LEWISTON – “To you from failing hands we throw the torch; Be yours to hold it high.”

Across the Montreal Canadiens locker room, every player who wears the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge learns quickly the origin of that saying (Flanders Fields), who wrote it (John McRae), and the simple reason for its existence there (tradition).

The Lewiston High School hockey team hasn’t gone so far as to paint that saying onto their locker room walls just yet.

But tradition is something to which they are very familiar.

“Four state championship games in a row is amazing,” forward Matt Letourneau said. We know we have a tradition here, and we’re proud of that.”

Since 1960, Lewiston has never gone more than seven years without winning a state hockey championship, and even that happened only once (1995-2002).

“I don’t want to leave high school having gone to four state championship games without winning one,” Letourneau said. “I’m sure no one else does, either.”

This is Year 6. More importantly to this year’s six seniors, this is the fourth consecutive season the team has reached the state final. The Devils are 0-3.

“We definitely want to stop that streak,” Lewiston defenseman Justin Nadeau said. “We don’t want to reach that seven-year streak again, either. This time, for all of the seniors, we want to win to make up for the last three years we’ve been there.”

To change the end result, the seniors figured, perhaps they needed to change their initial goals.

“Usually, our goal was to win Eastern Maines, and then take our chances in the state game,” forward Jon Roy said. “This year, from the beginning, it was all about winning a state championship.”

From the beginning of the season, Lewiston coach Norm Gagne has been a big proponent of his senior class, of their abilities not only to win, but to lead.

“They’ve really understood what it’s all about, not only on the ice, but in the locker room,” Gagne said. “Being able to speak up at the right times, and then go out and back up what they’re saying.”

The season began in fine fashion, but hit a minor speed bump later on. Come playoff time, though, Lewiston became, well, Lewiston.

With two of the four senior captains playing on one forward line (Roy and Jordan Bourgoin), and two more on another (Casey Poussard and Letourneau), the team has gone from one top line to two, making it tough for any opponent to defend.

On defense, two seniors (Justin Nadeau and Andrew Marden) help patrol the blue line in front of freshman goalie Cam Poussard.

Cam Poussard, meanwhile, typifies his non-senior teammates.

“I get more pumped up than anything,” Poussard said. “We all want to help the seniors get over the top and finally win one.”

With such an explosion of teams (31 Class A teams at last count) in recent years, for the Blue Devils to have reached the Eastern Maine final seven consecutive years, and to have been to the state final in five of those seven, is remarkable.

The seniors hope this time, they can bookend that run with another state final victory.