Tonight will be one of the most historic nights in the history of the Massachusetts hockey program. For the first time since joining Hockey East in 1993, the Minutemen will play a conference playoff game in front of their own fans. A large turnout is obviously expected, and the buzz around the game is that a repeat of the program’s first-ever sellout on Feb. 13 is a distant but legitimate possibility. Students should plan to get tickets early, and arrive at the Mullins Center well before the 7 p.m. opening face-off.

But showing up is only half the battle.

Throughout its history in Hockey East, the burgeoning UMass program has had enough ups, downs, and in betweens to last a few more decades. There were the rough years, when the team scrambled to post double-digit victories period, let alone in conference play. There were also great moments, like Chris Capraro’s galvanizing overtime goal against Boston University on Dec. 6, 2002, and the unthinkable sweep of the vaunted Maine Black Bears in Orono, Maine last spring.

This year has been a microcosm of all that. There have been good times – a four-game win streak beginning in late January that was capped off by a well-earned 4-1 victory over New Hampshire on Feb. 6 – and there have been not-so-good times, like the team’s 0-for-7 finish. If there is one constant this year, it has been the audience.

The crowds that have turned out to see this team play, whether it was the 5,379 that showed up for an October game against Connecticut that was rendered meaningless by the American League Championship Series, or the sold-out crowd that showed up the day before Valentine’s Day to see the Minutemen play Boston College, have been large, vocal and undyingly loyal to the Maroon and White. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue tonight at the Mullins Center.

However, just as the program has turned around under the guidance of coach Don Cahoon, now the culture around the club must evolve. This is not the single-digit winning team of the Joe Mallen era, and it bears little resemblance to the squad that went 3-19-2 in the conference in 2001-02. It is time for the atmosphere around the team to follow.

It’s duly noted that the Minutemen play on a campus of more than 20,000, in what is almost a city setting in the middle of the quiet Pioneer Valley. This is not a small-town team, nor is it a small school. Large, fervent crowds should be expected for a team that has become one of the biggest draws on campus. The players have said that a large, loud assembly of UMass supporters makes it a whole lot easier to play well.

But a line needs to be drawn, and tonight is the perfect opportunity to do it. I have watched crowds swell to wall-stretching proportions this year, marveling at the fact that I’ve had to stand up from my press box seat just to see over the thousands of standing, chanting, screaming fans. It’s truly wonderful to see the campus get behind a team the way it has this year.

But it is time to recognize that everyone who calls the Mullins Center home for a few hours every weekend (myself included) represents the University of Massachusetts, not just the athletes on the ice. It’s preposterous to think that a throng of 6,000-plus people will always be civil, with no vulgar words spoken. Besides, it’s hockey, not opera, and more than a little zeal is expected. But there are limits. The Minutemen have become an attraction not only for students, but also for the community at large. Just as massive crowds came to see the men’s basketball team during its all-too-brief time in the national spotlight, there are many people from all around the region who attend UMass hockey games. That includes families, which of course include children.

As someone who is as big of a fan of free speech as the next guy, I wouldn’t begin to denounce someone for speaking his mind at a hockey game – of all places. This isn’t about making UMass look like a ridiculously clean place, full of virgin ears and penitent tongues. Among this University’s greatest attributes is its diversity and working-class nature. Everyone should be able to enjoy themselves at the hockey game, from the family of four over in section F, to the rowdiest student pounding the glass in section U. But there is a place for temperance and respect, and tonight is a perfect place to start.

As important as the Minutemen’s successful execution of the power play is to the program’s progress, so is the environment that welcomes the outside world to UMass hockey. With more and more television coverage, college hockey is becoming a national sport, and if the Minutemen manage to put it together this year, you can bet that there will be more than a handful of cameras following them next year. It’s important to remember that even as this campus celebrates the program’s success, it must also foster the culture of the team, so that newcomers feel welcome, and the region-wide exposure that seems inevitable at this point won’t set the university up for an embarrassing incident.

Please, come to the game tonight, and have a blast. But remember that everyone in the building represents this school, and it will be much sweeter to watch the Minutemen advance, knowing that the campus community is progressing right along with them.

Andrew Merritt is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]