Jim Love sent me the following note on UNH, the ONLY remaining unbeaten,
untied team in DivI (8-0-0):
 
>BTW, not only was Snively sold-out for the BU game, it sold out on Wednesday
>afternoon - the first such advance-sale sell-out since the 1983 season.  The
>athletic ticket office further expects that ALL non-break HE games will likely
>sell-out as well (weather-permitting); tickets for many games (e.g. Maine)
>are already nearly impossible to come by. The Fever's back at UNH - GO BLUE !!
 
I didn't follow college hockey during the Holt years, being just a youngster,
and when I moved to Northeastern in 1986-87, UNH was in the midst of several
years of despair (8-27-3 overall in 86-87).  But I clearly recall the 1989
HE quarterfinal when #6 UNH (9-17-0 HE) played at #3 Northeastern, and the
Wildcats pushed the Huskies to overtime before losing, 5-4.  After that game,
which the Huskies were lucky to win, I remember saying to someone, "This
team [UNH] is going to go somewhere in the next few years."  Despite a record
of 32-98-9 in the four years from 1985-89, you could see from the coaches,
players and fans that their work would pay off in the future.
 
And let's not forget the man who played such a huge part in building this
team and inspiring it, the late Coach Bob Kullen, who passed away almost
exactly a year ago.  There's no doubt that whatever he's doing up there, once
that puck is dropped at 7 pm, you know he's watching and smiling from high
above Lively Snively.
 
To me, *this* is what makes it all worth it.  Some people ask me why I left
Northeastern for Merrimack - besides the academic aspect, I could have stayed
on working for NU in my spare time as I do for MC now, and Northeastern had
won HE and Beanpot Championships while I was there.  That was great, but the
best part was that the Huskies had rebounded from an awful 1986-87 season
to do it.  Someday soon Merrimack will achieve success in DivI and win a
HE, maybe even a national championship - and I want to be there when it
happens.  Until then, I can enjoy watching other teams like UNH gradually
improve to the point where they're looking down on the teams that once looked
down on them (in the standings).
 
 
- mike