The award is given to the top Class A senior player in the state, and each of the trio of Twin Cities teams has (at least) one senior who has been a driving force on the road to the regional semifinals.

The three players are all different, but their respective impacts to their teams are similar. All three are captains, one of their team’s leading point-producers, and their values go beyond the score sheet or a letter on the front of a jersey.

Lewiston might have been as loaded a team as there was in the state this year, yet center Kyle Morin still stood out among a plethora of talented players. He was third in points and second in goals on a Blue Devils team that earned Class A North’s top seed. He centered a line with freshmen at both wings, but that line combined for 75 points.

And his value might have risen as the regular season came to a close.

“He’s been putting us on his back the last couple weeks, and I think that is just a statement of who he’s been as a player,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said of Morin. “The last couple weeks, he’s been pretty much a force to contend with.”

Morin is a big body at center, but Belleau said for a player his size he still has the speed and skills to be an offensive force. He also knows how to use his body to be strong on the puck.

Belleau coached a Travis Roy Award winner just two years ago, in Kyle Lemelin. Belleau said the two Kyles are different leaders, a sentiment Morin agreed with. Lemelin was a quiet leader — no yelling, no swearing — and let his play do the talking. Morin said he’s more vocal, but would still like to think he’s following in Lemelin’s footsteps.

Emulating a mentor is what St. Dom’s forward Austin Roy is hopefully doing. Roy was on a stacked Saints team last year with seniors Brad Berube and Caleb Labrie, who were both named Travis Roy Award semifinalists. Berube was one of four finalists for the award, but like the Saints as a team, fell short of the ultimate prize.

“I really learned a lot from those guys,” Roy said of Berube and Labrie. “I really based a lot of what I did this year off what they did for the team last year, and I think that a lot of my success goes from them.”

Roy was third on his team in points and second in goals, and according to coach Bob Parker, he’s a dynamic offensive player who also isn’t afraid to block shots and steps up in crunch time.

Parker also said Roy has helped the team jell together as the season went on. The team graduated a big chunk of the roster, and Parker is in his first year as coach, so coach and captain sat down and talked midway through the year to try and find common goals. Parker said since then he’s seen a completely different team.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Roy said. “My friend (senior assistant captain Isaac Lapointe), he’s done a great job with it, too.”

The Saints regrouped after an up-and-down start to capture Class A North’s No. 2 seed and a bye to the semifinals.

The Edward Little Red Eddies had to win their way into the semifinals. They did just that after holding off Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth in the quarterfinals.

One thing that stood out in the victory was the two-way play of senior captain Ben Steele. The All-State defenseman started at forward and scored the game’s first goal, giving the Red Eddies a 1-0 lead after a first period that saw them brutally out-shot. He later spent extensive time on a game-ending penalty kill with EL up by just one goal and the Rams holding all the game’s momentum.

Steele led the Red Eddies in points, and led all of Class A with 27 assists.

“With Benny on the ice, it makes a big difference, whether he’s playing defense or he’s playing offense,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said. “Just an overall great player.”

All three schools have multiple Travis Roy Award winners, but having all three with semifinalists in the same year isn’t necessarily a given every year.

“Not surprising that players from Lewiston-Auburn are being recognized,” Belleau said. “We’ve been known to have strong players in this community. It’s nice to see three kids continue on with that tradition.”

“It means that we’re doing something right,” Morin said of the Lewiston-Auburn hockey community to have three semifinalists.

“Lewiston-Auburn area always produces good hockey players,” Parker added. “It’s just a shame it’s been a little while since a team has won the state championship.”

No Twin Cities team has won the state title since Edward Little in 2004. Lewiston and St. Dom’s have combined for 10 state final appearances since then, but have come up short each time.

The Twin Cities have a three-out-of-four chance to put another team in the Class A state championship, with only Bangor (and Travis Roy Award semifinalist Trevor DeLaite) standing in the way. A standout senior leader exists on all three Lewiston-Auburn teams, and each will be doing what he’s done all season — and for his entire high school career — to break the Twin Cities winless streak.

“My mindset is this could be my last high school hockey game and I’m going to give it everything that I got,” Morin said, “and the rest of the seniors are too.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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