EL coach Jamie Belleau won’t rest easy until the games begin.
Defending champions or not, Edward Little hockey coach Jamie Belleau is anxious.
“It says a lot about our team and about our program to have finished with such a solid regular season,” Belleau said, “but that’s behind us now. There is so much parity in the league now. Frankly, I’m a bit nervous.”
When the final Heal points came out late last week, Edward Little, Lewiston and St. Dom’s all found themselves in either first or second in their respective divisions. Leavitt, Fryeburg and Maranacook all made the tournament in Class B, giving the area six teams total vying for a state title. Still, the most obvious top choice this season are the 19-1-0 Red Eddies.
“You have to treat every game like it’s your last, because in the format we have, it could be,” Belleau said. “Too many times you see a team have an excellent regular season and then lose in the first or second round of the playoffs.”
One thing in EL’s favor is experience. Last season, the Eddies won the Class A state title, and the year before that made it to the Eastern Maine final.
“We do have a significant number of players that have gone deep in the playoffs in the last two years,” Belleau said. “That, I think, will help us, because they know that you can’t take things for granted. We have to just keep working hard and do the things that made us good all year, and do them better.”
Here is a quick look at the local high school hockey quarterfinal picture:
Eastern Class A
No. 1 Edward Little (19-1-0) vs. No. 8 Brunswick (5-14-0)
Edward Little has the top scoring offense and one of the top goaltenders in Kris Bennett. Kyle Smith, Colby Gilbert, Joel Pepin, Matt Nadeau, Kevin Pontbriand and Jackson Keene are among the top forwards to watch for EL. On defense, Mert Gould and Bill Parker have emerged as a solid No. 1 pairing on the blue line.
For Brunswick, their top line will be working overtime to keep up with EL, and goaltender Dennis Estes will have to be alert in the net.
No. 2 Lewiston (16-4-0) vs. No. 7 Cony (8-12-0)
This may be the best early matchup in all of Class A. Cony doesn’t have the gaudy record that the Blue Devils have, but the Rams do have a solid goaltender in Mike Lovaglio. And the Rams might be bent on revenge after barely losing to Lewiston 2-1 earlier this season.
“I know it’s going to be a tough game,” Lewiston coach Tim Smith said. “We outshot them something like 38-16 in that game, and we knew going into our last game we would probably end up with them in the playoffs, too. It won’t be easy for sure, they gave us a tough game, but we’ve had a good week of practice. I think good teams find ways to win games, and we’ve done that this season.”
Lewiston’s losses this year have come to Edward Little (twice), St. Dom’s and NYA, all teams either ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective divisions.
Still, Lewiston is the clear favorite. Person-for-person, Lewiston’s talent is as good as any other team in the state. Scott Geoffroy and Tyler Richard anchor a solid blue line, while Adam Longchamps, Eric Grenier, Jason Dube, Jake Girardin and Joe Gauthier, among others, lead a talented offense.
In net, Adam Nason and Nick Langlais have split time this season, although Langlais has slightly more experience.
Western Class A
No. 1 St. Dom’s (14-5-0) vs. No. 9 Thornton Academy (13-5-0)
The Saints edged North Yarmouth Academy for the No. 1 spot in the West thanks to an extra game played. Either way, if seeds hold, the Saints will play the Panthers on neutral ice in Portland in the Western final. Before either team thinks about heading to Portland, though, they have to get through the first two rounds.
For St. Dom’s, Thornton is fresh off a 2-1 overtime thriller against Kennebunk in the preliminary round. The Saints will be more rested, which should play into their favor. Shawn Longley, A.J. Babineau, Jon Rutt, Tyler Martin and Erik Rousseau are a formidable group of forwards, and all have serious speed.
Mike Carpenter, Pat O’Neil and Ryan Guerin provide the Saints with ample defense, and Brandon Gervais and Brady Blackman are a solid tandem in net.
For Thornton, Jake Smiley had a big game in net against Kennebunk, and will have to be as good if not better on Monday at the Colisee.
Western Class B
No. 4 Maranacook (13-5-2) vs. No. 5 Fryeburg (14-5-0)
The Black Bears and the Raiders battled into overtime the last time they met, with Maranacook taking the game by a final of 4-3. In that game, Piner Markovchick and Tom Martinelli led the Black Bears’ offense, as they have all season, and those two, along with Jimmy Oliver, Dustin Ouellette, Mike Berube and goaltender Kyle O’Conner will be crucial in the playoffs.
For Fryeburg, Chris Charlong, Jordan DeLong and Nick Lawrence have made a huge difference this season, and along with four-year starter Bo Apt, this game has all the makings of another tight contest. Joe mango has been solid in net for the Raiders, and will need to be at the top of his game as well.
No. 2 Yarmouth (14-3-2) vs. No. 7 Leavitt (7-12-0)
All season, Leavitt has been preaching its message of being good enough to compete, and now the Hornets will get a chance to state their case against perennial power Yarmouth.
In an early-season meeting between the two, Leavitt hung with Yarmouth and lost 3-1, and has every reason to believe that it can happen again.
Yarmouth’s goaltender, Alex Bubier, is as solid as they come in Class B, and if the Hornets hope to win, they will have to get past him. The Clippers’ three losses this year have come to two Class A schools (NYA and Falmouth) and to Cape Elizabeth, the No. 1 team in Class B.
Leavitt, meanwhile, has no wins against either a Class A school or any of the top five Western B schools.
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