Coming off back-to-back Class A state championships in Maine, expectations have to be high for the Lewiston High School Blue Devils. Despite the success it has enjoyed in recent times, this year’s Lewiston team is looking to form its own identity.
"We want to start fresh and turn the page," Blue Devils head coach Jamie Belleau said. "It’s a different group of kids and every team is different. You have to use the first few weeks to decide who is going to make the team, what we need to work on and have the guys work with the coaches. We want to put them in roles where they’ll be successful. As for the success for the program, it’s there. You can’t ignore it. As a coach, you use it to motivate the kids and you can build upon it by letting the kids know what they need to do to be successful."
Lewiston was hit hard with some losses. Not only did it graduate seven seniors, but the team lost an additional three more players to prep schools. Although that is certainly not an ideal situation, the team has some young talent it will rely on and expects to fill in the voids and keep the team competitive. After all, last year’s JV team beat the Brewer varsity team in a scrimmage. Brewer, a Class B team, finished its season 10-4-1. The Blue Devils’ JV team also used more than four lines of forwards, so depth was an asset there.
"We’re blessed with having a lot of numbers," Belleau said. "They work hard. They know the system and have practiced with us. There’s good opportunities here for those kids to play at the varsity level."
The team will lean on four of its regular forwards from last season for offensive production — Alex Robert, Dustin Larochelle, Sam Frechette and Jack Leblond. Defensively, the Devils will be light on experience, however, as Ryan Bossie is the lone regular returnee.
Goaltender Jacob Strout has graduated, but the team will return three goalies from last season, including Jacob Smith. "We expect they’ll do a good job for us, but we’ll preach team defense," Belleau said. "We need the five other guys on the ice doing their job to make our goalie’s job easier. If we can complement the goaltending we have with team defense, which we take pride in, hopefully that will be a recipe for success."
Northern New England powerhouses
Lewiston is not the only boys hockey team in northern New England with a chance at three straight titles. The same can be said for Bellows Free Academy St. Alban’s in Vermont and Bedford High School in New Hampshire. BFA earned its second straight Div. 1 state title last year, which was no easy task because it had graduated a talented senior class the previous spring. This included the top-scoring line of forwards in the state, including Matt Needleman, who was named the Burlington Free Press’ Mr. Hockey during the 2015-16 season. Still, BFA recovered and was able to win the title. This year, the circumstances are similar, as it must replace eight departed seniors.
But there is hope. BFA relied on young talent for the most part and returns many of its top players from last season. This includes junior forwards Colby Brouillette and Connor Wood, junior defenseman Cooper Cioffi and sophomore goaltender Dan Ellis, all of whom were Free Press All-State honorable mention last season as freshmen and sophomores. The team did not graduate any All-State players. If this is any indication, the team should be powerful yet again over the next couple of seasons.
Bedford, coming off two straight Div. 1 titles in New Hampshire, will have a little more of an uphill battle to face on the road back to a potential title game. The team graduated 10 seniors from last year, including top scorers Jay Roberto, Griffin Gagne and Jacob Rioux, who combined for 148 points.
Bedford’s top returning asset is goaltender, Erik Voloshin, who will attend Milton Academy after this season. Voloshin was named to the All-State first team by the New Hampshire High School Coaches Association last season.
New team to beat in Super 8?
When it comes to Massachusetts Super 8 hockey, there is not a simple answer as to who might be the team to beat.
The past three seasons have yielded different results, with titles going to Arlington (the first public school since Hingham in 2010 to win the title), Malden Catholic and St. John’s Prep.
Last year’s Super 8 appearance marked the first back-to-back appearances for Arlington in more than a decade, but from 1998 to 2003, the school made six straight appearances. Now, the Spy Ponders are hoping to find that same sort of momentum despite losing nine seniors to graduation, including a Middlesex League All-Stars Mic Curran, Jeffrey McDonald, Kevin Ouellette and Sean Tomaszewski. On the bright side, goaltender Jack Pinard, now a senior, was a league All-Star last season.
Based off recent history, it is quite possible that this year’s Super 8 champion could be someone new and a team with experience in the tournament.
Austin Prep might be a team to look out for this season with Bill Pappas taking over the head coaching job from Louis Finocchiaro. The team should have plenty of experience in this go-around. After making it to the Super 8 play-in games last season, the Cougars graduated just three seniors from a high-octane offense that scored 102 goals last season. Certainly, the offense should be sharp yet again as JJ Harding, Nicholas Cafarelli, Richard Lyons, Kevin Urquhart and Alex Maffeo all had more than 20 points last season and have yet to graduate. Defensively, Jake Thain, Dylan Arnold, Connor Santos and Michael Joyce saw regular playing time as underclassmen last season, so this experience could help the team enjoy even more success this time around.
BC High’s experience could propel the team deep into the Super 8 tournament. The team lost just six seniors to graduation after making it to the Super 8 last season and should benefit from returning top three scorers Thomas Kramer, Danny O’Connell and Troy Ladka as well as both of their primary goaltenders, Luke Garrity (1.42 GAA, 13 games) and Chase Congdon (1.27 GAA, seven games).
Notre Dame girls aim high again
On the girls side, Notre Dame Academy (Hingham, Mass.) might be the most likely of any to be a three-peat champion, as it did not have any seniors on the roster last season.
The Cougars won back-to-back titles under head coach Jean-Yves Roy, a former Boston Bruin. His former assistant coach, Chris Marshall, now takes over the team and will try to keep the program moving in the same direction.
The team is on a 29-game unbeaten streak and played impressive defense last season, allowing just 27 goals in 24 games. Last year’s captains were all defenders — Meredith Stewart, Jill Lyons and Emma Duffey. The Cougars are also in a position of privilege this season because returning goaltender Erin Murray is only a sophomore this season.
