College Hockey Takes Over at “Frozen Fenway”

Joshua Kummins

It was a sunny day at Fenway Park and with temperatures approaching nearly 60 degrees one would think that were the setting before a typical baseball game.

However, this was the setting before the Sun Life Frozen Fenway hockey doubleheader on Jan. 7, 2012. The four major state universities that compete in Hockey East – Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine – played in two hard-fought games that gave the fans all of their money’s worth.

The 16-day series of events, which began on Jan. 1, 2012, features two community skating days for residents of the city of Boston, as well as eight high school hockey games, and six collegiate hockey games.

Several private and public high schools from the Metro Boston area skated on Jan. 2 and 4, while Harvard will host a game on Jan. 13 before Boston College and Northeastern highlight “Boston Rivalry Day” on Jan. 14.

Anyone who steps out onto the ice is sure to create memories that will last a lifetime just like the roaring spectators throughout the night. Just ask some of the players and take UVM sophomore H.T. Lenz for example.

“It’s all pretty surreal,” said the Virginia native in a pre-game press conference on Friday afternoon. “Looking up and seeing the park and all the seats, and looking towards the infield…it was hard to take in at first.”

His Catamounts were losers in a tough 3-2 game against UMass to open the day. Minuteman senior defenseman Michael Marcou scored with 22.3 seconds remaining in overtime as the Minutemen earned their third win of the season in Hockey East.

Since defeating UMass for their only league win before Thanksgiving, the Catamounts have lost five Hockey East games in a row.

“Every time you play a big game like this outside in front of a lot of people you always envision you scoring the overtime winner,” said the UMass assistant captain from Kings Park, N.Y. “It was my first one ever so it’s a pretty good experience to have here at Fenway.”

Their coach Don Cahoon, who is a native of Lynn, Mass. and lifetime Red Sox fan, made a great comparison when describing what the overtime felt like.

“The first thing that comes to mind,” he commented. “I said I can relate to Big Papi when he hits a walk-off home run in the eleventh because that’s what it felt like given the nature of the overtime. The emotion and the intensity was everything that it was built to be.”

The second game was another fun-filled contest as Lynnfield, Mass. native Brian Flynn scored just 89 seconds into overtime to send the Maine Black Bears to a 5-4 win over archrival New Hampshire.

“It feels great to get the win,” said Flynn. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and to get this win in front of the Maine fans, and our friends and family in that fashion, it was special.”

The experience was even enjoyable for a New York Yankees fan – junior Joey Diamond of the Black Bears, who hails from Long Beach, N.Y.

Despite winning in the home stadium of his baseball archenemy, he “honestly thought it was the coolest thing, playing in a venue like this…[In addition to being a Yankee fan,] I am also a big sports fan, so I know this is one of the coolest venues in all the country.”
That just about sums up the whole event for all involved.