When the final buzzer sounded, Maine had closed out a return to the Frozen Four with a 4-3 win over Boston University. Captain Peter Metcalf took the Shawn Walsh jersey that has hung behind the Black Bear bench every game since the legendary coach’s death six months ago and skated onto the ice.

What Metcalf did next was not part of the team’s ritual involving the jersey; it instead came instinctively from the heart. He circled near the Maine net and held the jersey aloft. As he continued to traverse the Black Bear zone, fans who were already on their feet cheering the team’s win grew louder in their applause.

Metcalf

Soon it wasn’t just Maine loyalists who were standing. Befitting the community of college hockey, some rival fans paid tribute to the man who had built Maine into a Division I powerhouse only to be felled by cancer at the age of 46.

“It was a thrill,” says Metcalf. “It just rushed through my body. Obviously, we dedicated the season to him. I hadn’t even planned to do it. I hadn’t thought of it.

“I was skating around yelling out, ‘This is for him!’

“He’s proud of us right now. He’s kicking back and probably smoking a cigar or something and saying, ‘It’s better winning than losing.'”

A fierce competitor, Walsh had remained positive to the end, when his death rocked the team just as it was about to open its season. His players, who had viewed him as much father figure as coach, described his demise with words such as “unfathomable.”

The Black Bears skated zombie-like in the early going, posting a 3-4-2 record in the first nine games. There was a new leader, interim head coach Tim Whitehead, to adjust to and a sadness in their hearts.

Eventually, however, the toughness and competitive fire of their fallen leader manifested itself in the players.

“[Cancer] is my next opponent,” Walsh had said with no self-pity when diagnosed. “What’s next, Doc?”

What had been near-inconsolable loss in September became inspiration over time. A shamrock with the initials SW was added to the jersey’s sleeve. Each game, a player who had displayed Walsh’s spirit was chosen to handle the honor of hanging the coach’s ceremonial jersey on the goalpost during team introductions and then bringing it to the bench.

“He’s still a huge inspiration to us,” says senior Matt Yeats. “He built this program. Coach Whitehead took over and he’s done a great job so far, but we’re really playing for [Shawn Walsh].”

Ask Metcalf if perhaps six months later Walsh’s impact might be getting overstated by the media and the senior captain becomes emotional, needing a few seconds to compose himself.

“Just because it happened back in September [doesn’t change anything],” he says. “He’s still fresh in our minds.

“There are days when I go out and make a play and I don’t pass it hard enough and I hear him yelling in the back of my head and turn around. He’s not there, but I still hear him yelling.

“He’s still in everyone’s mind.”

Whitehead, hired as an associate head coach ostensibly to fill in during Walsh’s treatments, could have felt threatened by this devotion and the need to measure up to an icon, but instead considered it a positive.

“There was no other way to do it,” he says. “I have to be honest. You don’t want to be the guy that follows the legend. You want to be the guy that follows the guy that follows the legend. That’s very true and I knew that.

“Obviously, there’s no attempt to try to be Shawn Walsh. Nobody is. Shawn was unique and an exceptional coach. He was Maine hockey. All I’ve tried to do is be patient and recognize that it’s a process and hold the players accountable for their commitment to make this a season that Shawn would be proud of. That’s my role.

“I told them at the beginning that there were going to be a lot of highs and lows. Maybe more lows than highs. The thing we couldn’t do is waver from our commitment to make this a special season.

“I’m just very proud of them that they never strayed from that because, as you can imagine, we had some very tough moments. They’ve really pulled together.”

The Black Bears entered the national tournament with only a single loss in their last nine games, falling only to top-ranked New Hampshire in the Hockey East championship contest. They then defeated Harvard in the NCAA tourney’s first round, 4-3 in overtime, to face Boston University in the quarterfinals.

Other than my family, [coaching is] what I love to do,” Walsh had said. “That’s what I bleed, so to speak.”

This was the time of year that Walsh had loved best. In 1999, he’d led the Black Bears to their second national title. In 2000, they’d reached the Frozen Four only to fall to eventual champion North Dakota. Last year, they’d lost to Boston College, also destined for the title, in the quarterfinals.

“This was his time,” says senior Mike Morrison. “This was where he just ate NCAA hockey up. He wishes he could be with us now.

“We wanted to get out of [the East regional] on a winning note because he didn’t get out of here on a winning note last year. We’re all rising to the occasion right now.”

That they have.

Midway through the third period, Maine broke open a 2-2 game with goals by Lucas Lawson and Colin Shields. BU, however, closed the gap to 4-3 with three minutes remaining. Black Bear fans then had some anxious moments in the final minute when, with the Terrier goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, BU won two faceoffs cleanly in the offensive zone. The draws, however, slid harmlessly out to center ice, in one case right through the legs of the intended shooter.

To hear some Maine players describe it, Shawn Walsh was watching over them, making sure the little breaks went their way.

“Every little bounce that happens,” says Morrison, “we’re looking up to him saying, ‘Whew! I bet that was you!’

“We’re just trying to keep working hard like he would have wanted us to. We know that if we do our job, he’ll hopefully take care of us.”

“He helps us out,” adds Metcalf. “They could have scored at the end. Maybe he kept it out.”

After Maine’s season ended last March, Walsh had expressed no doubts that he’d be back on the bench to open this year.

“I’ll be stunned if I’m not there,” he said.

In many ways, he was right.

The history of American literature is not complete without a discussion of the great Ernest Hemingway. You can read the William Faulkners, the Mark Twains and the Edgar Allen Poes and think maybe you have a hand on American lit, but without Hemingway, the education is incomplete.

Now maybe it’s a stretch to compare that to college hockey, but one look at the UNH hockey team might lead to an eerily similar conclusion.

Sure you can talk about Darren Haydar. With 76 points in 39 games, Haydar is a strong contender for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. He was Hockey East Player of the Year, the MVP of the league championship tournament, and one of the most feared players in the league.

Hemingway

The Wildcats’ goaltending duo of Matt Carney and Michael Ayers can give teams nightmares. The two have combined for 30 wins on the season, leading UNH as one of the top defensive teams in the nation.

But how complete would your knowledge be of the 2001-02 season without junior forward Colin Hemingway? Leave him off your curriculum and you stand to lose your accreditation.

Standing a lanky six-foot-one with a 185-pound frame, Hemingway has taken the game by storm this year. And on Sunday night, his two goals — numbers 32 and 33 of the season — helped the Wildcats defeat stubborn Cornell and take a major step in their quest towards a national championship, returning them to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1999.

“He’s had an absolutely terrific season,” said UNH head coach Dick Umile of the second-line right wing. “He made first team [all-star] in our league as one of the top forwards in Hockey East and that says a lot about him.”

Maybe all-star teams do say enough about Heminway, but as one of the nation’ s most effective goalscorers, one might think that he would be a cinch for Hobey Baker candidacy. But that’s where eyebrows raise.

With Haydar excelling from day one of the season, Hemingway has taken a back seat even in the eyes of his team. Often needing what equates to a marketing push to earn the nomination for the Hobey Baker, UNH chose to highlight Haydar’s accomplishments. You never saw a “Hemingway for Hobey” poster. There wasn’t a “Hemingway Watch.”

But all of that, in Haydar’s eyes, may be helping Hemingway.

“Colin’s a great player and I think he deserves more credit than he gets,” said Haydar, whose power-play chemistry with Hemingway helped set up both tallies on Sunday. “But I think it’s a little bittersweet for him right now. Most of the teams aren’t focusing as much on [Colin’s] line as they are on my line. So he’s liking that aspect of it.”

Hemingway agrees.

“When Darren’s line is out there, they’re definitely going to be focusing on his line because he’s such a great player,” said Hemingway, who has found enough space on the ice to record the longest current scoring streak on UNH — 12 games. “That definitely frees up some room for our line, actually all the lines for that matter. If [our line] isn’t going on one night, [Darren’s] is. And if they’re not going, we are.”

If there’s any surprise to why a team wouldn’t focus much on Hemingway, one needs only to look at the stats. Entering the season, Hemingway had scored but 12 markers in two years with UNH.

One of those 12 gave him some national recognition when he scored a between-the-legs, behind-the-back goal last year versus Providence that earned him a mention on ESPN’s SportsCenter. But still, “unassuming” was probably the best adjective to describe Hemingway.

With 35 points through his sophomore season, Hemingway set some pretty lofty goals for himself this year. Who knew that he would far surpass them?

“Coming in, some of my buddies back home were talking with me about getting 30, 35 maybe 40 points. Stretching, maybe I’d get 50,” said Hemingway, who hails from the far west of Surrey, B.C. “I guess I’ve passed all the expectations of myself. The hard work that I put in is paying off for me right now.”

In fact, when he fired a one-timer from the high slot past Cornell’s Matt Underhill to knot the game at two less than seven minutes into Sunday’s game, Hemingway had reached a milestone he never really thought imaginable.

“My dad said something to me today [about being one point from 100] and I really wasn’t thinking about it,” said Hemingway, who now has 45 goals, coupled with 56 assists for 101 career points. “When I did [score the goal] I still wasn’t really thinking about it.”

Thinking about it or not, Hemingway’s performance is one that can only be classified as breakthrough. Also, it works very well into the balance that the Wildcats hoped to achieve this season, and put on display on Sunday night. Though Hemingway buried two goals on the evening, fourth-liner Jim Abbott matched him with two of his own, including the game-winner in the closing minutes.

All that led to UNH’s sixth berth in the Frozen Four, and first since falling to Maine in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2 in overtime, in the 1999 championship game.

“I’m really excited about [the Frozen Four],” said Hemingway. “Who knows if it will happen again? So we’re just going to take it in stride, go out to Minnesota and play our hearts out.”

And maybe he won’t factor into the history of American literature, but with two more wins and a national championship, Hemingway could write a script that would engrain him and the 2001-02 team in UNH hockey history.

Last February, the Maine Black Bears were struggling on offense so coaching legend Shawn Walsh moved longtime defenseman Michael Schutte to forward. In short order, he became the team’s top goalscorer.

This February, Maine was scoring goals in bunches, but at the same time giving up too many in its own end. Not to worry. Interim head coach Tim Whitehead moved Schutte back to defense and the team promptly went undefeated in the next nine games.

Next February, no doubt, he’ll be asked to become a goaltender and throw a shutout.

Schutte also has displayed a flair for the dramatic in the NCAA East Regional.

Last year, he scored a goal with 2.7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime in Maine’s opening-round contest against Minnesota. The Black Bears went on to win, and then face eventual national champion Boston College, a game in which Schutte scored the team’s only goal.

In this year’s first-round matchup, Maine found itself struggling against Harvard, a team many had expected the Black Bears to dispatch with ease.

Having played catch-up through much of two periods, they turned to their defenseman-turned-forward-turned-defenseman to give them their first lead of the game. His dropping down from the point to bury a perfect pass from Robert Liscak would have been Schutte’s third game-winner of the season if not for a third-period Harvard power-play goal.

“Michael is a very well-rounded player,” says Whitehead, who took over the reins after Walsh’s death in September. “He can contribute in a lot of different ways. We use him on the power play, on the penalty kill and on five-on-five. He’s obviously a very effective forward and he certainly has provided a big boost for us on the defense this year.

“We moved him back because he had experience and was very composed with the puck. He can take a hit and he can make a play under pressure. Those are his biggest strengths and that really helps you. One of the best qualities of a defenseman is to get it out of your own end safely and he’s pretty good at that.”

Schutte hasn’t minded being a bit of a yo-yo for the Black Bears.

“It’s something I’ve adjusted to,” he says. “I grew up playing D my whole life. I played a little forward when I was young, but Coach Walsh moved me to forward last year because I’ve always been an offensive defenseman.”

The position switch proved to be a stroke of genius. Schutte moved alongside Martin Kariya and became the country’s hottest sniper. In the next 13 games, he buried 11 of his team-leading 15 goals and added seven assists. He finished the season with a team-high seven power-play goals.

Small wonder, especially in light of his surname, that his nickname became “Shooter.”

“I never imagined [that success up front] in a million years, but I was playing with Martin Kariya,” he says. “I’m sure he set me up on almost every single goal. And Matthias Trattnig was just a bull last year. I never really imagined it, but it worked out that way and it was fun.”

Fun, however, begins with winning. Midway through this season, Maine was a very-good-but-not-great team. The Black Bears were scoring plenty, but four freshman defensemen did not seem like a recipe for postseason success. As a result, the longtime defenseman lobbied Whitehead for a return to his natural position.

“My preference is really defense,” he says. “It was great last year when the goals were going in, but I like playing defense and getting the puck to the forwards. I thought that my experience back there could help out this year because of the youth of our defense.

“A month before the Providence series [in mid-February], I went to Coach and said, ‘Hey, can you please move me back to D?’

“I was bugging him that whole month and he said, ‘Okay, we’ll try you out in practice at D. If things look good, we’ll move you back.’

“I practiced D one week, but still ended up playing forward that series. I practiced D again the next week and wound up being on D.”

The switch paid immediate dividends as the Black Bears went undefeated through nine games until losing to top-ranked New Hampshire in the Hockey East title tilt. Schutte solidified the blue line while continuing to provide offensive punch from the position.

He also remained at forward on the power play, typically working with Kariya and Niko Dimitrakos.

“He has great poise in traffic,” says Whitehead. “He can have a guy hanging all over him and he’ll still have the strength and poise to make a play.

“That’s a rare skill, to have the strength and the poise combined to make plays in tight situations. He certainly has those things. He’s very valuable on the power play.”

When an ailing Colin Shields — who leads the team with 28 goals — had to be replaced for this regional first-round contest, Whitehead declined to plug Schutte in up front. He was just too valuable on the blue line.

“Michael was playing really well back there,” says Whitehead. “With Harvard’s skill and strength at forward, he was a very important player for us.”

The decision paid off. Schutte was on the ice for only a single Harvard goal while scoring the pivotal tally late in the second period.

“Michael made a good read and went at the right time and one-timed it,” says Whitehead. “He has good offensive instincts. It was a nice goal.”

Having excelled both up front and on the blue line, Schutte now just needs some time in goal to complete the positional hat trick.

He laughs at the tongue-in-cheek suggestion.

“I’ll have to make the best of it, I guess.”