LEWISTON – If there was one person at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee who knew how the Lewiston Maineiacs felt as they marched toward a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament, it was Allan Globensky.

Known by many in the Lewiston-Auburn area as the Maine Nordiques’ resident pugilist in the 1970s, when the old North American Hockey League team called the cities home, Globensky has never severed his ties with the local community.

At one time, he ran the Kennebec Ice Arena. Now, the Augusta resident works for the Maine Moose junior hockey program, based at that same rink, and provides color commentary for most of the Maineiacs’ home games on television.

Thirty-seven years ago, though, Globensky, on the verge of his 18th birthday, hoisted the most coveted piece of junior hockey hardware in North America – the Memorial Cup.

“I had the best seat in the house, right by the end of the bench there,” Globensky said. “I was watching everything go by. It was some great hockey with some great hockey players.”

With his role as an enforcer, Globensky didn’t see as much ice time as some of his teammates.

But his name is on the Cup, next to Gil Perreault, Michel Dion, Richard Lemieux and a host of other names.

“There was no draft into the NHL, or into the OHA,” Globensky said. “You got your letters and you went where you wanted to. Some of those teams were pretty stacked. You look at the roster, there’s actually two guys who never played or got into pro hockey. One of them was one of the trainers.”

That year, his Montreal Junior Canadiens – who played in the Ontario Hockey Association and not in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League – defeated the Quebec Remparts under a different format.

“It was different because of the format,” Globensky said. “We had to win our league, then we won against the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, then we played the Quebec Remparts, Guy Lafleur’s team.”

And that was just to get out of the eastern side of things.

Out west, things were different, still. A group of teams had separated themselves from the Western Hockey League and were not included in the Memorial Cup.

“They didn’t play by the rules of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association,” Globensky said. “So we ended up playing a team called Wayburn, which, they were O.K., but they were nowhere near as good as the other league would have been.”

Now, Globensky marvels at the advances in the game, and applauds its shift to the technical, and away from the fighting.

More so, he also applauds the manner by which the Maineiacs have made it so far.

“I’ve never seen a team at that age level as motivated, as together and without superstar status as this one,” Globensky said.

The former Nordique isn’t making the trip to Vancouver, but he knows the Lewiston players will never forget their experiences there. He’s had his turn. Now, it’s theirs.

“There can’t be a much better sense or feeling emotionally than what they are getting into,” Globensky said. “It’s going to be such a high high going into this.

“Boy, get out of the way. They’ll knock the doors down on their attitude alone, never mind their ability.”

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