Thorne to return to roots calling UMaine hockey

When Gary Thorne last sat behind the microphone while calling a University of Maine hockey game, Ron Hellen and Neil Johnson were the team captains and the late Shawn Walsh was in his second season as head coach.

The year was 1986 and the Black Bears finished the program’s ninth season in existence 11-28-1 overall.

Seven months later, Thorne found himself calling the 1986 World Series in his second season as the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Mets. Not long after the final out was made in the Mets’ 8-5 Game 7 win and Boston Red Sox fans began a winter-long depression, the New Jersey Devils came calling and Thorne took his on-air talents to the NHL.

Two decades have come and gone since Thorne called any Black Bears on-ice action, but that streak ends next week as he’ll be in the broadcast booth for ESPN2 and ESPN during the all-sports cable network’s televised coverage of the Frozen Four in Milwaukee next Thursday and Saturday (April 6 and 8).

“This is great. I hoped this would happen somewhere along the way and I’m thrilled they [Maine] made it,” Thorne said shortly after wrapping up a six-hour studio session recording sound bites for an upcoming Electronic Arts (EA) computer/video NHL game. “I’m already getting e-mails from the ESPN guys I work with reminding me there’s no cheering in the press box.”

Not that it would be a problem with a veteran broadcaster having more than 40 years of experience under his belt.

“The same thing happened in 1986 during the World Series when I was working for the Mets and they played the team I grew up cheering for,” Thorne recalled. “If I could handle that, I can handle anything.”

Still, the 55-year-old Thorne – the first radio voice of Maine hockey – is relishing this opportunity to renew an association with what he calls one of the defining periods of his broadcasting career.

“Absolutely, it is. It was such fun for me doing Maine hockey,” said Thorne, who called UM ice action for nine seasons. “They [ESPN] asked me if I wanted to do the Frozen Four and I said of course. For awhile, it looked like it’d be tough with the schedule, but I really pushed for it.”

Free time isn’t something the Old Town native has a lot of this time of year. Thursday was the last day of an eight-day stint in Vancouver, British Columbia, recording broadcast clips for EA Sports.

“It’s the hardest work I ever do,” Thorne said. “We’re in the studio six hours a day laying down tracks and doing every player’s name making a pass, making a save, a shot, everything. They give us situations and we actually ad-lib the action. It’s just grueling, going over and over again.”

Before that, Thorne was alternating between calling NHL and World Baseball Classic games for ESPN. Next up is the Boston Red Sox season-opener in Texas on Monday before moving on to Milwaukee and the Frozen Four.

In the meantime, Thorne and analysts Bill Clement and Darren Pang will be gathering and reviewing a mountain of media guides, statistics, and team information while preparing for their Frozen Four broadcasts. Next week they’ll be meeting with coaches and attending practices.

“I’m going to have a very quiet weekend at home in Florida and save my voice,” he said.

This is only Thorne’s second Frozen Four as an announcer.

“Seeing the people there, especially fans, will be great,” Thorne said. “I’ll get a chance to see people I haven’t seen for a long time. There are coaches and AD’s I haven’t seen for awhile. I haven’t seen Timmy [Whitehead] for awhile and I’m looking forward to it.”

Since realizing he would be calling UMaine hockey action again, the last few days have been ones of recollection.

“I knew I loved radio and wanted to get into it when I was 15 and going to Old Town High School,” Thorne recalled. “I got a third-class FCC license and wrote to WGUY, WABI and WLBZ and WABI responded.”

That led to a 10-hour (7 a.m.-5 p.m.) stint Sundays in WABI’s radio studio running the board, doing five-minute newscasts and playing pop music whenever a Red Sox game wasn’t on.

“My favorite thing is broadcasting, and second to that is sports,” said Thorne. “I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do both for a living all this time.”

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net