Entering this season, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and the University of Maine had the third- and fifth-best winning percentages in Division I men’s hockey over the previous seven years.

UNH had a .717 winning percentage (186-66-25) while Maine’s was .677 (169-72-33).

Michigan State (.726) and Michigan (.724) were the only schools ahead of UNH while North Dakota (.712) was between the Wildcats and Black Bears.

Maine has made five straight NCAA Tournament appearances and three Frozen Four appearances while UNH has six NCAA tourney berths in seven years and four trips to the Frozen Four.

The two Hockey East rivals will renew their border war this weekend when the Wildcats invade Orono for a pair against the Black Bears.

Maine coach Tim Whitehead said their respective winning percentages exhibit “the quality of the programs, the [high] level of play and consistency at the elite level.”

This year is no different as Maine enters the series ranked third in one national poll and fourth in another with a 17-6-1 record while 15-7-3 UNH is eighth in both.

Both teams are chasing league leader Boston College and these games are also important in the NCAA Tournament picture.

Maine will wear its first-year Columbia blue jerseys for Friday’s 8 p.m. game and fans, who will be let in at 6, will receive ThunderStix courtesy of WZON-AM. At Saturday’s 7 p.m. game, the first 1,000 fans will receive megaphones courtesy of Unicel.

Maine-UNH games always feature a playoff-type atmosphere and the games are usually physical but clean.

There is mutual respect.

“They’re a big rival but we respect them a lot,” said UNH leading scorer and co-captain Steve Saviano. “The locker room is small up there but once you step on the ice, the atmosphere is unbelievable. It’s awesome. It’s one of the hardest places to win.”

University of Maine junior right wing John Ronan said the respect is similar to what you see in NHL playoff games.

“You play hard and leave everything on the ice,” said Ronan. “You’ve got two teams that like to win and they know that any penalties they take for garbage after the whistle could hurt them.

“Any time we go down there or they come up here, you’ve got thousands of fans going crazy and all the players are into it,” said Ronan.

Saviano said he and his mates will have to keep their composure “because the crowd goes nuts.”

He also said they will have to “keep things simple” and avoid overhandling the puck in the neutral zone which could lead to costly turnovers.

“They’re a great transition team. They’re a lot like us. So we’ve got to get the puck in deep,” said Saviano.

UNH has allowed only one goal over the last three games thanks to that approach.

“We’re playing much better defensively than we were earlier,” said Saviano.