As a sophomore, Brian Dumoulin towered over his teammates.

His talent allowed him to stickhandle around them with relative ease, too.

Conventional wisdom – not to mention several top junior coaches and general managers – told Dumoulin to bolt after his team won the Class A state title last year.

What more did he have to prove, they said.

But Dumoulin chose differently.

“We were as excited to have him back in the locker room as we were to have him back on the ice,” Biddeford coach Jamie Gagnon said. “He’s that kind of kid.”

The Biddeford Tigers couldn’t be happier. This season, with an older, wiser and physically more overpowering Dumoulin, Biddeford is 23-0 and back in the championship game. The tall, puck-moving defenseman is second only to teammate Nick Reny in Western Class A scoring with 57 points (Reny has 58).

His 45 assists lead all of Class A, and his ability to control a game from the blue line is invaluable to the Tigers.

“He can push the play up the ice, but he also plays a sound defensive game,” Gagnon said.

All season, coaches have tried, and failed, to control him. Two teams – St. Dom’s and Kennebunk – managed to keep him mostly in check. The Saints lost to Biddeford 2-1 on a goal with five seconds left in regulation, and the Rams suffered the same margin of defeat in Wednesday’s Western Class A final, though in overtime.

Lewiston, which bore the brunt of Dumoulin’s abilities in last year’s title game, will have to keep its eye on him Saturday night.

“I’m not going to tell you my game plan, of course,” Lewiston coach Norm Gagne this week as he cracked a smile, “but I hope it’s going to work. Basically, we have to play a tight game.”

On the other end, Gagnon this week saw what happened when a team keyed on Dumoulin.

Of course, the Tigers still won, with Dumoulin a central piece in the winning goal.

“That’s an example of how poised he can be,” Gagnon said. “His personality off the ice helps in that regard, because he’s able to stay patient and still be selective in the chances he takes on the ice.”

This time, the state final will be Dumoulin’s last high school game.

And he’d like nothing more than to go out on top.