ORONO — It began with a quiet conversation with his coach on the bench at Boston College’s Conte Forum before a pregame skate.

Lynden Breen, a freshman just trying to find his way with the University of Maine men’s hockey team, hung on every word from coach Red Gendron. Before you leave Maine, Gendron told Breen, you’ll win a national championship.

“I hold that every day. That’s something I play for every day,” said Breen, now 23 and a fifth-year senior center with the Black Bears.

Breen is the lone holdover from that shortened 2020-21 season, Gendron’s final season before his unexpected death that spring. Breen is the bridge from a bygone era to current head coach Ben Barr, now in his fourth season.

The 2024-25 season opens Saturday night when Maine hosts American International in what will surely be a raucous and sold-out Alfond Arena. Breen and defenseman David Breazeale were selected as team captains for a second straight season. An all-Hockey East selection in 2023, Breen enters the season as the Hockey East active leader in points (102), goals (42), assists (60), faceoff wins (1,157) and shots on goal (362), and is second in shorthanded goals (4).

The Black Bears, who are coming off their first NCAA tournament appearance in a dozen years, have reemerged as a national power. And leading the team is an admittedly shy player from Grand Bay-Westfield, New Brunswick, a small town about the size of Hallowell on the west bank of the Saint John River.

Maine players and coaches say Breen has grown into his role as a leader.

“David (Breazeale), it comes a little more natural to. Breener, he’s just a hockey player that has turned himself into more than that,” Barr said. “What he means to our program and the community, it primarily happened with his play on the ice, and now he’s really grown. Anytime a new coach comes in … it’s never easy on the returners. That first year, you need to have really good people that understand we’re here for the right reasons. (Breen) has always been that way.”

Breen acknowledged being shy when he arrived at Maine in the middle of a pandemic, when social distancing was the norm. Coming out of that shell has not been easy. He is not big into delivering speeches, instead relying on his play to set the tone.

“Effort and attitude is something we harp on a lot, and that’s something I try to live by every day, not just on Friday and Saturday nights (during games),” Breen said. “It doesn’t all come natural, but the way we do things around here is effort and attitude-based. That’s our identity, and I always try to do that to the best of my ability.”

Breen’s teammates notice. Sophomore forward Josh Nadeau is the team’s leading returning scorer – he had 18 goals and 27 assists in 37 games. Nadeau skated on the wing of Breen’s line for much of last season, and he studied his captain closely.

A young Lynden Breen sits atop a hockey net in his New Brunswick home. Photo courtesy of the Breen family

“Last year when I came in as a freshman, I looked up to him a lot. I tried to copy his game. He’s a skilled player, and he knows how to play both ways,” Nadeau said. “He’s a great player. He has a high IQ. It’s easy to be creative on the ice with him and making good plays.”

HIS BIGGEST FANS

If Breen doesn’t see himself as a natural leader, those who have known him the longest see it differently. His two older sisters, Jill and Hannah Breen, insist their brother has long had leadership qualities, it just took him time to grow into them. It didn’t begin with that brief interaction with Gendron nearly four years ago. That moment was reinforcement, not the origin.

“It was really apparent at a young age Lynden had leadership skills,” said Jill Breen, his older sister by nine years. “He was always the kid making sure everyone else on the team felt seen. He was coaching younger kids at hockey camps.”

Jill and Hannah teased their brother about family vacations that coincided with hockey tournaments. There was a 10-day trip to Edmonton for a tournament that also included a family visit to the West Edmonton Mall, the largest in Canada. The family pool was converted into a skating rink in the winter, Hannah, now 27, said.

Breen’s life revolved around hockey. That constant banging in the garage of their home in Grand Bay-Westfield? That was just Lynden firing pucks at the old washing machine he used for target practice. He hung cans and bottles from the net he kept in the garage, using them as targets, too. He wanted to shoot as well as NHL star Sidney Crosby, Hannah said. Day after day, Breen dressed for school by pulling on a hockey jersey, his mother, Carole, demanding he change into something more “normal.”

Jill and Hannah say their brother is quiet but competitive. Away from the ice, his hobbies are athletic, things that can help him stay in shape and improve his game, which in turn improves the Black Bears. Playing golf, basketball or pickleball with friends back home he hasn’t seen nearly enough since leaving for prep school at age 15. Meditation and yoga to clear his mind. Zack Bryan or classic R&B are the soundtrack to Breen’s life. A highlight of his summer was Luke Combs’ concert in Bangor.

The sisters would love to share stories of Lynden being an annoying little brother, but they can’t. They don’t have any.

“We always teased him, but he was a good kid,” Hannah said. “He was patient, caring and he listened.”

University of Maine men’s hockey senior captain Lynden Breen watches a drill during an Oct. 1 practice. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Breen appreciates the sacrifices his sisters made to support him as the family traveled around the continent for hockey tournaments. On his official team bio, Breen lists his hobbies as golf (he represented New Brunswick in junior tournaments as a teenager) and spending time with his sisters. He also enjoys being an uncle to Jill’s young son. Hannah is also expecting a child soon.

“My sister and I, we’re not big sports fans,” Jill said. “Whether or not we’re hockey fans, we’re Lynden fans.”

MOVING OUT AND UP

When he was 15, Lynden moved out of the house and enrolled at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire, where he played hockey for one year before moving on to the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the USHL, the junior league that produces a large number of players on collegiate hockey rosters. The Flying Aces folded after Breen’s one season, in 2018-19. The Fargo Force had the first choice in the dispersal draft to reassign the Flying Aces’ players. Breen was the obvious choice, said former Fargo coach Pierre-Paul Lamoureux.

“All the information, the scouting report, talking to coaches, Lynden’s work ethic, his character, and desire to win, it was all there,” he said. “His play backed that up. We knew what we were getting.”

Jill Breen thinks leaving home at a young age accelerated her brother’s maturation process and refined his leadership qualities. In 2017, Breen made one of the most difficult decisions of his life, turning down a chance to play for the hometown St. John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Breen was selected in the fifth round. At the draft, Breen pulled on a Sea Dogs jersey and posed for pictures. He had already committed to Maine and knew signing with St. John would eliminate the chance to play NCAA hockey. Players at the major junior level are ineligible for the NCAA because the leagues include players who have signed NHL contracts.

“You’re so young and there’s so many hard decisions. I was already committed here before I got drafted. It was a 50/50 chance that I would’ve went there. A lot of thought went into that, and a lot of stress. For a 16-year old to make that decision, it’s never easy,” Breen said. “There’s no regrets in this decision.”

University of Maine men’s hockey senior captain Lynden Breen skates with the puck during an Oct. 1 practice in Orono. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Breen was among Maine’s top three scorers in each of his first four seasons. He will be a key player on the Black Bears’ attack this season.

Last season, Breen had a career-high 347 faceoff wins. As a junior in the 2022-23 season, Breen led the nation with four shorthanded goals. At 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, Breen’s style of play isn’t dependent on overpowering opponents, although he does not shy away from physical contact.

“He’s so fast and so direct. He drives defensemen back with his speed,” said Lamoureux, now a scout for the NHL’s Calgary Flames. “There’s no cheat to his game. He’s a good two-way player.”

CHASING THE PREDICTION

Gendron’s recruiting pitch made it easier to turn down the hometown team and choose the USHL college route instead of major junior hockey. Breen said he and his parents, Kevin and Carole Breen, felt a connection to Gendron right away. That Orono is just a three-hour drive from home was a plus.

“Coach Red, he was so family-oriented. He just made you feel welcome right away. He made you understand there is more to it than just hockey. He led me in the right direction, especially as a freshman,” Breen said. “We only played around 15 games, but he gave me a lot of ownership. That’s a big part of why I gained some leadership qualities.”

When this season is over, Breen hopes to sign a pro contract and continue his hockey career. First, there’s a final college season to play and continue helping the Black Bears improve. Then there’s Gendron’s prediction. Breen would love to make it come true.

“This is the last kick at it for me, and I want to go out one way and one way only,” Breen said. “That’s a big reason why I came back, to have one more year of development and one more year of leadership. I don’t think there’s a better place to get better and stronger in college hockey than with Coach Barr.”