Junior hockey: Finding leaders is the Maine Nordiques’ top camp priority

Nick Skerlick’s goal for the Maine Nordiques training camp is finding leaders for the upcoming season.

The first-year coach has a handful of players in mind but is looking for more as the season progresses.

“We went with a pretty big with our roster size for training camp. We are looking to see leadership more than anything,” Skerlick said. “We are going to incorporate how we play the first little bit the first seven days and once we have that first phase of (player) releases — that’s when we will see how our structure plays. We want to teach what we are about the first week; that’s our big focus.”

The Nordiques’ training camp started Friday. They have 50 players trying to make the initial 25-man roster on Sept. 1. The roster will have to be trimmed again on Oct. 1 to 23 players.

Defensemen Nicholas Bernardo and JP Steele are players Skerlick has tabbed to lead this year’s group.

“We have 10-12 returning. We don’t know the exact number until after training camp, but for us, we already know JP Steele will be a captain in some sort, and Nick Bernardo; who will wear what letter, we aren’t sure,” Skerlick said. “But, the goal for the best teams is to have 25 leaders in that room. That’s the championship mindset for us. It won’t happen in all of October or November, but by March, we will have 25 leaders.”

Bernardo said he sees potential leaders are already developing.

“All of us are leaders here,” Bernardo said. “If you wear a letter or if you don’t wear a letter, everyone should step up, say something. A whole bunch of us are leaders on and off the ice.”

Skerlick said Bernardo is one of the nicest kids he has met. Bernardo, entering his third season with the Nordiques, had nine goals and 27 assists in 54 games last season and announced earlier this summer he will play NCAA Division I hockey at Long Island University in 2024-2025.

Bernardo had offers to play in the British Columbia Hockey League and the United States Hockey League but wanted to finish his junior hockey career in Lewiston.

“It’s my third year here; I love it here,” Bernardo said. “Skerlick is a great guy, and all the coaches are all amazing here. I knew it was going to be great from the start, talking to (Skerlick) in the summer — recruiting me again to play here was the icing on top.”

Steele, a second-year player who had four goals and 17 assists in 2022-23, is detail-oriented and has asked Skerlick questions that have nothing to do with what the Nordiques will do on the ice.

“When that puck drops on Fridays and Saturdays, he’s a warrior; he’s very accountable,” Skerlick said of Steele. “The first thing he asked me when I called him, the questions he asked were about logistics and had nothing to do with playing the game. This kid is paying attention.”

For instance, Steele asked Skerlick what will be the procedure while on the bench during games: sit or stand?

“It gets confusing because guys are coming off the ice, and there are guys in the way,” Skerlick said.

The Nordiques will sit on the bench this season compared to last season when players on the bench stood. Steele also wants the team not to engage with the referees and opposing players this season.

Steele said he’s a rule follower but wants to bring the team together.

“I am going to try to get the brotherhood mentality throughout the team,” Steele said.

Among the forwards, Skerlick expects Kellen Murphy, Kim Hilmersson, and Laurent Trepanier to be leaders and potentially earn letters this season.

“We are looking big things out of Kellen,” Skerlick said. “Kim Hilmersson is a kid who I think is a crazy statistic. I think for Kim, he will do what he did last year, have anywhere from 15 to 25 points, or this kid is going to explode for 60 or 65. He put on a ton of muscle; I didn’t recognize him when he walked through the door — he had to walk through sideways. Those guys are two impact guys we see and Laurent Trepanier is awesome. I think he’s a kid that can bring the energy.”

Murphy is the team’s top returning goal scorer with 17 goals and 23 assists in 55 games, while Hilmersson had six goals and nine assists in 51 games. Trepanier tallied 14 goals and nine assists in 47 games.

Murphy made last year’s team as a free agent invitee at training camp. He said being a leader will help him become a better person.

“I love this group to death, and I think I matured as a person and as a player,” Murphy said, “It’s going to be great to step into that leading role because I think it’s going to help me as a human being also.”

CAMP SCHEDULE AT THE COLISEE

The Nordiques will hold an intrasquad scrimmage Sunday at noon, then Monday will be a 3-on-3 tournament beginning at 10 a.m. The team’s first competitive game will happen Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. when the Nordiques host the Northeast Generals for an exhibition contest.