ORONO – Brian Flynn will take yet another trip to one of his old stomping grounds.

When the University of Maine men’s hockey team faces Merrimack in a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series this weekend at Merrimack, the trip to North Andover, Mass., will be a bit of a homecoming.

Flynn, a junior left wing, grew up in Lynnfield, Mass., about 15 miles southeast of Merrimack’s campus, and played countless youth and high school hockey games at Lawler Arena. He’ll return there for the fifth time as a Black Bear when the quarterfinals begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“It brings back some memories,” Flynn said. “But it’s a little weird. Last time we went there, we saw all the changes to the rink and it was a lot different from when I was there when I was younger.

“It’s about 20 minutes from my house and I grew up playing there, playing there my whole life. So it’s kind of a neat experience to be playing such a big game there.”

It’s also been a bit of a emotional roller coaster. Flynn was a freshman on the Lynnfield High team that won a state tournament game in overtime against North Andover.

Last season, he played for Maine in a 6-3 loss on Feb. 26, 2010 that left the Black Bears questioning exactly where they would end up in the postseason.

The next night, Flynn had two goals in Maine’s 5-1 win at Lawler that secured a playoff spot.

His last visit, however, was not memorable: The Warriors handed the Black Bears a 7-1 loss on Jan. 8, Maine’s largest margin of defeat this season.

“Now that they’ve fixed it up a bit and they’re starting to draw some more fans, I think we expect it to be pretty packed and a pretty tough place to play this weekend,” Flynn said.

In three seasons at Maine, Flynn has 50 goals and 56 assists and has developed into a left wing with a nose for working around the opposing goal to produce scoring chances.

He has become a two-way player and is tied for third on the team with defenseman Jeff Dimmen in plus-minus rating with a plus-11, behind Tanner House and Josh Van Dyk, who are tied with plus-12.

“He’s an all-around player,” said Maine left wing Spencer Abbott, Flynn’s roommate. “He’s got a ton of skill, he’s good defensively, he’s good in all three zones and probably one of the top three hockey players in the country in all three zones, and that makes him an elite player.”

Still, it traditionally takes a bit of time for Flynn to find his scoring touch. In his first 15 games this season, he had five goals and five assists, but in a 4-1 win Dec. 12 against UMass, Flynn scored three goals and ultimately rediscovered his scoring touch.

Flynn has 19 goals and 15 assists in 34 games this season. He scored his 50th goal at Maine in Saturday’s 4-4 tie at Massachusetts.

Entering this weekend’s quarterfinal series, Flynn is on a seven-game points-scoring streak with six goals and four assists in that stretch.

“He’s one of the guys that can really light up and catch fire,” Abbott said. “He’s a guy who, maybe he might not get a few points, then he’ll go and play a game and get four or five points and maybe a six- or seven-point weekend. You never know. But he can put the puck in the net at any time.”

Flynn hopes to do that this weekend in a familiar environment and for a significant cause: a trip to TD Garden in Boston for the Hockey East semifinals.

“For him, I’m sure it’s comforting knowing that you’re going to be playing in a rink in a game in front of everyone you really grew up with,” Abbott said.

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:

rlenzi@pressherald.com