out flat, and we kept competing. The thing I didn’t like on Saturday night is we didn’t work as hard as we needed to in order to screen the goalie. He saw too many pucks,” Gendron said.
The play of freshman goalie Sean Romeo was another bright spot, as he allowed just two goals on 55 shots.
He has now allowed two goals or less in three of his last four games.
Romeo has a save percentage of .922 over his last six starts to go with a 2.64 goals-against average.
“He has been real solid,” Gendron said. “He made the saves when we needed them. He wasn’t called upon to do a whole lot, but when we did break down, he made some excellent saves.”
UMass top two lines dangerous
UMass will enter the weekend series with a 5-14 record and six losses in its last seven games.
“They may not have a great record, but their top two lines are dangerous — Frank Vatrano has 12 goals,” Gendron said.
Five of the six players on UMass’ top two lines have at least 10 points.
Vatrano leads the way with 19 points (12 goals, 7 assists) followed by linemate Dennis Kravchenko (6-10-16). The other member of their line, Ray Pigozzi, has 4-9-13.
Steven Iacobellis centers the other line and has 4-10-14. His wingers are Troy Power (3-7-10) and Shane Walsh (3-5-8).
Maine beat UMass 6-5 in overtime and 3-2 in their two Hockey East games in Orono on Oct. 31-Nov. 1.