The University of Maine men’s hockey team has, by far, the biggest fan base of all organized athletic teams in the Bangor area and quite possibly the entire state. It consistently plays in front of a sold-out crowd at the Alfond Arena. Many of these fans are from out of town and will travel 100-plus miles to avoid missing a hockey game. Most of the opposing teams will admit that they loathe playing at the Alfond because of the atmosphere created by the fans. We’re a rowdy, unrelenting, go big or go home crowd that lives for Maine hockey.

Why then, with such a fan base, does the Sun Journal feel it necessary to deprive me and other area fans of Maine hockey news?

Week after week, I have to search the sports section to find anything on the previous night’s game. Half the time, I come up with nothing more than a score.

In comparison, the Bangor Daily News makes it front-page news on a weekly basis. You might argue that since Bangor is next door to Orono, it is only natural for the BDN to give them the extra attention they receive, just as the Sun Journal does for the Maineiacs. However, the Black Bears have both diehard fans and fair-weather fans in the L-A region, and UMaine athletics will always represent the state as a whole. It doesn’t need to be headline news, but a steady flow of game highlights would be great.

Matthew Thibault, Lewiston

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