ORONO, Maine —- When a hockey team wins just 15 of its last 50 games, a large turnout for an exhibition game against a Canadian school is unexpected.
But 4,521 showed up at Alfond Arena for the University of Maine men’s hockey team’s 5-1 exhibition loss to the University of New Brunswick on Friday night.
That was a larger crowd than Maine attracted to 15 of its 19 home games last season.
It was one of four road exhibition games for UNB against U.S. college teams, and the others attracted 355 (Harvard), 932 (Boston College) and 2,226 (UMass Lowell).
There were over 1,600 students in the balcony behind the goal where the opposing netminders spend their first and third periods.
UMaine coach Red Gendron said the UMaine fans are appreciative of his team’s work ethic and recognize that they have played “pretty well” in four of its first five games before Tuesday’s 4-0 loss at Quinnipiac. Maine is 0-2-3.
“They behave like most of the citizens in the state of Maine. They work their tails off and compete like dogs to be successful. That’s something we pride ourselves in. We want to be like the majority of Mainers: get up and get after it every day,” said Gendron. “The bottom line is this is an exciting team to watch play when it’s at it’s best. But we definitely have things to work on.”
“The crowd is always amazing,” said UMaine junior center and alternate captain Cam Brown. “There isn’t a better place to play. The student section is electric. They can really help us win games. We owe them a win next time we’re home.”
UMaine’s first regular season home game will be against UMass Lowell on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Six of UMaine’s nine freshmen made their Alfond Arena debuts, although they gained a taste of Alfond Arena on game day during the team’s Blue-White scrimmage earlier this month. They greatly appreciated the support.
“It was nuts,” said freshman defenseman Rob Michel. “It was definitely different coming from the [Central Canada Hockey League]. Our home crowds were about 50 people.
“I came on a visit last year to see Maine play Union. It was crazy. It’s different when you’re on the ice. It was nice to finally experience it,” said Michel. “You try to keep a serious face during the game but, at the same time, there was a big smile on my face. It was a great environment.”
UMaine will return to action against 3-0-1 UMass in the first annual Capital City Classic at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Yale and Princeton will play at 7:30 p.m., and the losers (4:30 p.m.) and winners (7:30 p.m.) will face off on Saturday.