Lewiston’s Jamie Gilbert will realize a dream with a Hockey East school – Massachusetts.
Lisbon has one. So do Bangor, Waterville, Randolph, Auburn and Saco.
And now, so does Lewiston.
Jamie Gilbert, a lifelong Lewiston resident and former goaltender at St. Dominic’s Regional High School, recently agreed to a hockey scholarship at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Gilbert becomes one of several recent high school hockey players in Maine to be offered a scholarship at a Division I school, and it is believed that Gilbert is the first in at least 10 years from Lewiston.
“It’s neat to finally be where I dreamed I wanted to be,” Gilbert said. “As a little kid, I knew I wanted to play for a D-I school in Hockey East, but that was just a dream for so long.”
The past
While a student-athlete at St. Dom’s, Gilbert excelled on the ice, but was overshadowed slightly by Ben Gray. Gray was a two-year varsity starter during Gilbert’s sophomore and junior seasons.
“It was tough for him to get ice time, with Gray ahead of him,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Boucher said. “He was ready, but Gray had earned the job.”
Gilbert stuck with it, though, and played a solid senior season for the Saints.
“He really did blossom late,” Boucher said. “At that point, I think he only decided to try and go to the next level that senior season.”
As for Gilbert, his time at St. Dom’s was spent getting good enough to go on and play junior hockey.
“Junior hockey is becoming the place to go out of high school,” Boucher said. “It helps with the opportunities in the future, and Jamie is a prime example of that.”
The present
The road to Amherst has been confusing, to say the least. At the beginning of last season, Gilbert had ponied up almost $2,000 to play for the Portland Junior Pirates out of Biddeford. Then, the Lewiston Maineiacs came knocking.
“Really, what started it all for me was the Maineiacs tryout,” Gilbert said. “The staff at UMass asked me what path I took to get where I am, and I had to start at the QMJHL tryout.”
A few days into his tryout with the Maineiacs, Gilbert was warned of a potential loss of college eligibility if he remained with the team.
“We wanted to do what was best for him,” Maineiacs General Manager Normand Gosselin said after training camp. “He wanted to go on to play in the NCAA, and he could not do that if he stayed with us any longer.”
Former Lewiston High School assistant Jeff Guay, now an assistant with the Maineiacs, had played junior hockey after completing his four years at Lewiston in the early 1990’s. Through contacts he still had, he helped Gilbert land a goaltending job with Cornwall, a Junior A team in Ontario.
Once there, several school started to scout Gilbert.
“It was a crazy couple of months,” Gilbert said. “I had schools like Ferris State, Bowling Green, St. Lawrence, Vermont, Northeastern and Colgate coming down to watch me play. In the end, I felt that UMass gave me the best opportunity.”
The future
With a .904 save percentage and a 2.95 goals-against average (currently fourth in the league), Gilbert has distinguished himself as one of the better goaltenders in the Canadian Junior A Hockey League, and it’s easy to see why several colleges came knocking.
Officials at Massachusetts cannot yet comment on Gilbert or any other recent recruits due to NCAA regulations because Gilbert has not yet signed a National Letter of Intent. The next official signing period is in early April.
“We can’t comment on those things until we get a letter in April,” Massachusetts coach Don Cahoon said. “In April, that’s when I can discuss any new recruits.”
Even still, Gilbert’s family in Lewiston has been excited for weeks, even so far as to wear UMass apparel at recent Maineiacs games.
“I know everyone at home is supporting me,” Gilbert said. “I’m getting teased a bit as a traitor, playing at Massachusetts but being from Maine, but I can handle that. I know that it’s in fun. It should be fun, and I look forward to being able to play against Maine in the future.”
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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