ORONO, Maine, Sept. 9 -- University of Maine issued the following news release:
Themis Violaris was there in 1993.
Paul Kariya was a freshman, and the University of Maine men's ice hockey team was in the midst of a season that would become legend: 42 wins, one loss, two ties and the program's first national championship.
Violaris was a UMaine graduate student then, living in downtown Orono and traveling around the Northeast to follow the Black Bears.
"I was the craziest fan," he said.
More than three decades later, Maine still has that hold on him.
Violaris, who earned two degrees from UMaine and went on to build businesses spanning industries and continents, is the founder and CEO of Grizzly Entertainment, a global company that turns...