After splitting yet another weekend series, this time against the Trois-Rivieres Lions, the Maine Mariners announced Monday that they would be signing forward Patrick Shea to the squad. The fixtures with Trois-Rivieres included a 2-0 defeat on Friday night followed by a resounding 4-1 win Sunday afternoon.
Shea, a University of Maine product, and former Florida Panthers draft pick, joins a team that has already seen stout scoring in the young season, led by Pascal Laberge, and Lewis Zerter-Gossage. Both Laberge and Zerter-Gossage contributed mightily against the Lions, so Maine will hope that Shea can add to the mix in the coming games. He played four years for the Black Bears, as current Mariners Head Coach Ben Guite was an assistant and eventually associate head coach there in Orono as well. In his seasons at The Alfond, Shea put up point totals of 16, 14, 14, and 10 respectively from 2017-2020. He is sure to be a fan favorite in Maine for these reasons, not to mention his charismatic presence on social media.
To compensate for Monday’s acquisition, Maine simultaneously dealt forward Jonathan Desbiens to the Iowa Heartlanders.
Shea’s addition marks the fourth player or coach with a local connection over the past half year. Over the summer, Guite was hired as head coach. Earlier in the fall, Eduards Tralmaks, another former Black Bear forward, joined the team for a moment and scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s series against Worcester prior to being promoted to the AHL. Last week they added South Portland, Maine native Jon Gillies, who had previously played in the NHL with the Calgary Flames.
Gillies, a goaltender, joins Jeremy Brodeur in net. He played in Friday night’s game against Trois-Rivieres and gave up two goals on 24 shots in defeat.
Maine does not play again until Friday when they host the Florida Everblades at Cross Insurance Arena. After the first four games, the Mariners find themselves in third place in the North Division.