LEWISTON – Three years – and three Eastern Class A championships – after signing on as Lewiston High School’s hockey coach, Norm Gagne could be done as soon as Monday.

“Coach Gagne has chosen not to have his name forwarded for reappointment by the school board for the 2008-09 season,” Lewiston athletic director Jason Fuller said. “I’m sad to see him go, if this ends up being his final decision.”

Gagne insists that it is his intention to remain with the program.

“As far as I am concerned, I still want to coach at Lewiston High School,” Gagne said. “But, we have two sides to the story here. My biggest problem to the whole setup, and what was happening, is I had a group of disgruntled parents that came at me like a pack of wolves and complained about me to the athletic director.”

Because of those complaints, which also reportedly reached Lewiston High School principal Gus LeBlanc and Superintendent of Schools Leon Levesque, Gagne’s evaluation included some negative remarks.

“I don’t want to get into (specific complaints) yet,” Gagne said. “There were some things I felt were going to compromise my coaching, what I do.”

Gagne said he was asked to sign his evaluation, and that his name would be among the rest of the winter coaches’ names who wished to return next season, and up for approval at Monday’s school board meeting.

“I told them that I wanted to sit down and go over it first,” Gagne said. “In my opinion, it was not handled the right way. I told them I was not going to resign, but I didn’t want my name to be put forth for next year without me having my say. It was like a tug-of-war.”

Levesque believes the issue is much more black and white.

“I think this is a case of Mr. Gagne equivocating,” Levesque said. “He, as the coach, was offered the opportunity to be renominated, and asked me to withdraw his name. When you have a position, and you ask not to be reappointed – he verbally told me he did not want the position – I have his letter to withdraw his name.”

Gagne likened the process to being falsely accused of a crime.

“If you get arrested, and you know you didn’t do it, but they want you to sign this paper to say you’re guilty, and they’ll leave you alone, are you going to sign it so they’ll leave you alone?” Gagne said. “Or are you going to fight it? That’s where I am right now.”

Word of Gagne’s potential departure spread quickly.

Many of Gagne’s players were stunned by the move. Some have started a petition that they hope will help convince Gagne to stay, and convince the school board his departure would be detrimental to the school’s hockey program.

“I’ve had a great experience,” departing co-captain Matt Letourneau said. “He’s a legend in the state of Maine. I’m sad to see him leave as soon as he is, because I think he could bring a few state championships to Lewiston.

“I think some people are taking it too far. He made a couple of decisions that some people didn’t like, but we won three straight Eastern titles, we’ve all had great experiences. We just got unlucky when we ran into the teams we did. I don’t care who was coaching us, we weren’t putting the puck in the net ourselves.”

Gagne has seen several of his players at school in recent days, too.

“They’ve come down to see me, and asked me, ‘What the heck is going on?'” Gagne said. “They know better than the adults know, and that’s what hurts me. We know we have a good group. We’re a family. We love our kids, and it takes only a few of these disgruntled people who have an ax to grind, whether it be ice time or whatever it may be, and they’re going to twist and turn it and make it worse than it is. This is hockey. This is a sport, and it’s a varsity sport. It’s not a recreational sport, and people get so tied up, and they twist and turn and lie and cheat, and it gets to the point that they believe everything that they say. They throw up so much crap onto a wall and hope something’s going to stick.”

Rumors of Gagne’s possible departure also reached members of the hockey community across the state.

“Twenty-seven of his 35 kids had a grade-point average of 85 or better, he’s been in the state finals for the last three years,” Portland lawyer and former Cheverus coach Gary Prolman said. “What else can you ask your coach to do? No, he didn’t win the state championship, but he went there three times.”

Prolman also runs the hugely successful Maine High School Hockey Invitational, and went on the radio Friday afternoon in defense of Gagne.

“I’ve got supporting calls from athletic directors in other areas,” Gagne said. “I’ve got calls pouring in from all over the state from people who know what’s going on, and they’ve all said, ‘We know you’re an honest man, and you’re up front, and sometimes, too honest.’ I don’t know what that means, but that’s what they say.”

The Blue Devils went 47-21-4 under Gagne, and advanced all three years to the state finals, losing in 2006 to Cheverus and in 2007 and 2008 to Biddeford. In three seasons, Gagne also helped fix the team’s reputation around the state. Lewiston won the Eastern Class A sportsmanship award this past winter.

“I think the program has grown in the last three years,” Fuller said. “In particular, I think our on-ice conduct and sportsmanship have greatly improved. Winning the sportsmanship award this year … is a huge compliment, and it’s the right direction for our hockey program.”

Levesque echoed Fuller’s desire to continue the program’s success, and reiterated his stance that Gagne did, in fact, resign.

“I’m not going to get into evaluations because they’re personnel issues, but the important thing to know is that he was offered the opportunity to return. He did not want to,” Levesque said. “He submitted his resignation and I accepted it, and I am not nominating him for the position as a result. The position shall be posted, and we will seek the best candidate we can to continue good hockey for the kids and this community.”

While all of the signs point to Gagne’s resignation, Gagne himself says not so fast.

“I did not write, ‘I, Norm Gagne, resign from this position as head hockey coach,'” Gagne said. “I emphatically told them why I didn’t want to resign, and why I didn’t want it written as a resignation. I told them, if the papers call me and ask if I resigned, I’m going to say no. I want my day to tell my side, and then we can decide.”

Asked if Gagne, who at this time will not be renominated for the ice hockey coaching position, could reapply once it’s posted, Levesque simply said, “He is welcome to do so.”