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If Massachusetts is destined to be the University of Maine’s next big hockey rival, then they should consider themselves served notice. It’s a simple message, one that the Black Bears have shared with the other big rival, New Hampshire, countless times: You can have Hockey East, but we will whoop you when it really matters.
It was hilarious listening to Minutemen fans spewing venom about four straight wins against the hapless Black Bears. They were awfully confident for a bunch that had never been to the show before. “We’re undefeated in the NCAA tournament,” they’d say. But it was nothing more than a sure sign that they’d never been here before, since anyone who has recognizes one thing: Never, ever overlook UMaine.
Full disclosure merits that I mention that there’s a little thing between myself and UMass: I hate them – unconditional, unbridled hatred. I moved from Boston to the woods of Maine to get as far away from there as possible, and they’ve been my most hated Hockey East team since Jimmy Howard delivered the prize in three overtimes my freshman year.
Needless to say, I didn’t sleep a wink Friday night. I was completely terrified at the prospect that UMass could be going to St. Louis, to the Frozen Four. Maybe UMaine isn’t destined to go every single year, and I could live with that. But UMass? I’d rather lose to Air Force, or worse, to UNH.
All night I told myself, “We’re the hockey school, dammit.” I figured we’d just beaten the pants off of a St. Cloud team that was definitely better than the fraud No. 1 seed Clarkson.
But those four games lingered, mostly because UMaine had outplayed UMass and still lost. I knew the Black Bears had more talent and more experience, and I still found myself hawking my Hockey East championship tickets on Craig’s List. Coupled with the crushing defeat the Minutemen laid on the football team in November, I continually wondered if UMass was destined to ruin everything about my senior year.
The game wasn’t going well, either. It was the same story, and I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. UMaine was carrying the play but had nothing to show for it, and it seemed like a matter of time before something stupid happened and the Bears trailed 1-0. Bret Tyler put me at ease, but it was Mike Hamilton’s remarkable tally of Jon Quick’s coconut – I call it Excedrin headache No. 22 – that put the game away for me.
There were no doubts the rest of the way. UMaine was going to college hockey’s biggest stage, again. Outside the pages of The Maine Campus, NHL.com veteran Bob Snow was the only one who remembered what UMass will now never forget: The Black Bears own the regionals.
This battle-tested group just brings it this time of year. Don’t ask me how or why, just as I couldn’t explain to the 100 people who asked me, “What the hell is wrong with Maine?” over spring break. It just does. Under Tim Whitehead, the Black Bears are 8-2 in regional play, with the only two losses coming to Michigan and Minnesota on their home ice. Four Frozen Fours in six years is a dynasty in the making.
It’s only in the making because there’s no banner, no ring and no more hardware than UNH has since 1999. To paraphrase savior Ben Bishop – who looked like a completely different goalie this weekend and was jobbed for regional MVP, by the way – the mission is only half complete. Whitehead, Leveille and the gang need – and deserve – rings.
Then we can get to more important tasks, like figuring out a way to fit a “no hardware” insult into an acronym for UMass.
Bangor Daily News