Maybe the magic of Fenway Park will help the University of Maine men’s hockey team.

The Black Bears will play the University of Connecticut at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in another round of “Frozen Fenway” games.

In their past two Fenway games, in 2012 and 2014, the Black Bears enjoyed victory, first over New Hampshire, and then Boston University.

But this year’s team is struggling (7-11-3, 1-7-1 in Hockey East) and is winless away from the state of Maine. On Thursday, the Black Bears lost 6-3 to UConn (9-7-6, 5-3-2) in Bridgeport.

Saturday’s atmosphere will be a little different. Maine Coach Red Gendron remembers two years ago, when the Black Bears beat Boston University, 7-3, in a game featuring rain and a first-period delay because of a threat of lightning.

“As a coach, you worry about the conditions,” Gendron said. “But then you see how exited the players are for the experience.

“It was a tough day but the best thing was seeing how excited our players were. There are no guarantees that any of them will play in another outdoor game at a high level. It’s potentially an experience of a lifetime.”

That is how Cam Brown remembers it. He played in the BU game as a freshman.

“It was awesome, said Brown, a senior from Natick, Massachusetts. “I remember seeing a ton of Sox games there. (The hockey game) was crazy fun, and the weather made for another cool element. Top of the list of my coolest hockey experiences.”

Ben Freeman of Falmouth also has been to his share of Red Sox games. He will be skating on Saturday, as a forward for UConn.

After two seasons at Falmouth High, Freeman played for Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts where, Freeman said, he played in a partially enclosed rink.

“So this (game at Fenway) will be just like a home game,” said Freeman, a freshman.

With maybe a few more thousand fans. The 2014 game had an announced crowd of 25,580.

Saturday’s game is the first in a Hockey East doubleheader, followed by Northeastern-New Hampshire. The doubleheader was originally set for 4 p.m., but was moved up to avoid conflicting with the New England Patriots playoff game at 8:15 p.m.

 

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