When the University of Maine men’s hockey team kicks off its regular season at home in a few weeks, the Black Bears will have some help from Barstool Sports.
UMaine is hosting a fan fest at Alfond Stadium in Orono on Oct. 10 ahead of the hockey team’s regular season opener that night. And Barstool Sports’ “Chiclets University” will be on hand as part of the festivities.
“Chiclets University” is an extension of the popular hockey podcast “Spittin’ Chiclets,” and show producer Mike Grinnell leads the university series that tours different college hockey facilities across North America.
Grinnell will be in Orono along with former NHL player and current Barstool sports betting expert Matt Murley, and editor and videographer Elliott Fish, according to the UMaine athletic department.
Two of the main “Spittin’ Chiclets” co-hosts, Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette, both played in the NHL.
“They’ve done a lot of different stuff, obviously in the NHL,” UMaine head coach Ben Barr said about the Barstool hockey podcast Wednesday night. “And they’ve started to branch off into college hockey — especially kind of doing facility tours, so it’s going to be kind of neat to have them and their reach there, the first night that we kind of open the new Alfond.”
Barr has previously been a guest on the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast. He’s expecting the home opener to be a fun day for fans outside the rink.
“That will be really, really cool,” Barr told UMaine play-by-play announcer Jon Shields during an episode of the Black Bears Coaches Show on Wednesday night.
The name “Spittin’ Chiclets” is based on hockey slang for when a player spits broken teeth onto the ice after an injury, and the way those teeth can resemble the brand of small candy-coated gum.
The UMaine fan fest will also include a performance from 12/OC, a country band from Portland. The event is free and presented by Waterfront Concerts.