Arthur S. Demoulas was a freshman defenseman on the University of Maine’s first men’s hockey team in the new era in 1977-78, appearing in 26 games that season as the program made its debut in NCAA Division II. He was also a member of the 1978-79 team.
Demoulas has been a supporter of the program ever since, and he made a $50,000 donation to the Alfond Arena expansion project in 2003.
The university announced Friday that Demoulas, a member of the family that owns Market Basket, has donated $500,000 to the hockey program to kick off the Black Bear Student Athlete Experience Fund.
The fund was created in conjunction with the University of Maine Foundation to enable donors to financially support the athletic programs or student-athletes themselves through direct payments now allowed under NCAA guidelines.
Revenue-sharing, including pay-for-play, was instituted for this school year, four years after NIL (name, image and likeness) contracts were established which financially compensates student-athletes for endorsements, sponsorships and social media.
UMaine head hockey coach Ben Barr, who has just completed his fifth season at the helm, said Demoulas’ gift has given the hockey program great momentum and will help keep the program thriving.
“His generosity in this new world is incredibly important, and we’re extremely appreciative of it,” said Barr.
“He has helped us remain in this space in this new NCAA world, and this will help us do a lot of things with our program for our student-athletes and for the overall health of our program,” Barr added. “That is really important these days.”
He said Demoulas’ donation to go along with the $50 million renovation of the Alfond Arena and the unique game-night experience will put the program in position to thrive well into the future.
Barr said the money can be used in several different ways including revenue sharing by paying the student-athletes.
Travel, nutrition and recruiting are among other possible destinations for the money.
“It’s vague right now what we will use it for,” said Barr. “The reality of our world is we have to be able to be flexible. Things are constantly changing. Things are volatile so having flexibility to do things for student-athletes or different things that pop up is paramount.”
Larger schools are driving the new college athletics landscape, so it’s crucial for UMaine coaches to find opportunities to be a nationally competitive program, Barr said.
“Part of coaching in these days is so much more than coaching, whether we like that or we don’t like that. That’s the truth in this new NCAA world,” he said. “This kind of stuff is just as important as anything we do in practice every day or in the recruiting world.”
Barr inherited a program that hadn’t reached the Hockey East semifinals or the NCAA Tournament since the 2011-12 season.
He guided the Black Bears to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023-24 and 2024-25. It was the first time that happened since the 2005-06, 2006-07 campaigns.
A year ago, the team won its first Hockey East tournament since 2004.
This past season, the Black Bears, with 13 newcomers, had a disappointing 18-14-3 campaign and were eliminated in the Hockey East quarterfinals by Boston College.
The Black Bears did earn a win and a tie on the road against Denver, which will be facing Wisconsin in the NCAA championship game on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
