Jim Teresco <[log in to unmask]> writes:
 
>Union announced its 1995-96 schedule, and it includes some >of the best of
Hockey East.  The Dutchmen will face UNH and >Maine at Achilles Rink on Oct
27 and 28.  They will face Maine >again when they play them in the first
round of the Dexter >Classic in Maine.  Both Maine and New Hampshire will be
on >the Dutchmen's schedule for each of the next four years, with >games in
Schenectady next season and again in 1997-98.
 
This brings back fond memories of Greg's and my first post-graduation road
trip to Union and RPI during the '76-'77 season.  We played Union on Friday
night and lost 8-4, in a game dominated by the officiating of the one and
only Giles Threadgold.  After the game, former UNH and then Union President
Tom Bonner hosted a reception for the UNH fans in a basement room with a
great view of the curling venue (for lack of a better word), where most of us
got to watch our first curling match.  The next night, we lost to RPI 4-3.
 Although the results were not what we expected, we nonetheless had a great
time that weekend.  I am assuming that UNH will also play RPI that weekend,
which makes that an attractive good-weather road trip.
 
BTW, UNH went on to finish 27-12 and make it to the NCAA semifinals at the
Olympia in Detroit along with BU, Wisconsin, and Michigan. (HMM... maybe next
year's team will follow their lead ;-)).  The two semifinals that year - UNH
losing to eventual champion Wisconsin 4-3 in OT on an unassisted goal by Mike
Eaves off a faceoff and BU losing to Michigan (6-4, with the last goal into
an empty net) - were two of the greatest college games I have ever seen.  And
the Wisconsin victory party at the Hyatt in Dearborn was incredible.
 
According to this morning's Boston Globe, former Senator Paul Tsongas and
Bobby Orr met with AHL officials in Providence yesterday to discuss bringing
an AHL franchise to Lowell.  What intrigued me was the mentioning that an
8000-seat arena "is scheduled to open in November 1996 and would house youth
and high school teams, as well as UMass-Lowell and the proposed franchise."
 
Has construction started?  Do they have funding?  Maybe someone out there can
bring me up to date.  I am all for old cities like Lowell getting that kind
of an investment in its community (I live in Lynn, MA, which shares many of
Lowell's problems), and would certainly support a minor league league team
only a half hour's drive away.  I would also be thrilled to see Bruce
Crowder, one of my all-time favorite UNH players, get a first-class facility
to aid in recruiting.  However, in these tough economic times, it is getting
harder and harder for public institutions to raise the kind of money
necessary to build such a facility.  Believe me, I am still amazed that UNH
is really building its new facility.
 
Karen Ambrose, UNH '72
Go Blue!!