The landscape has changed in Eastern Maine Class B hockey.
Three highly successful coaches have departed but the three new coaches have inherited teams that should be among the contenders for the regional championship.
Heading the list is defending three-time Eastern Maine Class B titlist and 2013-14 state champion Messalonskee High School of Oakland.
Mike Latendresse, who guided the Eagles to a 21-0 campaign last year culminating in a 6-1 win over Gorham in the state final, has stepped down after 12 years to be an assistant coach of the men’s team at Waterville’s Colby College.
Latendresse produced a 57-7 record over his final three seasons at Messalonskee.
He has been replaced by Joseph Hague.
David Shedd directed Brewer High to a 76-20-3 record and a Class B state title during his five seasons behind the bench but he left to teach cabinet making and woodworking to displaced millworkers from the Lincoln and East Millinocket mills.
Lance Ingerson has taken over for Shedd.
And Gene Fadrigon has retired after guiding John Bapst High of Bangor to a 32-27-1 mark over three seasons in his second stint at the school and a berth in the Class B final two years ago. He had led John Bapst to a 16-2 record and the school’s first-ever top seed in the playoffs in 2008-09.
He had previously directed Old Town High School to four Eastern Maine titles and two state titles during a 15-year stint.
Andy Stephenson has taken over the John Bapst job.
“Messalonskee will be tough again. They’ll be the team to beat, but I don’t know how the new coach will impact them,” Presque Isle coach Carl Flynn said. “It’ll be interesting to see.”
Waterville, John Bapst and Brewer are expected to be the primary challengers.
But Messalonskee should also contend.
Despite losing the school’s all-time leading scorer, Chase Cunningham (251 points), Dan Condon (30 goals, 32 assists last year) and senior goalie Ben Weeks, the Eagles still return a strong nucleus, including Chase’s brother Jared (29 & 44) and high-scoring defenseman Dylan Burton (10 & 42).
Kalib Bernatchez and Jake Dexter are a pair of quality forwards who will have elevated roles this season and Brandon Nale and Sam Bell are top-notch defensemen.
Presque Isle reached the Eastern Maine final a year ago, losing to the Eagles 9-3 in the regional final. But the Wildcats, who were 13-6-1, were hit hard by graduation losses.
“We’re in year two of a rebuilding phase. We will be middle-of-the-pack worthy,” said Flynn, whose defense corps was depleted by the departure of captains Mike and Andrew Michaud.
“Our most experienced defenseman is a sophomore, Dennis Young,” Flynn said.
Up front, the biggest loss is Tyler Seeley, who is a member of the 100-point club.
But the Wildcats do have an exceptional first line, featuring dynamic senior speedster Alex Michaud, who already has 100 career points, with Cooper Madore and Joseph Patenaude.
Senior center Dan Boucher will provide supplemental scoring, and the Wildcats also have a reliable veteran tandem in goal with juniors Jillian Flynn and Oliver Gerrish. Flynn saw the majority of the ice time a year ago.
Brewer coach Ingerson had a successful debut, beating his alma mater, Hampden Academy, and his former coach, Bill Schwarz, 6-0.
“We work hard, we hustle and we’re pretty quick,” Ingerson said. “We lost some scorers off last year’s team, but we’re going to compensate by working hard and crashing the net.”
Brewer was young last year and missed the playoffs as the Witches were 8-9-1.
But the freshman and sophomores who received valuable ice time have improved and the Witches have a talented senior, Gabe Valley, heading up the top line with juniors Dylan Severance and Caleb Eggert. Seniors Tyler Davis and Kyle Spox and sophomore Tyler Hersey supply them with a dependable second line and junior Jack Schroeder, who saw a ton of ice time a year ago, will anchor the defense with sophomore Trey Wood. Sophomores Kyle Webb and Cameron Green also saw considerable ice time and junior Tyler Friel is a seasoned goalie.
John Bapst, 10-10 a year ago, has a “lot of talent,” according to Stephenson, whose Crusaders scored four unanswered goals in the third period to tie Winslow 6-6 before losing 7-6.
“We have three strong lines and we’re very strong in goal with [senior] Sam Lander. Defense is where we need the most work,” said Stephenson, whose team also has plenty of speed up front.
The top line of seniors Hunter Pate and Jonathan Cheff and freshman Josh Wheeler scored five goals against Winslow. The lines of Nate Reese with Kodi Legassie and Anthony Cambria and Jackson Leonard with Logan Cyr-Ellis and David Carmack can also score.
Senior Jack Powell will marshall an inexperienced defense corps.
Hampden will have a “lot of new names,” according to Schwarz.
The Broncos graduated long-time goalie Ryan Manning, leaving sophomore Cole Benner to inherit the job.
Dependable workhorse defensemen Rob Stowe and Mike Ward have also departed, leaving standout Riley Eastman and converted forward Vinnie Gilmour to log a ton of minutes.
Up front, Dylan Cray, Marc Thibodeau, Jordan Dysart and Hunter Christian will be called upon to put the puck in the net with freshman Marcus Dunn being another option.
Winslow, Old Town-Orono and Waterville are expected to be vastly improved, while Houlton-Hodgdon is extremely young.
“Our forte is our speed,” said Winslow coach Andy Dube, whose Black Raiders were 9-10 a year ago. “We’ve better than last year and we have a lot of fast forwards. Andrew Beals is a very consistent goalie. Our weakness is on defense but we’re going to work with them and ask our forwards to come back and help out [defensively].”
Old Town-Orono coach Denis Collins feels his second year cooperative Old Town-Orono team has the potential to finish above .500 after a 2-16 season a year ago.
His Black Bears will be infused with some skillful newcomers to go with a good corps of seasoned players.
Senior Tyler Byther and gifted Austin Sheehan will supply them with a quality defense pair.
Freshmen Austin Soucy, Jacob Dubay and Ben Allan-Rahill have been impressive up front to compliment senior Damien Spencer, junior Chris Hoxie sophomore Nick Boutin and junior Cam Sullivan.
Houlton-Hodgdon has seven freshman and coach Tony Marino will have a first-year goalie in either sophomore John Thatcher or freshman Drew Marino, his son, a converted forward.
Adam Casillas, Cam Clark, Josh Malone and David Dunn will be relied upon to do the scoring along with Seth Hannigan and A.J. Henderson with freshmen Abe Lorom and Nick DeLucca being expected to log a lot of minutes on defense.
Waterville is quick and tenacious and will be led by influential defenseman Andrew Roderigue and talented forward Nick Denis.