U is for UNH

When I first heard that Fenway Park would be home to an ice rink once again for two weeks and that UNH would be one of the hockey teams playing there, I knew what my “U” activity would be. Of course that meant waiting 5 months since our last adventure, “T is for Tecumseh” but it could not be helped. We bought our game tickets the day they went on sale which turned out to be good thinking as the game sold out quickly. On January 7, two college hockey games were scheduled to be played - UMass vs. Vermont at 4pm, and UNH vs. Maine at 8pm. The Bruins had a game vs. Vancouver at 1pm on the same day; the only rematch for the 2011 Stanley Cup finals teams this season and a must-watch for Bruins fans. So I planned a total day of hockey. Part one was spent at Jerry Remy’s Grill which is the best place in town to watch a sporting event, and is right next to Fenway Park. We arrived just before 1:00 and grabbed the last table in the bar, right in front of one of the big screens. As a bonus, we had a Groupon to use so we ordered up some drinks and a few appetizers and settled in for the afternoon.

Watching the "Screen Monsters" at Remy's

By the time the game started, the bar was packed with hockey fans, some on their way over to Fenway for the later games, and some just hanging out with other Bostonians to cheer on the Bruins. It was a fun atmosphere even though the Bruins ultimately lost the game. Considering this was the third sporting event we’ve watched at Remy’s and our teams have lost all of them, I’m not sure how eager I am to view another event there. After making our way through a few more appetizers and watching part of the Umass/UVM game, a friend and some of his UNH buddies showed up and we gave them our table since we’d had enough sitting around. We walked over to Fenway and checked out the team store before heading into the park. It had been very warm during the day but we were pleasantly surprised to discover that it was still in the 50’s after dark. The high in Boston that day was 60 which was just shy of the record high of 63. We watched the last few minutes of regulation and the OT period of the first game, and UMass came away with the win. We headed over to our seats and settled in to wait for the next game which was rescheduled to begin at 8pm. At puck drop, it was still 50 degrees. We’ve been to many chillier baseball games at Fenway…some in June! Last time there was ice at Fenway for the Winter Classic two years ago, we attended the “Old Timers’ Game” and sat in the upper deck with a great view of the action. This time our seats were behind home plate and too low to really see any of the action.

Our seats for the game...it was tough to see the puck. Or anything else on the ice.

But college games are always a lot of fun and spirited so it was nice just being there. Of course, this being Boston, the temperature dropped considerably and by the 2^nd period we were freezing. All the sitting around and the cold weather finally caught up to us and we left in the 3^rd period. We got home to find UNH had tied up the game and forced OT, but proceeded to lose. At least we didn’t have to hear it from those obnoxious Maine fans in person. I think the day of hockey, and my “U” activity was a great success if I do say so myself. Doug is up next with “V” and I have a feeling we won’t have to wait 5 months again.