ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine men’s hockey team acquired a new fan Friday.
Country music star Dierks Bentley, who performed Friday night at Alfond Arena in Orono, skated with the Black Bears during a captain’s practice at the Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer Friday afternoon.
Alfond Arena was being set up for the concert.
“I had a blast,” said Bentley before doing a late-afternoon sound check. “I’ll be following them the rest of the year now because I made friends with all the guys. Hopefully, they’ll come out to the show tonight.”
“They were great. They’re fast. I had so much fun,” said Bentley.
The 34-year-old Bentley, who sings and plays guitar and is also a songwriter, has had five No. 1 hits on the country charts: “What Was I Thinkin’,” “Come a Little Closer,” “Settle for a Slowdown,” “Every Mile a Memory” and “Free and Easy [Down the Road I Go].”
He has had two platinum albums and one gold album.
He is originally from Arizona but also spent time in New Jersey. He attended the University of Vermont for a year before transferring to Vanderbilt University in Nashville when he was 19.
He got a job in Nashville with the Nashville Network (now Spike TV) researching country music performances. He also played at various venues and recorded a demo that launched his songwriting career. He was signed to Capitol (Records) Nashville in 2003 and recorded his first album, which was self-titled.
“The Predators came to Nashville and that’s the first [pro] game I saw. I always loved hockey. I always wanted to play it. I used to play roller blade hockey,” said Bentley.
After getting established in Nashville, he decided to join a league.
“A buddy of mine from Toronto gave me some extra gear. So I jumped into a men’s league eight years ago, almost nine years ago now,” said Bentley. “Some years I get a chance to play more than others. In heavy touring years like this one, I always keep a hockey bag on the bus. Sometimes you get a chance to play when you’re [on the road]. I try to play once a week.”
He explained that his tour manager called ahead to see if he could squeeze in some hockey and the Maine players were more than happy to oblige.
“It doesn’t happen that often. But it’s always great to play a little hockey before a show. It was great. I had a good time,” Bentley said.
The Maine players enjoyed spending time with Bentley.
“It was fun,” said junior center and captain Tanner House. “It was a pretty neat experience. He’s a pretty big celebrity and we got to talk with him and hang out with him. He was an awesome guy. He was happy to be out there and thankful.”
“He’s very laid back,” said junior defenseman Mike Banwell. “He doesn’t have that star mentality. It was nice to have somebody of his magnitude hanging out with us. He seemed like just another player on our team.”
House and Banwell said they knew he was a hockey fan and that he proved to be a good player.
“He knows what he’s doing. He snatched up a couple of breakaways and was always in front of the net looking for a puck to squirt loose,” said Banwell.
“He knew where to be to get the puck,” said House.
Maine equipment manager Josh MacDonald played a pivotal role in organizing the practice, and a member of Bentley’s band, who resembled former Bear Bret Tyler, according to House and Banwell, also played with them.