For college hockey, a spirited beginning

The University of Maine and Bowdoin College played the first intercollegiate hockey game in the Pine Tree State on Saturday, Feb. 16, 1907. Hockey was still something of a novelty, and this first primitive game received close attention in the Bangor newspapers. UM and Bowdoin were the only two colleges in Maine with hockey teams.

Although in past years fraternities had teams, the University of Maine had never had one until this year. E.L. Milliken was elected manager and Reginald R. Lambe was elected captain, according to the Bangor Daily Commercial the day before the game. No coach was mentioned.

A petition had been presented to the athletic association asking that hockey be officially recognized. The association deferred the matter, giving the group $25 to build a rink on the Stillwater River instead. Practice had been going on all winter. Two games were scheduled with Bowdoin, and there was the possibility of a third at the campus’s new ice carnival scheduled in March.

“The team cannot be classed as a star team in any sense of the word; but there is every reason to be satisfied with the progress already made and the outlook for the future is very bright,” the Commercial commented. While there were a number of men at UM experienced in the sport, it remained to be seen whether they could play effectively as a team.

Bowdoin also had a novice team. It already had been beaten 11-0 by a mere prep school, St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., according to Louis C. Hatch’s history of Bowdoin. Doubtlessly, the players were looking forward to playing their arch rivals to the north who were probably equally unsophisticated.

The game was held at Bowdoin’s flooded Whittier Field on ice that was so soft it caused problems. Lambe, the UM team’s center, scored the first goal almost immediately. After that it was a downhill struggle for the Orono team as Bowdoin took over the ice. Dresser, Bowdoin’s center, scored the first of four goals for the Brunswick team.

The rules back then were different from today, at least as reported in the newspapers. For example, there were seven men on a team and the game was divided into halves unless there was a need to go into overtime because of a tie. The game was so new that the sports reporters were as inexperienced as the players. The excited Commercial reporter referred to the puck as the ball in describing one exciting play.

Enthusiasm ruled the day. “Intercollegiate hockey has probably come into Maine athletics to stay,” declared the Bangor Daily News. About 150 spectators watched the game, said the Commercial, and one of them was heard to remark that it was more interesting than football.

The second game was played the next Friday, Feb. 22, at Orono, a century ago this week. UM players had hauled the baseball bleachers down on the ice on the Stillwater River. Conditions were less than perfect. Part of the rink was covered with 2 or 3 inches of water. The wind was so cold many spectators left early.

Playing in such conditions, however, must have stimulated the UM players. They beat Bowdoin 3-2. “In the second half, the Maine boys went into it with the old Maine spirit of winning and while there was nothing alarmingly scientific about their playing, the Bowdoin men had to hustle to keep up with them.” Lambe scored two for Orono, but the hero of the day, declared the Commercial, was F.P. Hosmer, who broke a tie after a succession of overtimes.

One remarkable incident occurred. A key Bowdoin player, appropriately named Hamburger, had to leave the game after receiving a bad cut under his eye when nicked by a skate while he was down. As Bowdoin had no substitutes, the game would have ended had not a Maine player bowed out voluntarily.

The UM players, who had hoped to meet Bowdoin yet a third time, on March 2 at the ice carnival, were to be disappointed. They ended up facing off against a team from Calais instead. The game with Bowdoin had to be “canceled on account of the unwillingness of the Bowdoin men to come up here,” according to the Bangor Daily News. We should not place undue significance, however, on the tone of this comment, as historian Hatch tells us the college’s athletic council had approved only two games with UM that season.

Alas, the hopes of hockey players and fans for official recognition soon were dashed. The next year, hockey was dropped at Bowdoin and not revived until the winter of 1915-16, according to Hatch. The sport, which faced campus opposition from track and other interests, wasn’t declared a major sport there until 1925, two years before Hatch’s book was published.

The game also was dropped at the University of Maine. “Wind chills below -30F and early darkness halted many games. University officials decided that games weren’t safe,” according to the book “University of Maine: A Sports History.” It wasn’t until 1922 that the sport was resuscitated, and then it died again soon. The athletic board back then recommended the sport be restored to varsity status as soon as an indoor facility could be built. It took awhile, but the end of the story is too well-known to repeat here.

Wayne E. Reilly can be reached at wreilly@bangordailynews.net