NORDIQUES FIRST HALF
With their best start in organization history in their 5 year history, the Maine Nordiques look back on the first half of the season before getting back on the ice after the holiday break with their eyes set on raising a banner at The Colisee.
After being defeated by the Maryland Black Bears at home in game 4 of the east division final last season, the Nordiques under new ownership group Shift Sports and Entertainment got right to work on season number 5. Former 18U head coach and GM Nick Skerlick got the promotion to head coach and GM of the NAHL Maine Nordiques and quickly assembled his prospects for a camp in Exeter New Hampshire in July quickly followed by a Training camp and the Nordiques “Maine” Camp in August to close out the summer and gear up for an exciting 5th season.
September 8th marked the Nordiques first game of the season and their home opener at The Colisee where they met up with the Northeast Generals. Nordique Nation was eager to come back and support their hometown team, setting a new 4 year high in attendance on game two of the two game set of 1,035 fans.
Tommy Heaney Fights off a shot during opening weekend
The Nordiques split the weekend series under some very foggy ice conditions. During the weekend Seth Murch announced his commitment to Air force academy and Kellen Murphy announced his to Army West Point.
The Nordiques then took to Blaine Minnesota to play in the NAHL’s annual showcase where they had their best showcase showing in franchise history going 3-0-0-1 suffering just a shootout loss to the impressive Minot Minotauros. The Nordiques outscored their opponents by a 23-12 margin during the event. In September the Nordiques would go: 5-2-0-1
The Nordiques celebrate after a historic showcase
The Nordiques would come back to The Colisee for a homestead struggling with the Philadelphia Rebels before meeting up with a weekend at home with the division leading Maryland Black Bears facing them for the first time since last season’s east division final. The Nordiques would take a commanding 4-1 win on Friday before Saturday’s game saw the most exciting game of the Nordiques season: down by two goals with 26 seconds left and the goalie pulled, Nordiques captain Charles Tardif would put one past the goalie to make it a one goal game. With the goalie pulled and six attackers the Nordiques would get a zone entry and current USHL star Nick Romeo (Called up in October to the Dubuque fighting saints) would dish a backdoor pass to Charles Tardif in front to tie the game up with just 6 seconds left. The Nordiques were headed to a power play in OT before Nick Romeo completed the comeback to steal two points from the east division leaders. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Nick Romeo Celebrates the OT winner
David Helledy and Nick Bernardo would sign their NLI to play at Bentley University Long Island University, respectively, and The Nordiques would roll in Danbury with a sweep before tragedy struck in Lewiston on October 25th.
Nick Romeo Gets the call to the USHL
The Nordiques and members of the Lewiston/Auburn community quickly checked in to make sure everyone was okay, Nordiques official scorer and former L/A Nordique was rushed to the hospital that night and prayers were sent from all around for our community which came together as one. Once the shelter in place order was lifted the Nordiques came back from a three goal deficit against the Philadelphia Rebels to defeat them before heading home to The Colisee. It was an emotional night in Lewiston as the Nordiques welcomed the community back with free admission and a powerful pre-game moment before the puck dropped.
Nordiques director of media, community relations and broadcasting Nick Withee delivers opening remarks before the game
With Their community needing something to smile about, the Nordiques took their community on their back and won 4 straight games since the event and were on a six game win streak closing out October going 5-3. The Month of November had the Nordiques on a massive eight game homestead and the season in full swing, they were able to pick up some key wins in the standings race including an impressive shootout win against the Johnstown Tomahawks on November 18th which saw Carter Richardson go perfect in the shootout stopping all 3 shots and Shane Kozlina converting in round 1. During the Month of November the Nordiques went 6-2-1 and closed the first place gap to just two points.
Bernardo Snipes one
The Month of December has been going all in the Nordiques favor on the Ice kicking it off with two impressive wins against the New Jersey Titans out scoring them 11-4 on the weekend before hitting the road and picking up a weekend sweep in Rochester including a shootout win which had Carter Richardson saving both shots he faced and Shane Kozlina along with Tomek Haula both scoring in the shootout. The Nordiques picked up a Wednesday blowout win against the Mountain Kings at home which gave them something they haven’t seen since the 2020-2021 season- their team in first place!
Nils strikes gold
With the Nordiques now in first place they had some extra motivation on the ice as they welcomed back official scorer, former L/A Nordique NA3 regular season and coastal division champion, Kyle Secor to drop the puck before the game. Kyle got released the week earlier after a six week stay in the hospital. With Kyle back home Nordique Nation from close and far came to support as the Night saw a new 4 year attendance record of 1,247. The following night the Nordiques welcomed Santa Claus into the building and fans were not disappointed as the Nordiques swept the weekend. The Nordiques still have two more games to play in December but are currently 7-0 and ride a 7 game win streak into the holiday break.
Nordiques offical scorer Kyle Secor is welcomed back
Santa Claus drops the puck
Leaders:
Nordiques co-captain Charles Tardif continues to get it done for his team as he sits atop the NAHL with most goals with 21 and fourth league wide in points with 39.
Charles Tardif (Right) and Jake Bernadet celebrate after a goal
Nick Bernardo has been making Nordiques history as he played in his 134th game played against the Rochester jr Americans on November 11th and recorded his 93rd career point on an assist against the New Jersey Titans on December 1st which set the Maine Nordiques all time points record surpassing former Nordiques captain Brendan Gibbons.
The Nordiques also have stats leaders when it came to points by a defenseman as David Helledy sits first in the east in points with 30 and is first in the East division in that category. Nordiques co-captain Nick Bernardo sits tied for sixth in points by a D-man with 22 points which is also fourth in the east.
In Net a three goalie rotation has been the recipe for success as Adam Moller, Carter Richardson and the Veteran Tommy Heaney continue to backstop the Nordiques to key wins and first place in the east. Carter Richardson sits ninth in the NAHL in GAA with a 1.93 and is second in the East in GAA. Carter currently holds an impressive 10-1-0-1 record and is third in the NAHL and first in the east in save percentage with a .933 save%.
Richardson fights off a slot shot
Team Stats:
The Nordiques currently have 8 committed players on their roster and are looking to build on that number in 2024. They are currently in second place in the entire NAHL and have an impressive 23-6-1-2 record heading into the break which is their best start before the break in organization history. They have the second best goal differential in the league with a plus 47 and have scored the most goals in the NAHL with 138 headed into the break. With all their success the Nordiques still look to improve on their power play and Penalty Kill in 2024 as they currently have a power play percentage of 14% and 3rd to last in the east division in that category, their penalty kill sits at 80% and is second to last in the east.
Army West point commit Nils Forselius celebrates the teddy bear toss goal with Bentley university commit David Helledy, and Army West point commit Kellen Murphy
Nordiques head coach and General Manager Nick Skerlick commented on his teams success in the first half by stating: “We have had a very impressive first half, some people maybe surprised at our success but with the addition of some key players in the off season and our returners from last season its been a combination for success and the stats show that. Our team really worked hard after the events in October and responded by putting their community on their back and I have been really proud of that. This isn’t just half a season however, it’s a full one and were going to keep it clicking here in the second half.”
Nordiques celebrate a victory
With a very impressive first half of the season racking up 23 wins, the Nordiques have already recorded more wins than their 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 campaigns and just need 13 more wins in their last 28 games to set an all time wins record which is currently held by the east division champion 2020-2021 squad with 35 (35-19-2) The Nordiques enjoy some much deserved time off with their families before gearing back up for a deep run at the Robertson cup in 2024.
The Maine Nordiques organization would like to thank all their fans for the support in 2023 and look forward to an exciting 2024.