Last season was a forgettable one for Albin Boija.
The University of Maine’s men’s hockey goalie was a second team All-American during the 2024-25 season when he compiled a 23-8-6 record, a 1.82 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage to help lead the Black Bears to their first Hockey East Tournament championship since 2004.
Then he lost his starting job to freshman Mathis Rousseau, who started the final six games last season, including the 5-0 Hockey East quarterfinal loss to Boston College. Boija finished the season with a 10-7-3 record, a 2.59 GAA and a .899 save percentage as the Black Bears wound up a disappointing 18-14-3.
Now, Boija is competing with two newcomers to UMaine for the starting goalie job this season, with head coach Ben Barr saying it’s an open competition for the position. The team begins its season with a series at Holy Cross on Oct. 2 and 3.
Rousseau transferred to Cornell and he has been replaced by 6-foot-6, 205-pound junior Petter Wickstrom Stumer, who has transferred in from Atlantic Hockey America school Canisius in Buffalo, New York.
Stumer was 6-5 with a 2.64 GAA and a .921 save percentage for Canisius and matched the 10th-highest save total in a single game in NCAA history with 72 in a 4-3 victory over Lindenwood in January. It was the most saves in a regulation game since the 1973-74 season.
Additionally, Lindenwood’s former back-up goalie Colin Ronan transferred to UMaine to replace the departed Gage Stewart as the No. 3 goalie for the Black Bears.
UMaine sixth-year head coach head coach Barr said on Tuesday that Boija and Stumer are “neck and neck” in the battle for the starting job.
“If we were playing tomorrow, I don’t know who our starter would be,” Barr said. “And that’s good because they have both been pretty good.”
Barr would like to see one emerge as the clearcut number one but he is also open to having a two-goalie rotation.
Barr felt Boija struggled a little bit with all the expectations placed on him after his All-American season.
“It was a learning experience for him and there’s no doubt he will be better. He also knows he’s going to get pushed by Petter,” Barr said.
In assessing his 2025-26 season, Boija said there wasn’t any one thing you could pinpoint that caused his struggles.
“I wasn’t myself, mentally. I didn’t play my own game. I didn’t play to my own capacity, at all,” he said. “I tried my best but I couldn’t really find the right atmosphere and I’ve been working on that a lot.”
Boija gave up several goals on initial shots last season, which wasn’t the case two years ago.
“I was a little tense instead of trusting my own capabilities,” said the native of Sundsvall, Sweden, which is 233 miles north of Stumer’s hometown of Stockholm.
Boija, who is undrafted, attended the Detroit Red Wings’ development camp from June 29 to July 2. He had attended their camp in 2024 and was at the Boston Bruins camp last year.
Boija won the starting job from veteran Victor Ostman three years ago and finished his freshman season with a 10-6-1 record, a 2.01 GAA and a .916 save percentage,
Boija said Stumer is great and Ronan is also a quality goaltender.
UMaine graduate student left wing and captain Owen Fowler said he really likes what he has seen from the goalies.
“All three of them have looked great in practice,” Fowler said. “It feels good to know that when you’re playing in front of them and mistakes happen, you can rely on those three to make saves when you need them.”
Barr and his coaching staff have brought in 15 newcomers and Boija is encouraged by the team’s chemistry and outlook.
“It feels awesome. Everybody is working hard. It’s a great group of guys,” Boija said. “The new guys are great players and they’re bringing in the stuff we need for this team.”