LEWISTON – Maxwell Gamache teetered inside the goal and watched as the puck slipped past.

The 6-year-old Lewiston boy – like hockey players everywhere – shook his stick at the net. Then, he turned on his skates and refocused on center ice, where his dad, coach Joe Gamache, tried peeling one of Max’s teammates from his leg.

“At this age, they stick pretty good,” Maxwell’s mom, Wendy Berube-Gamache, said as she watched from the Colisee stands.

On the ice, Joe gave his leg a wiggle, and a girl with pink pants unlocked an arm and skated away.

At this level, nobody keeps score. Every goal earns a cheer. Every missed save earns a “keep trying.” That’s the way it’s been done for generations by the Lewiston Area Youth Hockey League.

Its weeklong Lions tournament is the oldest hockey tournament of its kind in the United States, said Mike Bisson, a member of the league’s governing committee.

The contest began Sunday and continues until Friday.

This year, more than 450 kids will go onto the ice at the Colisee, the same ice their parents and grandparents skated on 36 years ago, when the annual tournament began.

Joe Gamache, 32, skated here in the tournament when he was a kid. He still does, as a coach to the little mini-mites and as a member of a men’s league.

“I’m a hockey widow,” joked Berube-Gamache, who was a cheerleader here when she was a girl.

“Cheering was a lot different, then,” said the mom, now 33.

So is hockey. These days, the girls skate right beside the boys.

“You see all the same families,” Berube-Gamache said. “You recognize the kids because they look like their moms and dads.”

Newcomers can get sucked in, too.

Her stepdad, Harold Gagnon of Greene, became fan after being brought to a Maineiacs game. He holds season tickets for the Lewiston team’s games. And he took off the entire week from work, doing carpentry for the state, so he could watch Max and his big brother, Jacob, play the game he has suddenly grown to love.

“I feel a real pride watching them,” he said, wearing a Junior Maineiacs hat and coat in the stands.

The coat and hat were matched by Jacob, who sat one aisle lower than his granddad.

Jacob, a right wing for a team of squirts, ages 9 through 11, scored a goal during a Monday morning game.

“I poked it right in between the goalie’s legs,” Jacob said.

His team lost. That’s not a priority, though.

Part of that is just learning the rules of the game and being focused when the game is going.

“At least they’re not laying on the ice doing snow angels,” Berube-Gamache said, looking at Max’s team. “I’ve seen it.”

“I think Max likes it because he likes having friends, clowning around,” she said.

And though hockey is pricier than sports like basketball, it’s not outrageous when compared to other activities.

Max’s sister Cassie, 4, said she doesn’t want to play hockey. Instead, she’d rather dance.

The cost is about the same, the mom said.

“You do what you can because the kids are loving it, she said. “At this stage, just getting here is half the battle.”

And if they teeter a bit, that’s OK, too.

“You should have seen him a year ago,” the proud granddad said. “He’s like a different skater.”

As he spoke, Max skated backward then turned around, as if on cue.

The grace came in spurts, though.

A few moments earlier, two teammates toppled over when they tried to give each a high five and seemed to bounce off one another.

“They may be on their butts, but they are cheering and thrilled,” Berube-Gamache said.