Auburn, ME. – It's another early morning for the Central Maine Community College hockey team as they stroll through the Norway Savings Bank Arena doors, most players still in their nightwear but all sporting smiles. After early morning workouts through preseason they are no strangers to the sunrise but today is a little different—the team steps onto the ice and begins their on-ice portion of their training camp as they prepare to host the University of New Haven to open their season October 11th.
The team chugs through second year head coach Matt Buotte's practice plan with tempo and enthusiasm. There is a noticeable optimism in the air as the team gets its first look at what the 2019-20 incarnation of the Mustangs will look like. Coach Buotte likes what he sees.
"Honestly, after about 20 minutes I went to the assistant coaches and told them, 'I think we've moved the puck better in the first 20 minutes of practice than we did all of last year," he said. "And I was only half joking."
The team is looking to build on a 10-12-0 season from a year ago that saw the team fail to qualify for the ACHA's DII regionals as an independent. After a move to DIII for the coming year the team feels the opportunity lies in front of them to make history.
"Being at the DIII level is going to be incredible for the program," said Buotte of the move. "It's really difficult to compete at the DII level—you're talking about much bigger schools with a lot of resources. The move gives us a lot more flexibility in scheduling and a lot more opportunity for competitive games. I can't wait to see how we stack up."
The Mustangs have plenty of reasons for optimism. The team has similar numbers to its 2018-19 squad but has made huge improvements in a variety of areas, most notably on the back end. Riley Lavoie (Poland, ME) and Dylan Demers (Biddeford, ME) both add experience from the USPHL's Premier division, while Lewiston native Brock Geoffroy looks to add size and stability to the back end. River Yearwood (Bethesda, MD) adds flair as a two-way defenseman to a group that already saw returning rearguards Parker Springer (Greene, ME) and Shawn Sullivan (Gorham, ME).
Offensively the team lost a lot of goals with departures in key positions but the group still believes it can put pucks in the net. Warren Karlberg (Gardiner, ME) joins from the Maine Moose U18 club and transitions from defense to forward to join Tanner Garand (Gorham, ME) and Austin Taylor (Turner, ME), both Maine high school products, to form an exciting Mustangs forward group. Jeffery Palmer and Trevor Olivier, both Kennett, New Hampshire products also join two other defensemen-turned-forwards in Trevor Eliasen (Lewiston, ME) and Noah Buiniskas (Lisbon, ME) to add depth and talent to the teams reshaped forward group. Returning forwards Zac Brown (Kennebunk, ME), Trevor Roche (Litchfield, NH), and Sean Coleman (Dundalk, Ireland) round out a group that still feels it has plenty of fire power.
"I think we have a hard working group of guys who are clearly prepared to fight for one another," said Coleman, who returns for his third year with the club. "It's extremely encouraging. We've been working hard at off ice and now on the ice. I feel like we have the right guys to compete in any game."
Instrumental to any team's success will be its goaltending and the Mustangs are excited about the duo they come into the new year with. Ben Feldman (Auburn, ME) joins returning netminder Jacob Strout (Lewiston, ME) to form a distinguished tandem that should keep opponents at bay.
"I think with the quality of our defense, we've improved a lot back there," said Buotte. "We had two great goaltenders last year, too. This year we're going to be able to help them out a bit more. They've both looked solid in practice. It's going to be tough to pick who patrols the crease every night and that's a great problem to have."
The team is more prepared than it's ever been at the start of a season after a brutal pre-season training regimen ran by assistant coach Jordy Knoren. The players are hoping that the fruits of their labor will be rewarded when the games begin.
"I feel as if we handled a hard preseason well in hopes it prepared us for the upcoming season," said newcomer Austin Taylor. "I'm looking forward to skating with a group of guys in what seems like it'll be a promising season"
The aforementioned "group of guys" is what is giving the Mustangs the most optimism. The culture has shifted and the players are buying in, committed to each other and to their ultimate goal of winning games.
"I think the coaches did the right thing by getting certain guys in," continued Coleman, who has played on each Central Maine team other than the inaugural season. "The team chemistry has been great so far. It's some of the best I've ever seen this early in the season. Everyone is gelling really well."
The coaching staff is hoping it is part of a larger culture shift as the Mustangs begin their stampede through the regular season.
"The culture is everything," said Buotte. "But it can't be a thing we just talk about. We need to show up every day. We keep saying, 'good enough isn't good enough' and that's something we really believe in. We want to make the people who support this program proud this season and I think we have the guys to do so."
The Mustangs open the season at home on Friday, October 11th when the University of New Haven Chargers come to Norway Savings Bank Arena. In honor of the occasion the team will be wearing their road black jerseys at home and are encouraging fans to wear their black apparel as the team looks to "Blackout the Bank". Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
