LEWISTON — Sam Henley, selected first star of the game Friday in the Lewiston Maineiacs’ first of two against the Val d’Or Foreurs at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, skated onto the ice for his encore as Maineiacs’ PA announcer Ernie Gagne called his name. He waved to the fans, and his ever-present goofy grin shone brightly beneath his half shield.

It had been there all game long.

“It’s the team (Val d’Or) I watched all my life growing up,” Henley said. “It is nice to play against them. It was a dream when I was younger to play for them, but now playing against them, it’s nice to beat them.”

In addition to playing against his hometown team, another kind of rivalry enters the equation — usually. Henley’s brother, Cedrick, is an NHL-drafted forward for the Foreurs. Due to injury, for the second consecutive year, he did not make the trip with the team to Lewiston.

“It kind of stinks he didn’t play here again,” Henley said, “but it’s weird playing against him anyway.”

But this weekend, Henley was not without family. Having anticipated seeing their boys in action against one another, Henley’s parents made the drive to Lewiston. Another reason to be on top of his game, perhaps?

“It’s a long drive for sure,” Henley said. “Originally, they were coming because I was playing against my brother, but he didn’t come down. They came anyway, and it’s nice to have them here. I don’t see them a lot, so it was nice.”

“He’s from there, his brother plays for the other team, and his parents were here wearing two hats,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “His mom’s got the Val d’Or hat and his dad’s got the Lewiston hat. It’s a big thing for him.”

All season long, Henley has been the voice and example of consistency for the Maineiacs.

“It’s contagious,” Houle said. “His hard work, his blocking shots, his charisma in the locker room, the type of person here is, he makes everybody laugh and he makes everybody feel good. He’s a well-raised kid, good parents, good family.”

But, with the family in town, Henley put on a bit of an offensive show, as well. In the third period, he poked the puck to himself across the blue line, dangled to the inside and ripped a wrister high glove past the goalie to pad the Maineiacs’ lead, making it 4-2 at the time.

Even he was surprised.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Henley said, as if flabbergasted that he was in the spotlight for being an offensive star. “I really wish I did know, I would do it more often.”

He also fed Jess Tanguy up the seam for the tying goal earlier in the period, led the team with a plus-3 rating on the night and dished out two good hits.

All in a night’s work for this 17-year-old assistant captain.

“I don’t think he plays like that just against Val d’Or, though,” Houle said. “I think he plays like that every night. He’s a hard-working guy, and it shows every night.”