The Black Bears have appeared in 11 Frozen Fours, have a 28–18 record in NCAA Tournament games, and have won two national championships—in 1993 and 1999.

The Black Bears competed in The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) during their first 7 years of existence, all of which were under Semler.

The ECAC was recognized as Division-II hockey until 1979 at which point the conference, and thus Maine, became Division-I – the level of competition they have competed in ever since.

However, Walsh was getting good recruits and convincing the school, state, and fans that UMaine could become a college hockey powerhouse.

The team also made its first NCAA tournament appearance that season, coincidentally losing in the first round to Michigan State.

The team lost many important players, including Hobey Baker Award winner Scott Pellerin, after the season.

This included future NHL Star Paul Kariya, and highly touted identical twin forwards Peter and Chris Ferraro.

With Jim Montgomery, "Little" Cal Ingraham, Chris Imes, Garth Snow and Mike Dunham, Maine had a chance to make history.

Their destiny was almost blown during the Frozen Four semifinals against the University of Michigan when the referees disallowed an otherwise legitimate Maine goal.

In overtime, Lee Saunders scored the game-winner and sent Maine to the title game against defending champ Lake Superior State University.

They enjoyed some on-ice success and finished the national runner up in 1995, but due to sanctions and penalties for reasons previously mentioned, they were unable to compete in the NCAA tournament in 1996 and '97.

They advanced to the NCAAs on an at-large bid due to a successful regular season, but were not most analysts' favorite to win the national title.

Following wins over Ohio State and Clarkson University, Maine advanced to the 1999 Frozen Four in Anaheim, California, where they would meet some familiar foes.

Led by Hobey Baker Award winner Jason Krog and future NHL goaltender Ty Conklin, #1 ranked UNH was primed to win their program's first national championship.

Shortly after the 10-minute mark in OT, a careless play by UNH in their defensive zone turned into Maine's opportunity as Cory Larose swiped a drifting puck off the nearside boards and made a cross-ice pass to Marcus Gustafsson.

Conklin made the initial save but with no defensive help, Gustafsson collected his own rebound and scored the game winner to clinch Maine's second national championship.

Coach William "Shawn" Walsh inherited a relatively new and obscure hockey program at The University of Maine in 1984 and he was convinced that it could be built up to greatness.

It would take a diligent combination of recruiting the right players, a proper coaching staff to develop talent, the support of the university and the Athletic Department, and highly engaged fan bases both on and off campus to create a top college-hockey program.

Most supporters and enthusiasts of the program credit the foundation of greatness held by the Black Bear Men's Ice Hockey team almost exclusively to Shawn Walsh.

A green clover with his name underneath is hung in his honor along with the three retired players' numbers in Alfond Arena.

In 2006 the Shawn Walsh Hockey Center, a new extension of Alfond Arena with coaching and administrative offices, meeting areas, and new player facilities opened.

This several-million-dollar project was funded through private donations—many coming from dozens of players Walsh coached through his 17 years with Maine.

In overtime, after a tripping penalty on Michael Schutte of Maine, the Gophers scored the winning goal on the power play.

Two years later, backed by the most statistically strong single-season goalie tandem in the NCAA record books (Jimmy Howard 1.19GAA .953 Save pct *both NCAA records; Frank Doyle 1.81GAA), future NHL player Dustin Penner, a slew of popular forwards including Todd Jackson, Colin Shields, Maine's own Greg Moore and Derek Damon, conference rookie of the year Michel Leveille, and tough-guy defenseman Prestin Ryan, Maine found itself back in the big game.

Standbrook retired, while Perron was hired as an amateur scout for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League.

Going into the 2012 Maine didn't look very likely to break the 4-year drought, especially with the early departure of junior standout Gustav Nyquist, but Spencer Abbott would step up and have an incredible campaign.

Even though Maine lost in the Hockey East championship they had a good enough record to qualify for the national tournament breaking a four-year drought.

In the 2017–18 season, the team began to make progress, posting an 18-16-4 record, including a nine-game unbeaten streak.

However, despite the poor start, the team exceeded its meager expectations; backed by goaltender Jeremy Swayman, the Black Bears managed to finished the regular season with an 18-11-5 record (12-9-3 HEA), finishing 4th in the league and earning home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.

[7] Source:[8] As of the completion of 2023–24 season[8] † Greg Cronin served as the interim head coach for the 1 year that Shawn Walsh was suspended.