42-1-2 : 25 Years Later

It’s a moment Maine hockey fans won’t soon forget. April 3, 2018, marks the 25th anniversary of what we all know as "The Comeback," when the 1993 team fought back from a two-goal deficit to win its first national title. Jessica Gagne created this blast from the past video to help you relive those last three goals.

► VIDEO: 'The Comeback' 25 Years Later

Down by two goals going into the third period. It’s not the position you want to be in when you are playing for a national championship, but it’s the spot the Maine Black Bears found themselves in on this day 25 years ago.

We all know the ending of the story by now: Maine came back to win its first national title and finished the season with an incredible 42-1-2 record. Sitting in the locker room on that day in 1993, the Black Bears said they knew how it would all end before the final buzzer went off. This was their year, and no one on the team ever doubted that.

The smiles and cheers of a state that finally has a national title in college hockey. Just 20 minutes before this moment, the Black Bears were in the locker room, trailing Lake Superior state 4-2.

"There was never really any panic in the locker room," said freshmen Paul Kariya, the 1993 Hobey Baker Award winner. "We knew that if we played our game, we would have the ability to come back."

Turns out, they only needed a quarter of the period to do it.

"I guess it was meant to be for us. What Jimmy and Paul did in the final was obviously something so special."

In the span of five minutes, Kariya set them up, and senior captain Jim Montgomery knocked them in, scoring not one, not two but three goals in a row for the natural hat trick and the 5-4 Maine lead.

"Now I can look back and say the three goals were nice, but I was just immersed in the moment," Montgomery said. "I didn’t care who was scoring."

Maine was just as captivated. When the final buzzer went off, Black Bear fans at the game in Milwaukee and watching from home were on their feet.

A near-perfect season topped off with Maine’s first championship win. 42-1-2 — a record we’ll never forget and a team that will forever be remembered as one of the best to touch the ice.

► VIDEO: Maine wins 1993 NCAA National Championship

Shawn Walsh’s name is synonymous with hockey excellence. If it wasn’t for his arrival in Orono, Maine wouldn’t be celebrating today on this 25th anniversary of the Black Bears’ first national title.

His team’s 1993 record of most wins in a single season still stands today at 42.

We could spend hours talking about the numbers and titles that his coaching helped bring to Maine, but his players don’t remember him for all that. They remember him for how he shaped their lives and their futures.

The best players want to be led by the best coaches. In the early 90s, Orono was where to find them.

“Coach Walsh and Standbrook and Gendron are probably the best coaches I ever had in my career,” said Paul Kariya.

Walsh took over as head coach at the University of Maine in 1984. By his third year, Maine made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament, and by the time Kariya arrived at the university in 1993, Maine had been to the national tournament six times.

"Shawn was the ultimate salesman and at the same time motivator," said Jim Montgomery, now a head coach himself at the University of Denver. "He knew if someone needed to be built up or could just handle the plain truth."

Love it or hate it, he was a fierce leader that made himself known to everyone in Alfond Arena and beyond.

"I think it was my second year, and he thought having a microphone on during practices was going to be a great idea. It really wasn’t. He’d be booming over the whole Alfond and this was before the expansion so it was even loud than it probably would be now."

Walsh demanded perfection, and he nearly got it from his 1993 team, finally hoisting the championship trophy after a season with only one loss, and coaching the first freshman to ever win the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s Heisman trophy.

"Coach Walsh, thank you very much for all the support you’ve give me… (pause, voice breaks, cheering)."

"Shawn was a champion. He was a winner at everything he did. He expected success from his players, he demanded it."

Through the wins, Walsh had his fair share of controversies. He was suspended without pay midway through the 1995 season. A year later, he was back on the ice and back to his winning ways, bringing home another national title to Maine in 1999.

Just two and a half years after this happiest of moments, hockey fans around the state found themselves in mourning. Their legendary coach was diagnosed with cancer and lost his battle with it in September 2001. He is remembered by Mainers as the best there was, and by his players as the winner they aspired to be.

"Just passion. His passion for the game, his passion for detail. He was always trying to learn and always trying to get better and I took that with me to this day now when I’m coaching.”

"Communication skills I stole from him. How we practice, I stole from him. I think Shawn Walsh is the greatest head coach ever. Communication skills I stole from him. How we practice, I stole from him.”

"He was always trying to learn and always trying to get better, and I took that with me to this day now when I am coaching."

► VIDEO: Shawn Walsh

This is "42-1-2," a documentary produced after the Black Bears' historic title run: