This time, most hockey fans will remember No. 2

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Nobody ever remembers who finishes second.

That’s the way it works, right? We learn that young in America.

Not this time.

Not this team.

Yes, Boston University whipped the University of Maine hockey team 6-2 Saturday in the sold-out Providence Civic Center to take home the 1995 NCAA Championship trophy.

Give the Terriers their due. They had 11 NHL draft choices skating out there compared to Maine’s three. They won three NCAA tournament games by four goals apiece. They are a great team.

But as good as the Terriers were, they are going to have to share the 1995 stage with their rivals from Orono.

Whenever anyone thumbs through the NCAA hockey record book looking for the longest tournament game ever played, they are going to find Maine 4, Michigan 3… 100 minutes, 28 seconds, March 30, 1995.

Whenever any objective viewer of this tournament thinks back on it in the years ahead, they may well remember BU’s title, but if they love hockey they are also going to remember 1995 as the year “Maine played that great triple-overtime semifinal game and beat Michigan.”

By Saturday, with a little time for reflection, the non-partisan reviews on that game were in.

Tom Mees, the ESPN announcer who worked the tournament, called Maine-Michigan: “One of the great college games played in any sport.”

Hockey East commissioner Bob DeGregorio rated it: “As tremendous a hockey game as you’re going to see at any level.”

Even BU center Shawn Bates, still basking in the red glow of winning the title Saturday, praised Maine’s marathon test on Thursday.

“They had a great win in a very tough game. It had to be tough coming back off triple overtime,” Bates allowed.

Maine fans, of course, will always remember the Michigan game. They will wonder if BU might have been vanquished if no overtimes had been necessary. But they will also recall this second-place team for something beyond one memorable afteroon.

They will remember this team for the surprise it lent to what promised to be another dreary winter.

After the NCAA eligibility disasters of last season, with the threat of an NCAA investigation producing sanctions as soon as next season, who would have been surprised if this team featuring 19 freshman and sophomores performed like a bunch of lame ducks?

Instead, led by a stubborn senior defenseman named Chris Imes, a talented two-way defenseman in junior Jeff Tory, and a steady, often brilliant junior goalie in Blair Allison, these guys did the opposite.

“Considering where we were expected to finish, I’m proud of this team,” said Imes, looking pale and spent outside the UM locker room Saturday.

Imes, the runnerup for the Hobey Baker Award, put his finger exactly on why this team will be remembered. It surpassed all but the wildest expectation – that it could do what the 1993 Maine team did.

For Maine fans, the 1993 NCAA title team, with 18 members now skating in the pros, has a treasured place in the memory. But that team was like inheriting a jet airplane. It was easy to admire because it was expected to go any place it wanted.

This 1995 team was more like a dogsled pulled with raw determination and heart. It didn’t quite get to where it wanted, but it was a team whose members you could love for trying.

“This team came farther than every other Maine team except one,” Maine head coach Shawn Walsh reminded the gathered media, while his team quietly showered and packed for the bus ride back to Orono. “And that was one of the best teams in the history of college hockey.”

Walsh, too, overachieved.

Given his ultimate responsibility for the program and any NCAA violations that result in sanctions, Walsh could have let the pervasive gloom affect him. Love him or hate him, he took the boos – which were loud on Saturday every time his name was announced. He responded by working even harder. The lasting image of him in the national title game is walking up and down the bench, slapping backs and exhorting his tired players.

Answering all those who believe he might yet try to run away from any forthcoming NCAA sanctions, Walsh assured the press he will be back to coach at Maine next year.

“Absolutely. I love our recruiting class. I can’t wait to get rolling again,” he said.

As the team boarded the bus, Imes paused for one last thought.

“I’m pretty proud of that second-place trophy,” said the Maine captain.

Even if these Maine players weren’t proud to be No. 2, they will always have Michigan.