Goaltender is Big Reason Maine Are National Contenders Again
by Jashvina Shah/Staff Writer (@icehockeystick)
When Albin Boija walked around the TD Garden in his 1990s-era Maine track suit, celebrating the team’s first Hockey East championship in over two decades, he was ecstatic.
But he almost didn’t make it to Maine in the first place.
When Boija came to the U.S. to play hockey, he wasn’t supposed to be the goaltender for Maine. He wasn’t supposed to be a goaltender in college. At least, not yet.
It was the summer of 2023, and Boija had just arrived in the U.S. to participate in trial camp with the Lone Star Brahmas of the National American Hockey League. His goal was juniors with the hopes of earning a college spot the next season.
Maine had told Boija earlier in the summer it was a possibility. They really needed a goaltender.
Maine had three goaltenders in 2022-23; Victor Ostman (also from Sweden), Connor Androlewicz and Jacob Mucitelli. Ostman was the starer that season. Androlewicz transferred to Stonehill and Mucitelli went to D-III.
“We did watch some video. We needed a guy. It was like July, we were in a bind,” Maine coach Ben Barr said. “And, [we thought], he looks good.”
When Maine gave Boija the official call, it was already halfway through August. It was a challenge, as it is enrolling an international student — transcripts have to be filed, the correct visa needs to be granted, eligibility needs to be determined.
“It was all like kind of scrambling, like a very intense week of just trying to figure out all things logistics and to even see if it was possible to make it to Maine in time,” Boija said.
In just a couple of weeks, Boija scrounged together his paperwork. He jetted to Poland for a weekend to have his Visa changed.
“You just knew that he was very committed to it,” Barr said.
“When you go through something like that, then you know this kid, you’re going to be able to trust him on the ice. You’re going to trust him off the ice. That’s just who he is.”
Once Boija cleared admissions, he settled in quickly. On the ice, he shared the net with fellow countryman Victor Ostman, who had been the team’s starter.
“It was pretty natural,” Boija said. “Just getting into practice each day and school. You just take care of those two things separately, pretty naturally. I felt like it wasn’t too much of an adjustment I had done. I only had one gap year without having school, so I was pretty quick to get back into that too.”
He played less than 10 minutes in his first collegiate game, making four saves. In December, Boija got his first start. In the New Year, he was the team’s starter. He played in 18 games, finished the season with a .916 save percentage and played in the Hockey East semifinals.
Since that first appearance, Boija has become better at reading plays while adapting to the increased speed of college hockey.
“Just being able to stay ahead or stay on top of each play and not lag behind,” Boija said. “That goes into both skating and also the mental aspect, like reading what options could happen.”
As a sophomore, Boija’s .928 save percentage was tied for seventh nationally. He led Maine to its first Hockey East championship in over two decades and to an NCAA Tournament win. Boija didn’t have his best game in the tournament loss to Penn State, but Maine is ready for this season.
“[I want to] improve on the ice,” Boija said. “Just the awareness of and patience and being in the right spot for the both the second and third chance, not just the first shot. Better at getting to potential rebounds or broken plays. Broken plays is a big (deal) — a lot of goals on any team ends up being from broken plays. So maybe try to stay in, stay in the place, and be able to come up with those secular third saves.”
Despite pro interest in Boija following last season, the Swedish goaltender elected to return to Maine for his junior season.
“I think our our student athletes really enjoy being here. Obviously, pro hockey is everybody’s goal, probably at this level. But a guy like that that probably isn’t going to hop right into the NHL because of his size (6-foot-1),” Barr said.
“He’s a pretty even keel guy, and I think he weighs the pros and cons of things. … There’s value in coming back and trying to keep pushing this thing forward. There’s value for us as a team, obviously. But for him personally, I think there’s still room to grow.”
As goaltender with a full season and an NCAA Tournament as experience, he’ll be the cohesive force for a team that’s welcoming 11 new players — including ones from the CHL.
“His job is to win hockey games. I hope he wins as many hockey games he did last year. We came up short last year, and we want to go further than we did last season,” Maine assistant and goaltending coach Alfie Michaud said.
“This year when he comes in he should have a good confident vibe, and he obviously knows he can perform well in our conference. That’s that’s the hope, that he continues to to manage what he did last year, and continue to keep building.”