It's been a while since the University of Maine and Boston University played a truly meaningful hockey game.
The Hockey East division rivals, who play a regular season game each year, will meet in the conference tournament semifinals Friday night at TD Garden in Boston at 7:30 p.m.
And since both have earned spots in the big tournament, there's a chance they'll meet again in the NCAA Tournament a week later.
It's a classic rivalry, but it has lost its luster in recent years as both programs, especially UMaine, have struggled.
The University of Maine will be making its first appearance in the Hockey East semifinals and NCAA Tournament since 2011-2012.
Maine appeared in the NCAA Tournament 18 times and the Frozen Fours 11 times between the 1986-87 and 2011-12 seasons. Main won him the national title in 1993 and he won the national title in 1999.
Boston College won its fifth and final NCAA title in 2009 and has reached the Frozen Four only twice since then, including last season. The Terriers lost to Providence in the 2015 NCAA Championship Game.
UMaine and BU had some memorable games.
The University of Maine first played as a Division I ECAC team on November 20, 1979, losing 5-3 at Boston University's Walter Brown Arena. They were a Division 2 team their first two seasons.
BU handed Maine its only loss during an incredible 42-1-2 season that saw it win the school's first NCAA title in 1992-93.
The Terriers rallied from a 6-2 deficit on a 2-1 rush and a goal from Mike Pomichter to win 7-6 at Alfond Arena.
Maine got its revenge later that season by defeating BU 5-2 in the Hockey East title game.
Two years later, BU got some major revenge when the Terriers defeated Maine 6-2 in the NCAA Championship Game in Providence.
The University of Maine forced three overtimes to defeat the University of Michigan in the semifinals.
Former University of Maine goaltender Greg Hirsch, who backed up Garth Snow and Mike Dunham during the 1992-93 national championship season, said the biggest rival at the time was BU, not New Hampshire.
“We had two alpha head coaches in (University of Maine) Seann Walsh and Jack Parker, and they didn't think second-guess about anyone,” said Hirsch, who still lives in the Bangor area. “Parker ruled the roost for quite some time until Sean came along (in 1984).
“Sean started recruiting in different regions (such as Western Canada) and the team was forced to ramp up its recruiting efforts as coaches in the East brought in players they had never seen before,” Hirsch said. he said.
He said both coaches hired “the best talent” and there was “another level of intensity” when the teams played each other.
“We saw them as a cocky Boston team that thought nothing existed outside of Boston, and we thought they were the evil empire from the north,” Hirsch said. .
“In the eyes of BU and Hockey East, we were the villains. Seann Walsh was the villain. And we loved being the villain. We embraced it,” Hirsch said. he said.
Walsh and Parker were two of the most competitive and fierce coaches in the country.
As well as being two of the most successful.
Officiating the UMaine-BU game was a difficult challenge.
Parker once threw a water bottle and stick onto the ice at Alfond Arena, and Walsh didn't hesitate to stand on the dashboard and express his frustration on the phone.
But it made every UMaine-BU game special. There is no shortage of passion and intensity. It was a great source of entertainment as we both liked to play the up-tempo, eye-catching style of the game.
There are two young coaches behind the two benches these days.
Former BU star Jay Pandolfo coaches his alma mater and led it to the Frozen Four a year ago.
Ben Barr, in his third season in Maine, transformed the Black Bears from a seven-win season to a 23-win team.
They are two of the brightest young stars in the coaching industry.
The two teams played a thrilling back-to-back at Boston's Agganis Arena earlier this season, with BU emerging victorious 3-2 and 5-4.
BU has freshman center Macklin Celebrini, a Hobey Baker Award candidate, and Lane Hutson, one of the nation's best defensemen, while the Nadeau brothers are second in school history to Hobey Baker Award winner Paul Kariya. Mainly given two of the most prolific freshmen.
Let's keep the competition going.
