It sounded like a good idea at the time.
The question was whether it was realistic.
Portland lawyer Gary Prolman was contemplating organizing an alumni event for the University of Maine hockey program. He just so happened to have Boston Bruin great Rick Middleton with him at the time.
“We were talking about getting a UMaine game together and then we started talking about having some of the UMaine players play some of the Bruins,” recalled Prolman, who has been active with the Bruins alumni team. “Then we joked around and said ‘Why don’t we call it the Battle of the Bears?'”
Middleton already had a core of Bruins alumni that play 35 to 40 games a year but getting a large group of former Black Bears was an uncertainty.
“We didn’t really think it was going to be that realistic, especially when we woke up the next morning and realized we had a lot of stuff to do,” Prolman said.
It proved more doable than first thought.
Saturday that Battle of the Bears takes place at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Both rosters feature a who’s who of former Bruins and Black Bears. Proceeds of the event go to the Maine State Troopers Foundation, UMaine hockey and the Portland Boxing Club.
“It will be a nice fast game with a lot of good passing and a lot of goals,” said Middleton. “I know our goalie Cleon Daskilakas had the summer off. I don’t think he’s had the pads on at all. So it should be very interesting. We might have to give him a nice long warmup.”
The Bruins lineup includes legends like Middleton, Ray Bourque, Terry O’Reilly and Brad Park as well as Andy Brickley, Bob Beers, Kenny Linseman and Bob Sweeney.
The Black Bears roster includes Bob Corkum, Chris and Peter Ferraro, Eric Weinrich, Mario Thyer, Cal Ingraham, Dave Capuano, Chris Imes and Blair Allison.
“It’ll be a fun event,” said Corkum. “No one will take it too too seriously but there’s always your pride and your love of competition. We’ll just have to make sure there’s plenty of ice in the locker room afterwards.”
Corkum was one of the first people Prolman called after the initial idea. He knew he’d be able to reach out to Black Bear alumni and convince them to participate.
“I thought it’d be pretty easy,” Corkum said. “It’s for a great cause. All those things together and a great atmosphere, it’s a great event for everybody. It was pretty well received by the players. It was an easy sell.”
Same went for the Bruins.
“Nifty got back to me and he told me there was a good response,” said Prolman, a longtime local coach and player agent. “He said I’d be happy to know that Ray Bourque was willing to come up. When Ray Bourque talks, people will come.”
It got to the point that each roster continued to add more players.
“As we added a few more Bruins, then UMaine would add a few guys,” Prolman said. “Then the Bruins would see UMaine adding more guys. So they’d add more guys. We’ve got good rosters for both of them. It got kind of competitive. So it worked out well.”
The event won’t just included hockey. Comedian Bob Marley will be on hand to warm up the crowd. There will be a postgame concert featuring Lyle Divinsky and the Don Campbell Band. There will be an autograph session featuring all the players. There will also be an outdoor barbecue and a Brew Festival featuring Shipyard and Baxter Brewing.
“It should be a pretty good day of entertainment for people,” Prolman said.
When Middleton and his fellow Bruins alumni play charity events, they’re often playing local players, police or firemen. It is rare that they play a team with the talent that the Black Bears will offer.
“It’s not too often that we play against former pros or college guys,” Middleton said. “Since they’re considerably younger than us, we expect a pretty competitive game. I loaded up with some younger guys like Ray Bourque. We should be able to be competitive with them. Whether we can skate with them remains to be seen.”
The former Black Bears reunite on occassion for alumni games but this is a rare gathering too. It is also a great opportunity to play against former foes and heroes.
“I grew up being a Boston Bruins fan,” Corkum said. “It’s always an honor to get on the ice with Terry O’Reilly, Ray Bourque and Rick Middleton to name a few. It doesn’t happen very often. So you jump at the chance to do it.”
Middleton said that his team is often taking the ice against the unknown. Unless they had played a charity event against the same team previously, they often play teams they know little about. There won’t be a question as to the skill level they’ll play against Saturday.
“When we don’t know who we’re playing and how good they are, we often have to turn it up a little,” Middleton said. “So we have to play at a level to at least match them and maybe even a little better then them to win the game. This will be a competitive game because their pros and college players.”
Tickets for Saturday event are available at the Colisee. The ticket includes the game as well as all the postgame festivities.
kmills@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
