What a great scene Saturday evening in Boston, Massachusetts. Fenway Park, the home of the Red Sox was turned into an outdoor hockey facility. While the weather did not reflect temperatures normally seen in January, everything else about the 2012 Frozen Fenway was perfect.
The atmosphere was electric for both games at Fenway Park. Fans were treated to two thrilling games. Both games went to overtime with the home team in the matchups winning. In first contest of the day, UMass defeated the University of Vermont by a score of 3-2 in overtime. In the second game titled “The Border War” Maine defeated University of New Hampshire by a score of 5-4 in overtime. The game winners both college games brought back shades of Marco Sturms’s goal in overtime against the Flyers in the Winter Classic two years ago at Fenway Park.
UMass defensemen Michael Marcou scored the overtime winner against Vermont with 22.3 seconds left in the extra session. Vermont and Massachusetts had a back and forth affair. Both teams traded goals throughout the first two periods, and the third period was a scoreless affair before Marcou scored in overtime. Marcou’s goal was on the power play. Prior to that action, Vermont took a 5-minute penalty for hitting from behind giving the Minutemen a rare power play opportunity in overtime. NHL prospects Drew MacKenzie of Vermont and Danny Hobbs of Massachusetts each had a goal in the game.
Maine’s Bryan Flynn scored with 1:22 left in the overtime session to give the Black Bears a win over the Wildcats. Maine’s top line has carried the Black Bears all season and nothing change during their match up with the UNH Wildcats Saturday evening. The Black Bears were led by Mark Anthoine and Joey who each had two goals in the contest. The Wildcats were outdone as Kevin Goumas and John Henrion each scored of pair of goals in the contest.
Whether the outdoor hockey games are put on by the National Hockey League or the NCAA, both would like ideal conditions to play hockey outdoors. At the start of the first game, the game time temperature was 58 degrees. By the second game the temperature dropped to 40 degrees. These temperatures are not ideal to play outdoor hockey. The players for Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire were not affected by the conditions out on the rink.
If you had never been to a hockey game either on professional or college level, then Frozen Fenway was an event for you. The fans reminded everyone in attendance what it was like to be in college again. The fans for all of the participating schools involved in the great event were cheering their teams and sending jeers to their opponents. It was a great atmosphere all night at Fenway. The players for the all the colleges were kids again playing outdoors at Fenway Park.
It was a great day of hockey in Boston. There was tripleheader of action as the Canucks and Bruins played in a rematch of the Stanley Cup final, followed by the doubleheader at the Fenway. As fan of hockey, the action in all three games was great for the sport.
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