Former Old Town High School and University of Maine assistant hockey coach Nate Leaman is no stranger to overtimes.

But five overtimes?

Leaman, a volunteer assistant at Maine during its 1998-99 NCAA championship run after a one-year stint at Old Town, is the head hockey coach at Union College (N.Y.). He was behind the bench for his team’s 3-2 five-overtime loss to Yale in the ECAC playoffs Saturday night/Sunday morning.

It was the longest game in NCAA history, lasting 141 minutes and 35 seconds.

David Meckler’s shorthanded goal won it for Yale. The game started at 7 p.m. Saturday and ended at 1:10 a.m. Sunday.

“I don’t think anyone believed it was over. It didn’t hit me until Monday morning,” said Leaman. “We were on the power play and it was a broken play. I think the puck deflected off one of the referees [to a Yale player]. It was one of those things. We felt we were going to win the game.”

The third-year coach said the only time he “got a feel for the moment” occurred when Yale coach Tim Taylor walked in front of the Union bench before the start of the fifth overtime.

“He smirked and shook his head,” said Leaman. “That’s when I realized this was a battle.”

Surprisingly, Leaman said his players didn’t have any problems with cramps, which can often occur when teams play multiple overtimes.

“They drank protein shakes between periods and we kept them as hydrated as possible,” said Leaman. “Our guys were fine on the ice. We had guys who were definitely huffing and puffing, especially when we had to kill off a five-minute power play. That took a lot out of our guys. But I was impressed with our guys’ conditioning. We got a new weight room two years ago and the guys have paid the price.”

Union second-line center Torren Delforte received a five-minute hitting-from-behind major and game misconduct with 22 seconds left in the third overtime but Union killed it off.

Leaman’s only instruction between periods was to keep things simple and shoot the puck whenever possible.

One of Leaman’s assistants predicted the game would end in the third overtime. But after another scoreless 20-minute session, he turned to his assistant and asked “Why didn’t it end?”

Leaman said the crowd was “phenomenal” throughout the marathon.

“They kept giving us standing ovations. They were enjoying it, too. You could tell they knew what they were witnessing,” said Leaman.

Leaman said both teams left caution to the wind in the overtimes. They both attacked looking to end it.

There were plenty of scoring chances, each team hit posts and “there were a number of pucks sitting on the goal line.

“We missed a breakaway with 50 seconds left in regulation,” pointed out Leaman.

“We ran into a hot goalie [Alec Richards] at the wrong time. But I’ve also been on the other end like when [former Maine goalie] Alfie Michaud was the hot goalie [in 1998-99].

“Earlier in my career, I was pretty fortunate to wind up on the plus side of overtimes. The past two seasons I’ve been on the other side,” said Leaman whose team is 1-4 in postseason OT games during that span.

So how does it feel to be a part of history?

“Good, but I’m on the wrong side of it. The one positive thing is if I had to lose the game, there’s nobody I’d rather lose to than Tim Taylor. He’s one of the classiest men in our sport.”

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