Chris Craig writes:
> The last I heard was that almost all of UNH's "home" games will be played at
> UNH-Manchester, which supposedly has a ~2500 seat arena.  All (both?) of
> UNH's "home" games against Maine will be played in Portland.  They will
> probably practice at the Dover (NH) Arena.
 
  My sources in Durham tell me that UNH is scheduled to play 16 "home" games
next season, of which 10 are tentatively planned for the Municipal Ice
Arena in Manchester, NH (which "seats", as Chris mentions, nominally 2500
fans - mostly in bleachers behind the goal cages - though UNH is supposedly
working with various Manchester Youth Hockey Leagues to raise money for
additional seats, locker room improvements, etc.); 3 vs. Maine in Portland;
and the remaining 3 at either/or UMass-Lowell (coached by former Wildcat
Bruce Crowder) or Merrimack.  Practices will likely be held at both the
nearby Dover Ice Arena (managed by a former student manager of the 'Cats
and home to the UNH off-season Captain's Practices) and/or Exeter (NH)
Academy (coached by former Wildcat Dana Barbin).  Efforts are now underway
to arrange bus transportation for students/season-ticket holders, etc. to
as many of these "home" games as possible.  As has been mentioned in
various posts over the last several seasons (and unlike, say, major league
baseball), playing at "home" confers a decided advantage to most college
hockey programs - UNH is currently 6-1-0 in the friendly confines of Snively
Arena - so it remains to be seen how the UNH Travel Team will do next
season.  Mike: can you compile the "home" records for Harvard and BC when
they played all their games on the road during the construction of Bright
Hockey Center and Conte Forum (respectively) ??  Thanks ....
 
> It's really too bad, since I project next year's team to be even better than
> this year's .... It's too bad they'll be handicapped by playing away from
> Snively. But progress always comes at a price.
 
  How true !!  We'll just have to cross our fingers, encourage students/fans
to make the extra effort to continue to support the team, and hope for the
best.  Of course, if UNH does well in the Hockey East and (hopefully) NC$$
playoffs *this season,* that will go a long way towards keeping enthusiasm
high during the trying times ahead ....
                                                Cheers - Jim
 
P.S.  Chris - I'm heading north (weather permitting) for both of the UNH-BU
      games this weekend - see you in Walter Brown and Snively ???