ST. LOUIS – Hampden Academy soccer coach Ryan Shaw is a relative newcomer among a healthy number of hockey enthusiasts who make the pilgrimage to the Frozen Four every year.

They come from all parts of the country and there are plenty of Mainers in that group.

Shaw is a rabid University of Maine hockey fan so he prefers the Frozen Fours with Maine included in the field.

“That magnifies it 100 times,” said Shaw.

But he also enjoys the ones they don’t participate in.

“I’ve been going to Frozen Fours since ’99,” said Shaw. “I’ve followed Maine since I was a kid and I really got into it when I was in college [at Maine]. I’ve only missed two home games since ’97.”

The 1999 Frozen Four in Anaheim, Calif., when Maine notched its second NCAA championship with a 3-2 overtime win over New Hampshire, and the 2002 event in St. Paul, Minn., when Maine lost to Minnesota 4-3 in overtime, are two that stick out for Shaw.

He was impressed with the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and the atmosphere generated by the Minnesota fans. He didn’t feel Anaheim had anywhere near the atmosphere of St. Paul but enjoyed seeing Maine win the national title.

He said one neat aspect of going to the Frozen Fours is getting the opportunity “to see cities you wouldn’t go to on vacation.”

The current Maine team has toyed with his emotions.

“They frustrated the crap out of me in February and the early part of March. You could obviously see the talent. They played very well at the [East] Regional. They tightened up the defense,” said Shaw.

Bobby Whear of Damariscotta and Dirk Brunner of South Bristol are two other Frozen Four veterans.

Whear has been to 17 Frozen Fours and Brunner said he has been going “since the mid-1990s.”

“There’s a group of 10 of us that go every year. We meet up with friends from Minneapolis,” said Whear, who owns the Mill Pond Inn in Nobleboro.

Whear and Brunner also give high marks to St. Paul but thought Anaheim was a strange choice for a Frozen Four and didn’t feel it had the atmosphere deserving of such an event.

“And you wound up having Maine and New Hampshire playing for the national title all the way over in Anaheim,” said Brunner.

Former University of Maine football star and Denver Broncos linebacker John Huard was also in St. Louis with long-time friend Charlie Holden of Melrose, Mass. Huard and Holden attended Kents Hill together and they attend Frozen Fours.

Huard likes this Maine team and felt it had a legitimate chance to win the title.

“They have gotten through their adversity,” said Huard, referring to the late-season slump that saw the Bears lose six of their last eight heading into the East Regional.

He noted that they received a second life when they qualified for the NCAA Tournament after being swept by UMass in the Hockey East quarterfinals and were making the most of it.

Supporting both teams

Michigan State athletic director Ron Mason’s grandsons were wearing unique shirts created by their mother, Tracey.

Tyler and Travis Walsh, sons of late former Maine coach Shawn Walsh, had shirts that were half Michigan State and half Maine.

Michigan State beat Maine 4-2 in the Frozen Four semifinal.

Walsh and Tracey Mason were married for several years before divorcing.

Mason said his grandsons, who were born in Maine and spent their younger days in Veazie, still keep close tabs on the Black Bears.

They are living with their mother in the East Lansing, Mich., area and both are playing hockey.

Sixteen-year-old Tyler and 13-year-old Travis are both defensemen.

Mason said longtime Maine assistant and recruiting coordinator Grant Standbrook, who is a volunteer assistant for the Bears this year, deserves a “lot of credit” for his role in helping keep the Maine program among the nation’s elite even after the death of Walsh on Sept. 24, 2001.

He also said head coach Tim Whitehead had a difficult chore replacing Walsh, but “he’s done it [well]. It will always be Shawn’s program, but Tim deserves credit for the job he’s done.”

Mason, who coached Walsh at Bowling Green and hired him as an assistant at Bowling Green and at Michigan State, said former Maine women’s basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie has done a wonderful job at Michigan State which earned her a five-year contract extension recently.

Mason said he intends to retire in June 2008.

“There’s a lot of challenges at a large school,” said Mason, in his fifth year as the AD.

St. Louis supportive

Mark Bedics, the media coordinator for the NCAA, said “just under 300 media credentials” had been issued for the Frozen Four.

He also said the St. Louis Blues have been “extremely supportive” and cooperative and city of St. Louis has done a “tremendous job hosting the event.”

“St. Louis has bid twice to host it and they landed it on the second bid,” said Bedics. “They have been very proactive on the media end of things.”

Comley praises Maine

Michigan State coach Rick Comley has coached against the University of Maine for a long time. He was at Northern Michigan for 26 years before taking over for Ron Mason at Michigan State five years ago. Mason became the athletic director at MSU.

Comley has a healthy respect for Maine and head coach Tim Whitehead.

“Maine teams have always been well-prepared and the thing I like best about them is they’re always businesslike. They always give you a good, honest day’s work,” said Comley.

He said Whitehead doesn’t get enough credit for the job he’s done at Maine.

Purcell unfazed by scouts

There will be scouts and high-ranking officials from all of the NHL teams this weekend but Maine freshman right wing Teddy Purcell, a 21-year-old free agent, said it won’t put added pressure on him.

“I try not to think about that. I’m just thinking about the task at hand. They’ve been watching us all year. It’s not like this is the first time they’ve seen us. I’m just concentrating on trying to get a big win [over Michigan State],” said Purcell, the Hockey East Rookie of the Year.