Boston University–Maine men's ice hockey rivalry

The Boston University-Maine men's ice hockey rivalry is a college hockey rivalry between the Boston University Terriers and the Maine Black Bears in the Hockey East conference. The rivalry was born out of fierce on-ice competition between the two schools, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s, as the two schools were routinely at the top of the Hockey East standings and battled each other for conference supremacy.

Boston University-Maine men's ice hockey rivalry

Maine Boston University
First meeting	November 20, 1979
Latest meeting	November 2, 2019 Maine 2, BU 2
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	135
All-time series	Boston University leads 63-56-15
Largest victory	November 16, 1991 Maine 8, BU 1 November 15, 2013 Maine 7, BU 0 November 18, 2017 BU 7, Maine 0
Longest win streak	BU, 13 (January 16, 1982-October 31, 1986)
Longest unbeaten streak	BU, 13 (January 16, 1982-October 31, 1986 & November 6, 2005-March 14, 2009)
Current win streak	Tie, 1
Current unbeaten streak	Maine, 4

History

In the early years of Maine's program, the rivalry was one-sided and had not yet truly formed, as Boston University dominated Maine on the ice, defeating them 13 consecutive times between 1982 and 1986, one of the worst losing streaks to a single opponent in Maine's history. Once legendary Black Bears coach Shawn Walsh took over the program, however, the tides started to turn, and Maine began to make up ground. One notable meeting between the teams occurred on February 19, 1993, at Alfond Arena in Orono, home of the Black Bears. Maine was in the midst of an unprecedentedly successful season, having entered that contest with a record of 30-0-2. Midway through the third period, Maine was leading by a score of 6-2, and it appeared they would cruise to another easy victory. However, the Terriers would rally, and manage to score four unanswered third period goals to tie the game at 6-6 and send it to overtime. In the overtime period, Terriers forward Mike Prendergast would get a breakaway from center ice and proceed to score the game-winning goal for the Terriers, giving them a stunning 7-6 victory and handing Maine their first loss of the season. Prendergast would say after the game, "My sister could have scored that goal"[1] to taunt the Maine players and fans. However, this would end up as Maine's only loss the entire season, as they would not lose another game all season and win their first national title with a stunning 42-1-2 record, including defeating the Terriers twice more by a combined score of 11-3. Boston University would have their revenge, however, winning a national championship of their own in 1995, defeating Maine in the national title game 6-2. The on-ice rivalry between the schools was often overshadowed by the personal rivalry between the coaches, Walsh for Maine and BU's own legendary coach Jack Parker. Both men were impassioned and bombastic coaches, and as such drew the ire of each other and of opposing fans. While they often had choice words for each other during their coaching careers, Parker spoke kindly of Walsh during his cancer treatment and following his 2001 death.[2] While some fans view Boston College and New Hampshire as BU and Maine's historical and primary rivals, respectively, fans from the heat of the rivalry in the 1990s and early 2000s may report that in their opinion, either Maine or BU is their schools true rival, not UNH or BC. Even after Walsh's 2001 death, the rivalry has remained heated and competitive, meeting in the Hockey East playoff tournament in 2002, 2004, 2009, 2010, and 2012, with Maine winning each matchup aside from 2009. The two teams also met in the NCAA National Tournament in 2002, with Maine emerging victorious. On January 24, 2004, the two teams combined for 268 penalty minutes in one game, a men's college hockey record that stands to this day, and stood as the all-levels, both genders record until 2013.[3] The majority of the penalty minutes were accrued during a brawl at the end of the game, which was a 1-0 victory for Boston University. Even as Maine's team performance has declined in the latter part of the 2010s, games between the teams remain tense, chippy affairs, and simultaneous success for the teams would lead to a rejuvenation of the once-heated rivalry.

Game Results

As of November 18, 2019 [4]

Maine victories

Boston University victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 20, 1979 Boston, MA Boston University 5–3 2 February 19, 1980 Orono, ME Maine 8–7 3 December 13, 1980 Orono, ME Maine 5–4 4 January 21, 1981 Boston, MA Boston University 3–0 5 December 12, 1981 Boston, MA Maine 6–5 6 January 16, 1982 Orono, ME Boston University 7–1 7 December 11, 1982 Orono, ME Boston University 5–2 8 February 1, 1983 Boston, MA Boston University 6–2 9 December 10, 1983 Orono, ME Boston University 3–2 (OT) 10 February 3, 1984 Boston, MA Boston University 6–2 11 January 20, 1985 Orono, ME Boston University 6–4 12 February 15, 1985 Boston, MA Boston University 7–4 13 February 16, 1985 Boston, MA Boston University 7–2 14 March 9, 1985 Boston, MA† Boston University 7–4 15 March 10, 1985 Boston, MA† Boston University 4–2 16 December 1, 1985 Boston, MA Boston University 4–1 17 February 14, 1986 Orono, ME Boston University 3–2 18 February 15, 1986 Orono, ME Boston University 6–3 19 October 31, 1986 Boston, MA Maine 3–2 20 November 1, 1986 Boston, MA Maine 7–5 21 February 27, 1987 Orono, ME Maine 6–3 22 February 28, 1987 Orono, ME Maine 4–2 23 November 14, 1987 Orono, ME Maine 7–5 24 December 4, 1987 Boston, MA Maine 6–2 25 December 5, 1987 Boston, MA Maine 7–1 26 November 29, 1988 Boston, MA Maine 8–4 27 February 24, 1989 Orono, ME Maine 8–4 28 February 25, 1989 Orono, ME Maine 5–3 29 December 10, 1989 Boston, MA Maine 3–2 (OT) 30 December 11, 1989 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 (OT) 31 February 24, 1990 Orono, ME Maine 5–2 32 March 9, 1990 Orono, ME† Maine 3–1 33 December 2, 1990 Boston, MA Boston University 7–4 34 January 25, 1991 Orono, ME Maine 4–2 35 January 26, 1991 Orono, ME Maine 4–0 36 March 10, 1991 Boston, MA†† Boston University 4–3 (OT) 37 November 15, 1991 Boston, MA Boston University 5–4 38 November 16, 1991 Boston, MA Maine 8–1 39 January 31, 1992 Orono, ME Tie 4–4 40 November 20, 1992 Boston, MA Maine 4–3 41 November 21, 1992 Boston, MA Maine 6–3 42 February 19, 1993 Orono, ME Boston University 7–6 (OT) 43 February 20, 1993 Orono, ME Maine 6–1 44 March 20, 1993 Boston, MA†† Maine 5–2 45 November 19, 1993 Orono, ME Boston University 5–3 46 November 20, 1993 Orono, ME Maine 5–1 47 February 19, 1994 Boston, MA Tie 0–0 48 February 20, 1994 Boston, MA Boston University 5–1 49 March 11, 1994 Boston, MA† Boston University 8–5 50 March 12, 1994 Boston, MA† Boston University 4–3 51 October 30, 1994 Boston, MA Tie 3–3 52 November 27, 1994 Inglewood, CA Maine 6–5 (OT) 53 December 2, 1994 Orono, ME Maine 6–5 54 December 3, 1994 Orono, ME Tie 5–5 55 April 1, 1995 Providence, RI†††† Boston University 6–2 56 November 14, 1995 Boston, MA Boston University 5–2 57 January 19, 1996 Boston, MA Boston University 4–3 58 November 20, 1996 Boston, MA Tie 3–3 59 January 25, 1997 Boston, MA Maine 3–1 60 February 21, 1997 Orono, ME Maine 3–0 61 February 22, 1997 Orono, ME Maine 7–2 62 November 8, 1997 Orono, ME Boston University 6–0 63 January 23, 1998 Boston, MA Boston University 4–3 64 January 24, 1998 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 65 January 5, 1999 Boston, MA Maine 4–3 66 February 19, 1999 Orono, ME Maine 7–2 67 February 20, 1999 Orono, ME Boston University 4–1 68 December 10, 1999 Orono, ME Maine 4–2 No. Date Location Winner Score 69 January 15, 2000 Boston, MA Boston University 5–4 70 January 16, 2000 Boston, MA Tie 3–3 71 March 17, 2000 Boston, MA† Maine 4–2 72 December 8, 2000 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 73 January 12, 2001 Orono, ME Tie 3–3 74 January 13, 2001 Orono, ME Maine 3–1 75 November 9, 2001 Orono, ME Boston University 3–2 (OT) 76 March 1, 2002 Boston, MA Maine 9–6 77 March 2, 2002 Boston, MA Tie 4–4 78 March 15, 2002 Boston, MA† Maine 4–3 79 March 24, 2002 Worcester, MA††† Maine 4–2 80 November 16, 2002 Boston, MA Maine 7–3 81 February 28, 2003 Orono, ME Boston University 4–2 82 March 1, 2003 Orono, ME Maine 4–2 83 November 1, 2003 Orono, ME Maine 2–1 84 January 23, 2004 Boston, MA Maine 8–4 85 January 24, 2004 Boston, MA Boston University 1–0 86 March 19, 2004 Boston, MA† Maine 1–0 87 October 31, 2004 Boston, MA Boston University 2–1 88 January 21, 2005 Orono, ME Tie 1–1 89 January 22, 2005 Orono, ME Maine 4–2 90 November 6, 2005 Orono, ME Boston University 2–1 91 January 13, 2006 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 92 January 14, 2006 Boston, MA Boston University 5–4 93 November 4, 2006 Boston, MA Tie 2–2 94 January 12, 2007 Orono, ME Boston University 6–5 95 January 13, 2007 Orono, ME Boston University 3–0 96 January 12, 2008 Orono, ME Boston University 3–1 97 February 15, 2008 Boston, MA Boston University 2–1 (OT) 98 February 16, 2008 Boston, MA Boston University 1–0 (OT) 99 January 10, 2009 Boston, MA Boston University 4–1 100 February 13, 2009 Orono, ME Boston University 7–2 101 February 14, 2009 Orono, ME Tie 2–2 102 March 13, 2009 Boston, MA† Boston University 2–1 103 March 14, 2009 Boston, MA† Maine 6–3 104 March 15, 2009 Boston, MA† Boston University 6–2 105 November 8, 2009 Orono, ME Maine 3–2 106 February 12, 2010 Boston, MA Boston University 7–4 107 February 13, 2010 Boston, MA Boston University 5–2 108 March 19, 2010 Boston, MA† Maine 5–2 109 November 6, 2010 Boston, MA Tie 2–2 110 January 28, 2011 Orono, ME Boston University 4–3 111 January 29, 2011 Orono, ME Tie 1–1 112 December 10, 2011 Orono, ME Boston University 5–1 113 January 27, 2012 Boston, MA Maine 4–2 114 January 28, 2012 Boston, MA Maine 3–1 115 March 16, 2012 Boston, MA† Maine 5–3 116 December 8, 2012 Boston, MA Boston University 1–0 117 February 15, 2013 Orono, ME Tie 3–3 118 February 16, 2013 Orono, ME Boston University 5–4 (OT) 119 November 15, 2013 Orono, ME Maine 7–0 120 January 11, 2014 Boston, MA Maine 7–3 121 November 14, 2014 Orono, ME Boston University 3–1 122 November 21, 2014 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 (OT) 123 January 22, 2016 Orono, ME Boston University 5–2 124 January 23, 2016 Boston, MA Boston University 6–1 125 January 20, 2017 Boston, MA Boston University 4–1 126 January 21, 2017 Orono, ME Boston University 3–1 127 November 17, 2017 Orono, ME Maine 5–2 128 November 18, 2017 Portland, ME Boston University 7–0 129 January 6, 2018 Boston, MA Maine 3–0 130 November 16, 2018 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 131 November 17, 2018 Boston, MA Maine 3–1 132 March 9, 2019 Orono, ME Maine 6–0 133 November 1, 2019 Orono, ME Maine 4–2 134 November 2, 2019 Orono, ME Tie 2–2 135 January 22, 2021 Boston, MA Boston University 3–2 (OT) Series: Boston University leads 64–56–15

† Hockey East Tournament
†† Hockey East Championship Game
††† NCAA Tournament
†††† NCAA National Championship Game

Results by Decade

1970s (Boston University, 1-0-0)

1980s (Boston University, 15-14-0)

1990s (Maine, 18-15-5)

2000s (Boston University, 18-13-6)

2010s (Boston University, 14-11-4)

2020s (Boston University, 1-0-0)

References

1. "Bangor In Focus: 42-1-2". bangorinfo.com.
2. Writer, PAUL DOYLE; Courant Staff. "SOMETHING NEW: ROOTING FOR WALSH". courant.com.
3. Milewski, Todd D. (November 11, 2013). "Ohio State, Bemidji State women's teams combine for NCAA-record 318 penalty minutes, 20 DQs".
4. "2019-20 MIH Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). University of Maine Athletics.