By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

The dominoes fell slowly.

First, it was five-year coach Tim Smith, who announced he was leaving Lewiston High School in the wake of the Blue Devils’ second appearance in the state title game during his tenure.

One month later, Jamie Belleau, the Lewiston attorney who led Edward Little to two state titles in three years, also resigned.

In June, Bob Boucher, a 25-year bench veteran and longest tenured Class A hockey coach in Maine, stepped away from the job at St. Dom’s.

The departures left all three local schools simultaneously without a head coach. All three former coaches agreed that it was time.

It is now time for their replacements to step in.

Craig Latuscha (Edward Little), Norm Gagne (Lewiston) and John Pleau (St. Dom’s) are all cognizant of the challenge laid at their collective feet.

“Bobby left a legacy of 25 years, and he was very successful,” said Pleau. “I always said he was two goals better than 90 percent of the coaches he’s faced because of experience and his techniques.”

“It’s something I have to live up to,” agreed Latuscha. “(Belleau) was a coach that came into this rink with a lot of talent as it was, and he did what he could with what he had. He did a great job of it. He put systems into a hockey team that wasn’t used to using them, and proved that when you use systems in hockey, you can win a lot of hockey games.”

Both Latuscha and Pleau coached under their predecessors. Gagne’s situation is different in that he coached against his predecessor. For 18 years, Gagne was the coach of one of Lewiston’s more bitter rivals – Waterville.

“Did I ever think I would be in Lewiston?” mused Gagne. “No I didn’t, but I’m thrilled that I am now. I think it’s going to be a good fit for me, and once I can establish the system that I want the kids to learn, I think we’re going to have some success here.”

Different roads

Gagne’s road to the Lewiston locker room is the more interesting of the three. Prompted by a family decision, Gagne stepped down in Waterville following the 2003-04 campaign. After a move to Gorham, Gagne nearly sewed up a deal to help coach at Cheverus.

“I thought when I got the Cheverus deal, that that was going to be the place for me,” said Gagne. “But when I realized the situation wasn’t a fit for me, I was just going to take the year off.”

Instead, Gagne resurfaced at Gorham High School. After one season and a middle-of-the-pack finish in Western Class B, Gagne stepped away again.

“I’m used to practicing every day and building a program,” said Gagne. “We were handcuffed there by only two practices a week. You never could get anything going. It was frustrating.”

The first job Gagne saw open was Edward Little’s, but the Blue Devils moved in first and snagged the veteran coach. To date, Gagne has won more than 500 games and is among the national leaders in that category.

Edward Little, meanwhile, went with youth. Latuscha, 26, spent two years as an assistant under Belleau.

“I welcome the opportunity and I take this to be a challenge,” said Latuscha. “This is obviously going to be a rebuilding year … but I’m up to that challenge.”

Being in the Auburn school system should also help.

At St. Dom’s, Pleau’s experience more closely rivals Gagne’s. An assistant under Boucher for 14 years, Pleau has more than 30 years of coaching experience.

“I reformed some of my coaching techniques over the years to reinforce (Boucher’s) strengths and my other goalie coaches’ strengths, so it’s a transition in that sense,” said Pleau. “Instead of taking orders now, I’m giving them.”

Continuity

Pleau also realizes taking over after being an assistant provides the program with continuity.

“That’s advantageous for all three coaches because part of any team’s success is reading and knowing your own players,” said Pleau. “Fortunately for me, working with the Festival program and watching a lot of youth hockey, that’s one of my strong points. I know and can analyze the kids before they even step on the ice for St. Dom’s. I’m sure Jay has done that and Craig did it in Auburn.”

“Jay” is Lewiston assistant coach Jay Dufour, who is still with the Devils despite the coaching change.

“Jay has been the biggest help for me,” said Gagne. “When I came here, I had no clue about who, what or where. When it’s all said and done, Jay is probably my right-hand man. His familiarity with the program, the community and the kids has been invaluable to me.”

Latuscha also has help from former Leavitt Area High School head coach Fern Racine.

“In the beginning, of course it helps,” Latuscha said of Racine. “With the procedure, what to know, how many kids can I have on my full roster, things like that. I knew it before, but just to make sure, it’s good that I have people here to help me out.”

Young and old

Gagne sees a little bit of himself in Latuscha, despite the vast difference in age.

“I look back and see him, and I see myself when I first started,” said Gagne. “I was 26, and I was at Gardiner, and they had never played hockey before there. I was starting from scratch. I was trying at that point to teach them everything I knew, and it was the wrong thing. Here I was teaching them 25 forechecks, and they couldn’t do one. Finally, I took a step back and asked myself what I was doing. I am sure he is going to learn through his mistakes, just like I did.”

Pleau recalled coaching Latuscha’s father.

“The photographer, when he was taking our pictures, he said to me Boy, (Latuscha) looks young.’ I turned to him and said yeah, I coached his father and Norm coached his grandfather,’ so (Latuscha) relaxed and laughed it off a bit. I don’t know if he’s intimidated at all, but we’re certainly going to support Craig as much as we can.”

If Latuscha is intimidated at all, he certainly hasn’t shown it so far.

“I know what it takes to make a successful hockey team,” said Latuscha. “I’ve learned the discipline guidelines these kids need to follow. I learned a lot about the systems being here and in college as well, but being here, being on the other side is different.”

Lofty goals

Edward Little, St. Dom’s and Lewiston have combined to win five of the last seven Class A state titles, with another going to Gagne’s 2001 Waterville team.

Some of the strength in Maine high school hockey has shifted to the southern part of the state, but all three local coaches know that winning in Lewiston and Auburn is not only part of the tradition here – it’s expected.

“I felt it was a privilege to come here,” said Gagne. “It has everything I was looking for. It has tradition, it has a lot of good hockey players.”

“I think there’s just as much rivalry now between St. Dom’s and EL as there is St. Dom’s and Lewiston,” added Pleau. “I get that feeling behind the bench, now. It’s been a few years like that.”

It helps, of course, that Edward Little has now tasted victory at the hands of both rivals.

“This is obviously going to be a rebuilding year, unless the kids really put two-and-two together,” admitted Latuscha, “but I’m up to that challenge, too.”

Going forward

Challenging? Sure. But not overwhelming. In fact, Latuscha knows he can not only count on his experience over the past few seasons, but also on the help and support of his fellow coaches.

So, too, can Gagne, who found the wrong locker room on his first day of practice.

“I even found myself, at the first practice, going over on the St. Dom’s side until one of the coaches told me, they had to tell me, Hey, you’re not the visitor anymore,'” said Gagne. “‘You have to be over there, the Lewiston side is over there.’ They were right. It was weird, it really is.”

And Pleau, who has been a part of the local hockey scene longer than either of the other two, is willing to help – to a point.

“People forget, we don’t play the game on the ice,” said Pleau. “The kids do. I wish Craig and Norm the best of luck all season. I want them to succeed.”

Pleau paused a minute and smiled.

“Until they play us, anyway.”