The Maine Mariners, coming off their first playoff appearance in franchise history last season, will open up their 2022-23 East Coast Hockey League campaign on Friday when they travel to take on the Trois-Rivieres Lions in Quebec, Canada. The Mariners home opener is Saturday, as the Lions then make a trip into the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland for two games.
Maine is coming off a 33-31-5 season in 2021-22, falling in six games in the North Division Semifinals to the Reading Royals. The team for 2022-23 includes some Maine flavor with some former UMaine Black Bears. Forwards Mitchell Fossier, Patrick Shea, and Tim Doherty along with defenseman Cameron Spicer and Connor Doherty are all on the opening night Mariners roster. After head coach Ben Guite stepped down to take a head coaching job at Bowdoin College, the team hired Terrence Wallin to take over behind the bench. Wallin is a former player at UMass-Lowell and had stints in professional hockey that included both the AHL and ECHL.
The Maine Mariners are the ECHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins. The Cross Insurance Arena, formerly known as the Cumberland County Civic Center is located in Portland, Maine and served as the home of the Portland Pirates from 1993-2016. The Pirates were an American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate to the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, and the Florida Panthers during their existence in Maine, winning a Calder Cup Championship in their first season as part of the Capitals organization in 1993-94. The city also had an older Maine Mariners brand from 1977-1992 in the AHL which won three Calder Cups. The new Maine Mariners brand came in 2018, bringing professional hockey back to the Pine Tree State.
