It’s wasn’t exactly a phoenix and there were no ashes from which to rise, but the Lisbon High School hockey program found new life over the holiday break thanks to some new friends at Oak Hill High School in Wales and has risen once again to playing status.

Thanks to a chance meeting between Lisbon Athletic Director Jeff Ramich and Oak Hill AD Bill Fairchild, the team that was once the Lisbon-Monmouth Greystangs is now playing a club schedule against some junior varsity and varsity programs. The team will use previously scheduled (and paid for) ice time left from the Lisbon varsity program that this year had, for the first time, received full funding from the Lisbon School Department.

“Too many people worked too long and hard on this program,” said Ramich. “They are playing a limited club schedule right now and there are a few teams already scheduled.”

As for Oak Hill’s involvement, there is no actual official club yet that is even affiliated with the Wales school that serves students from Wales, Sabattus and Litchfield.

“As a school, nothing has been done yet,” said Fairchild. “Jeff came to me at a chance meeting over vacation and cordially extended an invitation to any Oak Hill students that wanted to play hockey. I passed the word along, but as of now, there is no official partnership.”

There could be in the future, though.

Lisbon appealed to the Maine Principal’s Association to have this season count as one of two required “season’s off” before re-applying to be a varsity sport, and the organization granted the request, meaning that Lisbon can regain varsity status as early as the 2006-07 season.

“Ultimately, this may end up being a good thing for the program,” said Ramich.

One minor detail that both AD’s are looking into, though, is that a combined enrollment from Oak Hill and Lisbon would be more than 900, making any team formed between the two teams a Class A team, and therefore would force a schedule against the likes of Edward Little, Lewiston and St. Dom’s.

“Overall, I think it would be a good thing for us, though,” said Fairchild. “We are kind of hockey-locked in a way, because all of the schools around us already have programs and aren’t looking to pick anymore kids up. This seems like a perfect fit, and next year we will look at going to the school board and look at maybe making this joint venture an official club sport for Oak Hill, too.”

As many as 10 Oak Hill students have expressed an interest in joining the team, and Fairchild believes that with a couple of years to prepare, Class A wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

“A, B, C, D means very little, I think,” said Fairchild. “It’s about a program. St. Dom’s is a small school but plays Class A in hockey. It’s not necessarily about the numbers, but the way the program is put together. Who’s to say that this couldn’t be a quality team. Not right away, maybe, but in the future.”

As for a coach, Lisbon hockey alum J.P. Adams will continue to coach the club team. Former co-coach Craig Bouchard will not, however, due to conflicts with his schedule. The team’s first exhibition game will be against the Win-Dale junior varsity on Jan. 10. Other teams scheduled, according to the two AD’s, are Maranacook and Fryeburg. The teams will be able to use Lisbon’s previously scheduled ice time at Ingersol Arena at Pettengil Park in Auburn.