LEWISTON – Before last Friday night’s game against Saint John, the Lewiston Maineiacs gathered in the cool, cavernous hallway outside their locker room.
At the behest of Brandon Roach, a radio started thumping with dance music. On cue, the players started to dance, each a little different than the next, but all toward the same spot. Eventually, they came together in a circle. One by one, the players took turns dancing through the middle of the circle.
A few moments later, Roach broke from the circle and started to jog, slowly at first, toward the end of the hallway.
“Let’s go, let’s run,” Roach yelled over the music. Again, in unison, the team started to run for their pregame warm-up.
Not lost on anyone who follows hockey is the importance of solid team chemistry, on an ability to work well together on and off the ice. It’s something that wasn’t lost on the coaching staff, either.
“It’s no secret that we are trying to build this organization with good people,” said Maineiacs coach and general manager Clem Jodoin. “Last year, we had some cheaters, they would cheat off the ice with their training. This year, we have a different attitude, a different mentality. No matter if someone is playing or not playing, everyone is working hard”
Jodoin and his staff chose Roach to lead this renaissance of sorts, naming him the team’s second captain in three years.
“It was (Jodoin’s) choice to give the letter, to make me the captain,” said Roach. “That doesn’t give me the upper hand on anyone else on the team, and there are three assistants who, along with myself, will try and help the younger players out.”
Drafted by the Sherbrooke Castors in the second round of the 2002 QMJHL entry draft, Roach has been steady on the blue line ever since. Last year, Roach had 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 66 games, 10th among the league’s defensemen. In 2003-04, his first in Lewiston, Roach had just a goal and eight assists for nine points in 58 games.
Already in 2005, Roach has put up four goals and six assists for 10 points in six games.
“Points are just a personal thing, but I guess two years ago I was still getting used to the league, to the speed of things,” said Roach. “As an overage player, and even last year I was a player with experience and I am expected to perform every game.”
Still, according to Jodoin, it’s more than about the points for the 6-foot-2-inch, 205-pound defenseman from Bay Roberts, Newfoundland.
“He’s a presence,” said Jodoin. “That’s important, for him to be a leader. He came back from a good experience in Minnesota at rookie camp, and now he knows what it takes to go back. He knows he has to be dominating this game, here. He has to be the leader of our team.”
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