AMHERST – Ben Barr hasn’t given much thought to what it will feel like to enter the Mullins Center for the first time since leaving to coach Maine. What entering the visitors locker room will feel like. What he’ll experience standing on the opposite bench across from Greg Carvel instead of on UMass’ side next to him.
Barr, who was the UMass hockey team’s associate head coach for five years under Carvel, is more focused on building his own program at Maine than reminiscing about his time with the Minutemen.
“Obviously I had a great experience there for five years. It was the longest I’d been anywhere as a coach. I haven’t really thought about it that much,” Barr said. “I mean, we’re obviously pretty wrapped in trying to get things right here [at Maine]. And I know that kind of gives you tunnel vision, sometimes you get so emotionally wrapped up in it that it affects everything you do in your life.”
Getting things right has been a slow process. The Black Bears are 4-16-4 this season, and are tied for last place in Hockey East with Vermont at 10 points apiece. They’re on a two-game losing streak and have lost four of five games.
Maine will play two games at the Mullins Center this weekend, Friday and Saturday (NESN), both at 7 p.m.
“I’m sure a lot of good memories will come back, but all I really care about is that the players on this team, for however many, eight games plus playoffs that we have left, that they do this the right way,” Barr said. “And that we we go and we play every single night like it’s our last time.”
Barr will be a welcomed guest in Amherst until the moment the puck drops. He worked with Carvel for half a decade and recruited many of the Minutemen still on the roster. Developing defensemen is one of his specialties, and he helped shape many of UMass’ NHL exports like Cale Makar, Mario Ferraro and Zac Jones.
“Ben is very good at seeing things clearly and honestly and then communicating clearly and honestly. He has an incredible amount of integrity. He combines that with incredible sincerity in everything that he does,” Carvel said. “He is one of the finest people that I’ve ever met in the game of hockey. He works hard. He’s fair. He’s honest. And he’s the kind of guy that you can trust.”
As much as Carvel, the staff and the players wanted Barr to stay, it was clear he’d get his chance as a head coach sooner or later. He was a finalist for recent vacancies at both RPI and Vermont.
“I spent all my summers dreading having to replace him. Then we finally won a national championship so I figured that, OK, we can let him go. He’s fulfilled his duty,” Carvel said. “I’m just happy that we were able to hold on to him as long as we did to win a couple championships and really build the foundations for this hockey program.”
Barr’s departure left mixed feelings with the Minutemen. Obviously they were sad to see someone they’d forged such strong bonds with depart. But they also knew it was an opportunity he wanted and were excited to see him get it.
“We know Benny’s potential,” UMass defenseman Colin Felix said. “I’m sure he’s doing a great job to get that team ready. Benny is starting from ground zero them. It’s good for him and we’re excited for him, but it was hard to see him leave.”
In many ways, UMass provided the blueprint for what Barr wants to do at Maine. He’s emphasized communication, people and culture. The Black Bears play a heavy, physical style that Carvel said mirrors what UMass (15-8-2, 10-4-2 HE) tries to do.
“Watching the tape, they’re a mirror image of us doing the exact same stuff,” Carvel said. “He knows us, we’re apparently going to know him. I imagine that their kids are going to play really hard for Ben, and I hope our kids play hard for me.”
Barr also tries to apply some of Carvel’s lessons away from the rink as well.
“He was a lot different from me. He had a really good offensive mind,” Barr said of Carvel. “Relationship wise he cared a lot about the players and how they felt and how they were doing mentally, which I think really helped us the last couple years. He was very good about letting his assistants feel like they were growing.”
Sometimes they grow enough to leave and take over their own program.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.