The Agony of being a UNH Hockey Fan

The sad UNH players

Many of you know that George and I are dedicated UNH Hockey fans. We have been season ticket owners for 10 years now and hockey is a big part of our lives in the fall and winter. UNH always puts a good team together and does well in the regular season but just can’t win in the playoffs. This has become very frustrating to UNH fans as they watch UNH do well each year but then lose very early in the playoffs and tournament games.

Last night was the perfect example of this – UNH was playing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They were a number one seed and were playing Notre Dame, a number four seed. So overall UNH is number four in the country and playing a team ranked 12th in the country. Also, the Notre Dame team had not won more than 2 games in the two months.

So the stage is set and George and I are feeling confident. The boys are watching the game too and Benny is cheering “UNH, UNH”.

UNH scored just minutes into game. George and I both jumped up from our seats. We were feeling good. "Wohoo!" I yell.

Then Notre Dame scored a minute later on their first shot of the game and on a shot that should have been stopped by our goal tender. That was too much for me so I got a glass of white wine.

UNH then scored a couple of minutes later to go up 2-1 and confidence was once again restored in the Snow household. UNH controlled play for a bit but then seemed to falter. They took a late penalty at the end of the period which put Notre Dame on the power play. (Side note: At this point they had not called a penalty on Notre Dame so George and I were getting upset with the referee as well.)

Notre Dame tied it up on their power play and went into the locker room tied at 2-2. The momentum had turned and Notre Dame was feeling confident whereas the UNH players and fans were wondering what was happening to their top team.

Notre Dame carried that confidence into the second period and scored two goals in a row to lead 4-2. At this point I threatened to turn off the TV but George wanted to watch the game so I grabbed a cookbook and looked for some good dessert recipes while keeping an eye on the game.

I was starting to feel very bad for our goaltender too. He had been the backbone of the team and had only allowed 4 or more goals in a couple of games all year. So this was not the time for him to have a bad day.

UNH was able to score later in the 2nd period to bring it to within one goal. Perhaps they had weathered the storm and would come out strong in the 3rd period.

The 3rd period revival never occurred. Notre Dame scored 23 seconds into the period – I actually missed the goal because I was refilling my wine glass.

After that it was all over – Notre Dame scored a couple of empty net goals and ended up winning 7-3. So another sad morning for UNH fans across New Hampshire – each of us wondering what this team needs to do to win in the playoffs and to take it to the next level.

No need to worry – the Snow family is okay. We are used to this. But we did talk about ending this misery and not getting season tickets anymore...I think George was joking.