You know how the saying goes, “The best laid plans…….yada, yada, yada.” For myself and a number of determined fans, it was never truer than last Friday night at the FleetCenter in Boston.

It was hard to imagine, but the Hockey East semifinals were played without the University of Maine.

There I was last Dec. 20, counting down the minutes until the tickets went on sale. I was there, along with everyone else I spoke to Friday night to get my tickets as soon as they were available on the Internet. Those two tickets had been tacked to my bulletin board for close to three months.

I knew my seats were good, but it didn’t sink in until we walked in to the arena. Loge 12 is center ice. Row three. Nothing to complain about in the first place until you realize there isn’t a row one or two at center ice. There are more important things like the visitor’s penalty box. We were on TV every time a UMass player was sent to there to do some hard time.

We walked down the section surrounded by the University of New Hampshire blue and white, me in my dark blue Maine hockey hat. There was no hostility, but it is funny how hecklers seldom have their facts right when they do say something.

We were joined in the front row by a young couple. He was wearing a leather Chicago Blackhawks jacket. The man turned and looked at me.

“Oh, cool, another Maine fan,” said Roger Loud, an Orono student and Cornish native. “Glad I’m not the only one.”

Loud and his fiancee used the occasion to give the DownEaster train a try.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I think Maine wouldn’t be playing tonight,” said Loud.

It wasn’t easy to spot fellow Black Bear sufferers in the crowd. In the announced attendance of 17,565, I saw more Wildcat paraphernalia in one section than I saw signs of Maine in the entire arena.

At least UNH fans were just as pleasant, unlike the gentleman I had to deal with last year. This was my third year going to the semis.

There was such a contrast between UNH and UMass fans. UNH (and Maine does as well) has crowd chants when the Wildcats score a goal or when the opposition gets a penalty.

UMass on the other hand acted like it didn’t know how to act.

Roger and I did the only thing we could do. We lent our energy to their cause.

When the Minutemen recovered twice from two-goal deficits, we were there screaming along. I had an awesome piece of glass to pound on right in front of me. I used it often and I used it right up until the winning goal by New Hampshire with 2:59 left in the third.

Looking straight across the ice was even more ironic. In the first row, right behind the bench Maine would have used, sat six people all in Maine hockey sweaters.

“We bought our tickets the day they went on sale,” said Adam Parker of Bangor. “There are eight of us overall and we never considered not coming. We have our seats for the finals tomorrow night as well.”

When asked if UMass’ performance against UNH justified what happened at Alfond a week before, Parker had mixed emotions.

“When you start out with like four shutouts in the first five games,” said Parker. “It’s kind of hard to go anywhere but down in the minds of the fans.”

“It would have been great to see UMass knock them off,” said Parker. “There was a very loud UNH contingent right near us. We got lucky though cause right behind us and the section next to us was all UMass so we blended in with them and cheered on UMass. It worked out pretty well for us. There is no way I could ever root for UNH.”

Cynthia Jones, Parker’s fiancee, and a student at Orono, said not coming wasn’t an option.

“We got our tickets right when they went on sale and we were hoping and praying but UMass beat us fairly squarely at home,” said Jones. “We’re hockey fans and we had to cheer on UMass. We were talking to one of their managers after the game and we said to tell them that we are proud of them and that they gave it their all.”

Other Maine fans simply set their sites higher.

“Is was so disappointing what happened last weekend,” said Gaile Nicholson of Baileyville. “But there is always the Frozen Four. We never thought about not coming, but I certainly had plenty of offers for my tickets. We are making a weekend of it down here.”

Nicholson was one of many people that got together and chartered a bus for the trip.

As exciting as the first game was, it turned out to be just the opening act. In the nightcap, Boston University outlasted Boston College, 6-5, in double overtime. Without someone to root against as much as root for, it was hard to get really into it.

That didn’t stop the BU crowd to my left, one of whom was wearing a Terrier sweater with “BC sucks” in place of a name on the shoulders.

It was the longest semifinal game in Hockey East history.

I was also hard to get it out of my head that this is the game Maine would have (should have) played in.

We made a weekend of it as well, although we came back on Saturday. We found an excellent breakfast in the North End and did some touristy things in town. I love Boston.

I also listened to UNH capture their second-consecutive Hockey East title on the Internet later in the evening.

It was a little consoling to note that it didn’t come easy for the Wildcats this year. It also helps to remember the Hockey East title meant nothing for UNH when it came time for the national tournament last season.

We came home knowing we had watched the best college hockey you could watch. But there were a couple of other souvenirs as well. One was the puck that found Tammy’s shoulder after bouncing around behind us. The other was the chance to see the ever-so-(over)confident UNH crowd sweat it out. Just a little.

Another tournament has come and gone. I really hope someone from Friday night bought a postcard of Boston and addressed it to the Maine hockey team with a simple message: “Wish you were here.”

Peter Mullen is a staff writer who can be reached pmullen@sunjournal.com