As a lifelong Colorado Avalanche fan who attended the University of Massachusetts a decade before Cale Makar arrived on campus, I felt inspired to write a piece on last night’s hero and the greatest player in the history of college hockey.
A Culture-Changing Freshman Year
Makar arrived at UMass in 2017, joining the program at its absolute nadir. Aside from the 2003-04 season and the Jonathan Quick years from 2005 to 2007, UMass hockey was never a very competitive team, yet the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons found new lows for the program, as UMass combined to go 13-53-6 over those nightmare years.