Pucks and Pins

Two weeks ago, UNH hockey held an Open Practice at the Everett Arena in Concord,.along with a “meet the team/autograph session”. I went up to this and met my friends and fellow season ticket holders Joe, Donna, Julie and Michael. It was nice to see the team in a non-game environment. Its also a great way to show folks what UNH hockey is all.about.

People often ask me “You’ve been to so many Frozen Fours, which is your favorite”. That’s a really good question. “Favorite” could have many definitions such as location, your favorite team winning, or your least favorite team losing. Or you had the best time on the off day. My favorite Frozen Four will be the one where UNH wins the national championship. In the meantime, here are my top 3 in reverse chronological order:

2023 – Tampa – Quinnipiac beats Minnesota in Overtime

This one settles an old sports grudge from 2002 when Maine was playing Minnesota in the national championship game. The tournament was in St. Paul, so of the 20,000 plus fans in attendance most of them were Gopher fans. Maine was leading with about 30 seconds left in the game. Minnesota pulled their goalie, Maine kept icing the puck which resulted in faceoffs in front of the Maine goalie. Minnesota tied the game to force overtime. In overtime, there was a bad penalty called on Maine, which resulted in a Gopher power play. Of course Minnesota scores and wins the championship.

Flash forward to 2023 in Tampa – Minnesota has a two goal lead late into the third period. Quinnipiac pulls their goalie for the extra skater with about three minutes left in the game. They get one back. Then they tie the game forcing overtime. Quinnipiac wins the faceoff and scores the winning goal 10 seconds into overtime.

i met the Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold this year after a game they played at UNH, and was able to tell him coach how happy it made me to see the Gophers lose in the same way that Maine did in 2002.

2009 – Washington beats Miami in Overtime

When I met BU Coach Jack Parker, I told him that I think this was the best coached game I have ever seen. Miami (Ohio) had a two goal lead with less than a minute left in the game. BU was heavily favored in this one. The partisan crowd was very quiet so it was like watching a game in a library. BU gets one goal back and the crowd goes nuts. I figured that that Rico Blasi, the Miami coach at the time, would call a time out to settle down the team. He did not. BU then tied it up and ended up winning the game in overtime. To this day, I am convinced that if Miami had called a time out they would have won the national championship

1999 – Anaheim, CA – Maine beats UNH in Overtime

Yes, you read that one right. In a previous life I was a Maine fan. How I came to be a rabid UNH fan will be a separate post altogether. FOR THE RECORD, I still do cheer for the Black Bears when they aren’t playing UNH.

Maine had a 2-0 lead heading into the second period. They also had a two man advantage. At the end of the first penalty, UNH goalie Ty Conklin passed the puck to Mike Souza, who fed Darren Haydar as he was coming out of the penalty box. Haydar scored on a clean breakaway. To this day, I think of this whenever I see someone on a breakaway.

Mike Souza tied the game at 2-2 in the third period. UNH had several great chances at the end of the game and in overtime, but Maine goalie Alfie Michaud stood on his head and stopped everything. Maine won it in overtime on a goal by Marcus Gustafsson (Conklin had lost his stick, recovered it and was just getting reset when Gustafsson scored).

After the holiday craziness, I’ve decided to get back to sharing some of my college hockey experiences. Yesterday afternoon my friend Julie and I went on the road to see UNH play Northeastern University. This “home game” for Northeastern was actually at Walter Brown Arena, as Matthews Arena is being torn down and replaced with a state of the art facility. Northeastern will be playing all of their games on the road until the new building is ready.

Walter Brown Arena is on the campus of Boston University. It currently houses the BU women’s hockey team. Before Agganis Arena was built, it also houses the BU men’s team. The first college hockey game I ever went to with Dan was a BU vs Maine game at Walter Brown.

it was fun being back in the old barn. BU has done some amazing renovations to the place, yet it still has the same feel as it did when I first went there almost 30 years ago

UNH lost the game 5-2 , but I had a great time.

Highlights included

1. Taking the wrong turn off of Commonwealth Avenue and ending up behind Agganis. When I got back to Comm Ave, I was trying to remember the correct side street. At that exact same time. The UNH team bus showed up on Commonwealth. All we had to do was “Follow the Bus”
2. Lunch at T Anthony’s, a BU institution
3. FREE admission to the game I did not make friends with the security guard however. I had brought some brownies for the Wildcat players to enjoy on the bus ride home. He reluctantly let me take them into the arena

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who were actually at the game. Kickoff for the Patriots playoff game took place about 30 minutes before puck drop.

The NU “Dog House” (i.e. their student section) was represented by a small but vocal group. They have some very clever cheers. I did my best to try and out yell them in support of the Cats.

It was a great day for hockey, but then again every day is a great day for hockey.

This past weekend Dan and I went up to Orono, Maine for the UNH vs. Maine hockey games at Alfond Arena. Dan actually went to see Maine vs UNH (since he was a Maine graduate).

Temperature in the Orono area was a balmy 6 degrees. We had planned to take a shuttle bus from the parking lot near the Collins Center (on the other side of campus from the arena). However, on Friday night the shuttle was non-existent, so we had to walk to and from the parking lot (about a 10 minute walk). It actually wasn’t bad and ended up being much better than standing around in the cold and waiting for a bus

Alfond Arena was packed as usual on both nights. Even as “the enemy”, I appreciate the passion of the Alfond faithful.

Friday night’s game was scoreless for the first two periods. About 4 minutes into the third period, Cam McDonald put the Cats up 1-0 on a beautiful breakaway goal. The UNH defense and goalie Kyle Chauvette stood on their heads for the rest of the game. Final Score: CATS 1 – Maine 0.

On Saturday morning we went to Ocean State Job Lots so Dan could replace the gloves that he lost. After that we went over to try our luck at the Hollywood Casino. I was down about $35 of my budgeted $40 on some unfriendly slot machines. I then headed over to the roulette machine and put $1.00 on the number of our Captain, Morgan Winters (26), and two of our Assistant Captains, JP Turner (16) and Marty Lavins (6). JP Turner’s number came up and brought me back to break even.

We had an early dinner at Pat’s Pizza then headed over to the arena. We caught the shuttle bus (avoiding another walk across the frozen tundra) and checked out some of the Alfond renovations, which are amazing). The Maine Student section trolled the Cats during warmups by swinging “cat toys” from the balcony. Even as a UNH fan, I found that hilarious.

Maine took a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a goal by Josh Nadeau. Nick Ring tied the game up a few minutes later. JP Turner broke the tie 9 minutes into the second period, and Josh Player added to the lead with his first collegiate goal, making the score Cats 3 – Maine 1.

Maine cut the lead to 3-2 early in the third period. I spent the rest of game wishing that the play clock would speed up. No lead is safe when you are playing the Black Bears on their home ice. Once again Kyle Chauvette stood on his head, and the UNH shut down the Maine offense by blocking shots with their sticks, skates and bodies. Maine thought they tied up the game with seconds remaining – referees signaled no goal, and the call was held up on review.

Maine won the game 3-2, sweeping a series in Alfond for the first time since 2008.

Other highlights of the weekend include

Congratulations to Mike Souza for this 100th career victory as UNH Head Coach. It was especially nice for it to be against his arch rival. Coach was a player on the 1999 Wildcat team that lost to Maine in the National Championship game.

It was great to see Marty Lavins back on the ice after sustaining an injury on opening weekend against Michigan State.

I stayed at the same hotel as team – so I was able to wish them luck as they boarded the team bus to go to the game. I also had the great fortune to meet some of the players’ parents. It’s nice to get to know them off the ice.

Alfond Arena has great hot chocolate for only $3.00

I always receive some good natured ribbing from Maine fans when I am at Alfond. Usually it’s the standard “We’ve got two, how about you”. I’ve always said that I’m going to buy a drink for the person who comes up with something more creative. This year someone came up to me and said “I bet you wish UNH had more medals than you do”. I burst out laughing – then went over, gave him five bucks (I had originally planned to get a $5 Dunkin gift card) and said “buy yourself a drink”. He didn’t know what to think, but eventually had a good laugh and we had a great conversation. Turns out his son is one of this years “Naked Five”.

Sitting two rows behind the bench gives you an interesting perspective of the game. I resisted the urge to tell Coach he was blocking my view. I did get to see the interaction between the players during the game. They have each other’s back and are coming together as a very cohesive unit.

It’s back to the Whittemore Center on Sunday for the “Battle of New Hampshire” and a game against nationally ranked Dartmouth.

Seriously, this was one of the best college hockey weekends ever.

Here’s proof that mixed sports marriages do work. One of the best rivalries in college hockey is Maine vs. UNH. As you can see, I follow the UNH Wildcats while my husband is a Black Bear fan through and through. I think I take it a bit more seriously than he does. I usually have to issue a pre-emptive apology for any of my behavior before our teams play each other.

Dan is a very good sport about all of this. I have caught him cheering for UNH when they aren’t playing Maine. He has come on several road trips with me – usually when they involve arenas that are on our bucket list (such as Munn Arena at Michigan State), or trips that involve good food. Last year he came to the game at RPI in Troy, NY since the arena is really close to Dinosaur BBQ. He also came down to the games at Princeton because of the Jersey Diners.

In the interest of full disclosure, I do cheer for Maine when they aren’t playing UNH (most of the time).

Going to a college hockey game usually involves getting something to eat before, during or after a game. Here are some of the places that are worth mentioning.

BEST OF THE BEST – – the Baked Potato Bar in the Alfond Arena at the University of Maine. They had massive baked potatoes along with all the fixings — from butter to bacon, cheese, chili and veggies. Sadly the baked potato bar is no more, and it is missed by the Alfond faithful and visitors alike.

Merrimack College, North Andover, MA: there used to be a Fuddruckers that was directly across Route 114 from the rink that was a great location for a pre-game gathering. Delicious burgers and fries, a topping bar for the burgers, and great milkshakes. There was also a limited but decent selection of beer. There is now a Dunkin Donuts attached to Lawler Arena, which is a great place to hang out before the game (because I love their iced tea).

Orono, Maine – no trip to Orono is complete without a trip to Pats Pizza, and no trip to Pats is complete without going “downstairs” at Pats. My “go to” pizza was a 9 inch double dough with pepperoni and sausage. Pats is still operating but “downstairs” is now only a fond memory.

Whittemore Center (UNH, Durham, NH) – has great chicken tenders and fries. Their brownies are also good. When teams like BU, Northeastern, or UConn come to down (dog mascot) they offer “Dollar Dog nights”

Conte Forum (Boston College) – they have a stand offering really good BBQ sandwiches (beef or pork) which includes a side. The Mac and Cheese is great. Their pretzels are also soft and salty.

Sacred Heart (Connecticut) has some of the best local donuts that I have ever tasted.

Boston University – Before Agganis Arena the Terriers played at Walter Brown Arena. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s it was one of the only places where you could buy a beer. I also recall that they had a stand where you could buy sushi. Why someone would buy sushi at a hockey rink is beyond me.!!

If you’re going to BU, it’s also worth going to Cornwalls in Kenmore Square. They have a great beer selection. But it always seems to be closed when we try and go.

There is a short video at each UNH home game which shows one of the players attempting to draw the opposing team’s logo. Here are some examples of the artistic abilities of some of the Wildcat players

University of Maine

Boston College #1

Boston College #2

University of Massachusetts

UMass Lowell

Merrimack

Mercyhurst

Quinnipiac

University of Vermont

It is so nice to be able to watch players that you saw and got to know in college playing professional hockey. I have had the great of seeing two UNH alumni play in the ECHL.

In 2021 my friend Julie and I went up to Portland to see Patrick Grasso and the Adirondack Thunder play the Maine Mariners. This year I went up to watch Robert Cronin play for the Maine Mariners. Both times we brought signs, which they saw and acknowledged (with a big smile). We also were able to meet up with them after the game. They were very happy to see us and thanked us for coming. Robert Cronin still plays for the Mariners. Patrick Grasso is currently playing for the Belfast Giants in Northern Ireland.