Maine, UNH Border War Heads to Neutral Sites This Weekend

(NESN takes a look at the heated rivalry between Maine and UNH)

By Brandon Paul, Maine Sports Journal 

At every level of sports across the world, rivalries exist. Whether it be professional, amateur, college or high school sports, when you mention the word “rivalry” a game instantly takes on extra meaning.  For sports fans in the state of Maine, the longest-standing and most talked about rivalry is the “Border War” between the University of Maine hockey team and the nearby University of New Hampshire hockey team.

200.7 miles separate the two schools, but that doesn’t stop fans of both teams from coming out in full support any time they match up against each other.  On a normal occasion, those matchups take place at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine or at the Whittemore Center in Durham, New Hampshire. But this upcoming weekend, fans in different areas of their respective states will have the opportunity to witness the highly-anticipated Border War.

On Friday night, the University of New Hampshire will host Maine at the Verizon Wireless Arena located in Manchester, the state’s most populated city.  The next night, the Black Bears will host the Wildcats at the newly renovated Cross Insurance Arena located in Portland, which also happens to be Maine’s most populated city.

This unique home-and-home non-conference matchup is the first of its kind.  Both schools are hoping to make the pair of games in Manchester and Portland a tradition after this season.

Anticipation for both events this weekend are very high, as is evident by the near sellout for Saturday’s game in Portland. On Thursday afternoon, the University of Maine released a press release indicating that just 50 tickets remain available for the game.

Both rinks that the teams will play on this weekend are normally used by American Hockey League (AHL) teams. This means that they will be playing on professional-sized rinks larger than what they are accustomed to playing on at their home arenas. Normally, a larger rink provides a faster paced game with more goals being scored, a win-win situation for fans hoping to get their best entertainment value.

Unlike in recent years, both teams currently sit near the bottom of the Hockey East Association standings.  Maine (3-12-1) is currently on an eight-game losing streak, while New Hampshire (4-9-1) has gone winless in their last five games.

Like any rivalry in sports, whether it be Yankees/Red Sox, Celtics/Lakers, or UNC/Duke, the current success of each program is irrelevant when the puck drops. The two teams don’t like each other, their fans don’t like each other and all that matters that night is which team comes out on top when the final horn sounds.

As both schools prepare to head into the holiday break for college students after this matchup, a pair of wins this weekend would mean even more to both sides.

With anticipation high and a lot on the line, fans in Manchester and Portland should be ready to expect a pair of barn burner games this weekend.

Who comes out on top of this two-game matchup? Will Maine sweep the weekend? Will UNH sweep the weekend? Or will the two teams split? Let your voice be heard in the poll below.