Women’s hockey is worth look

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Alfond Arena in Orono was empty, but the 178 fans were loud.

After all, they are hockey fans, and hockey fans are loud.

The University of Maine women’s hockey team was playing the Providence College Friars on Sunday afternoon. (Why wouldn’t a school whose nickname is the “Friars” call their women’s teams the “Nuns?”)

They battled to a hard-fought 2-2 overtime tie.

Women’s college hockey is a lot different than the men’s game.

But the product the women put on the ice is certainly entertaining.

It’s slower than the men’s game, but so what? The objective is the same and there is plenty of talent on display. There’s no shortage of good skaters.

They aren’t allowed to body check, but all that means is they can’t purposely dip their shoulder and drive it between an opponent’s numbers.

There is still plenty of contact, and watching the Maine-Providence game was living proof.

There were even a few skirmishes, including one involving two of the nation’s best defensemen in Maine’s Kelly Law and PC’s Kristin Gigliotti.

There are rivalries that are just as bitter in women’s sports as they are in men’s sports, and this is one of them. The games are usually physical.

Providence has a well-established program that made its debut in 1974. The 1997-98 season was Maine’s first as a varsity program.

Maine second-year head coach Guy Perron and full-time assistants Lauren Steblen and Kate Blair are trying to fast-track the program into prominence in Hockey East.

Former coach Rick Filighera built a first-year varsity program into one that earned respectability at the Division I level and could occasionally hold its own with the heavyweights.

Perron and his staff are responsible for taking the program to the next level.

They have a ways to go to dent the nation’s top 10, but they’re closing the gap rapidly.

“Guy is doing a great job,” said highly successful Providence coach Bob Deraney. “They’re a team to focus on in our league. You know they’re going to do big things here.”

Friars senior goalie Jana Bugden said Maine has “definitely improved” over the past two years.

“You can’t say they’re a developing program any more. They’re already there,” said Bugden.

The atmosphere at women’s hockey games isn’t going to change dramatically anywhere.

The University of New Hampshire Wildcats are ranked second in the nation and their average attendance is 600 in the 6,501-seat Whittemore Center.

That’s all the more reason to respect what these women accomplish.

They work just as hard as the men. In addition to their on-ice practices, they also lift weights. They have to train during the offseason, too.

They have the same passion for the sport. They’re very competitive.

But when they come down the tunnel to start the game, there’s no buzz in the arena. They have to motivate themselves. That’s just the way it is.

And they do.

Most of them are earning a free education through an athletic scholarship and that is their reward, as well as receiving an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament.

For a very few, there is a spot on an Olympic roster.

If you get a chance, check them out. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.