For the second straight Frozen Four, Montague’s Brock Hines finds himself calling games in person on the radio as the UMass hockey team trades blows with the best programs on the biggest stage in the country.
It’s still an improbable place for him to be, especially after 28 years of calling Minutemen contests.
Hines will be on the call for WHMP with partners Donnie Moorhouse and Adam Frenier for Saturday night’s NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship title game against St. Cloud State, as UMass attempts to win the program’s first-ever national championship. Puck drop is 7 p.m. at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Hines has been calling UMass hockey games since the program made the move to Division I back in 1993. A lot has changed since then, to say the least.
“I remember looking at the other schools that were playing in the Frozen Four over the years and thinking, ‘We probably have to serve our time here,’” began Hines, talking from his Pittsburgh hotel Friday afternoon. “A lot of tough years for the program but to see a Greg Carvel come in, and then two to three years later he turns the program from a five-win team to back-to-back Frozen Fours… that’s just, wow. You go from, ‘Why not us,’ to, ‘Holy cow.’”
Thursday night’s semifinal victory over two-time defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth had a little bit of everything. UMass took an early lead, lost it, seemed overmatched for stretches of time and then ultimately saved its best for last. The Minutemen tied the game in the third period and forced overtime, where Garrett Wait won the game and sent the Amherst bunch into Saturday’s title game for the second time in as many tournaments.
For Hines, calling Thursday’s semifinal game was as close to normal as things have been in the broadcasting business this season. The WHMP team called the game from their own suite inside PPG Paints Arena, a far cry from several contests this winter.
“We’ve been in all different types of extremes this year,” Hines said. “Donnie’s living room was our remote location in Westfield. That’s where we did a handful of games, rinks that wouldn’t let us in because of the pandemic. One thing that struck both of us though, is what a privilege it is. I’ve thought this all along; we’re so lucky that we’re able to be on site and be some of the few to be inside an arena to call games of these magnitudes. I don’t overlook that at all.”
Hines, who arrived in Pittsburgh late Wednesday night, said the atmosphere inside the arena, which is limited to 25-percent capacity, did make a different in Thursday night’s semifinal.
“It did bring you back a little bit to the way it was before,” he offered. “You notice the fans in there. I could hear the back and forth, the UMass people chanting and the Duluth people picking it up.”
Hines said the ebbs and flows of Thursday’s win made for an eventful game to call. He admitted that UMass didn’t look comfortable early, but late in the game, the club rose to the occasion — a familiar theme, particularly late in the season.
“What you saw in the third period and the overtime, especially, was that a Greg Carvel trademark is he has one of the best conditioned teams in college hockey,” Hines said. “Nobody has scored on them in the third period, going back to their game (March 5) against Maine. There’s a reason for that. And then guys had to step up. A guy like Bobby Trivigno (who assisted on the game-winning goal), he didn’t get to play in the national championship game (in 2019 due to a suspension) and I think he was on a mission to get back and get a chance to play.”
As for Saturday’s opponent, Hines admitted there’s not much hockey familiarity for UMass fans with the Huskies. The two teams haven’t played since Jan. 4, 2002, when UMass traveled out to Minnesota and dropped a 5-1 contest. Almost 20 years later, they’ll meet with slightly higher stakes on the line.
“If UMass plays its game, and especially if they play anywhere remotely like they did in the third period and overtime (Thursday), I think they stand a great chance to win,” Hines explained. “Whoever wins the title, they’re going to have gone through three schools from the other’s state in the NCAA tournament. If UMass wins, they’ll have beaten three Minnesota schools (Bemidji State, Minn.-Duluth, St. Cloud State) to do it and if St. Cloud does, they’ll have beaten three Massachusetts schools (Boston University, Boston College, UMass). It’s two schools going for their first national title so anything can happen.”