BOSTON — For the vast majority of Providence’s undergraduate hockey fans, McPhail’s was the place to be on Thursday evening.
The bar, located in the student union’s Slavin Center, welcomed the unlucky majority who could not score a ticket to the TD Garden with free food, giveaways, a projector-screen television and — just as importantly — a place to gather with other faithful Friars fans.
Manager Tim Dannenfelser did not have a hard figure on Thursday’s attendance, though he estimated about 200, of whom “at least 95 percent were students.” While the 233-occupancy establishment will duplicate its semifinal festivities for Saturday’s finale, Dannenfelser indicated uncertainty about how many students would wend their way to McPhail’s for the championship.
“Many students will probably have their own parties, since a lot of them live off-campus,” he said.
He definitely hopes to equal the energy level one more time.
“It was really loud,” he said. “Really loud. … Definitely more than [the atmosphere there during] the Super Bowl.”
McPhail’s hopes to give away a lot more food and a lot more prizes Saturday night … and hopes that the Friars themselves don’t give an inch.
