West Notebook: New coaches making an impact

By Mike Coffey Published: 23rd December 2011

 

Falmouth coach Deron Barton gives instructions to his players during a stoppage of play (PHOTO: Elena Bujoreanu)

 

Falmouth High School was faced yet again with another change behind the bench for its boys’ varsity hockey team as Deron Barton took the reins for the Yachtsmen, meaning for the juniors and seniors on the team have now played for three different coaches throughout their high school career.

 

Despite this, Falmouth is off to a strong start so far in the 2011-‘12 season under Barton and their latest win is no small accomplishment, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the defending State Champs, Thornton Academy, 5-3.

Barton is taking over Adam Nicholas, who left only one year after replacing long-time coach Scott Rousseau for a position with North Yarmouth Academy.

The high turnover rate for Falmouth coaches was something Barton was mindful of and addressed with the seniors on the team.

“I met with them and we discussed that,” he said. “I asked for them to just give me time and be patient with me. I needed their leadership. I have two or three seniors that are State Championship Lacrosse players and I have another one that’s a State Championship Soccer Player, so they’re leaders and they know how to win. I asked them for their patience and they stuck with me, they bought into what I’m trying to do with the younger players.”

Before Falmouth, Barton has coached the Maine Select Girls Program and Freeport High School. This year marks the end of a brief hiatus from coaching:

“I have four kids who all played the game and my commitment for the past six or seven seasons was to watch them.”

Now, back behind the bench, Barton has high hopes for the Yachtsmen.

“I’ve got a great opportunity here in this community,” he said. “There’s a lot of support, a lot of passionate hockey parents and good solid character kids.”

“We’re taking it one game at a time, one period at a time and one shift at a time. Obviously, we would like to win every game we play. That’s the goal. We would like to end up with a high seed in the tournament and win it. I think we’re capable of that, and I don’t think I’d be doing this team justice if I didn’t set the goal that high.”

The victory over Thornton definitely adds credibility to the Yachtsmen as contenders. They will get a chance to prove themselves again after ringing in the New Year. They kick off 2012 by taking on the Lewiston Blue Devils at the Colisee in Lewiston on January 4th.

Falmouth, ME – In front of a packed rink at the Family Ice Center in Falmouth, the Falmouth Yachtsmen High School Boys hockey team did not disappoint their fans, pulling off a 5-3 comeback win over the defending State Champs Thornton Academy, handing them their first loss of the season.

“There are some other very good teams in Class A Hockey and this is just one of them,” said Thornton head coach Jamie Gagnon. “We have to focus on executing better. At times we were up and down, we had our chances, the goaltender made some great saves on the other end. I think if we put a couple of those away, maybe it’s a different game, but the bottom line is we didn’t, and we were in a tight hockey game, they came back and had a phenomenal effort to win it.”

After a scoreless first period, Thornton Academy opened up the scoring at 4:14 of the second. Bryan Dallaire caught the Falmouth defense off guard, stepping onto the ice at the blue line just after a Thornton penalty had expired, catching a pass, skating in and beating Falmouth netminder Dane Pauls with a hard wrist shot to put the Golden Trojans up 1-0 after two periods of play.

Thornton doubled their lead early in the third period, when Nick Chen collected a rebound and chipped it in at 1:58, assisted by Dallaire.

Down 0-2, the Falmouth offense finally erupted in the third period, scoring four unanswered goals. Senior forward Brandon Tuttle started things off for the Yachtsmen, finding the net at 3:53 to bring them back within reach.

Falmouth capitalized on a two man advantage to tie things up with a power play goal from Alden Weller at 9:14, assisted by Tuttle, making it a 2-2 game.

# 11 Thornton, Taylor Brown and # 8 Falmouth, Hugh Grygiel race for the puck. (PHOTO: Elena Bujoreanu)

Ben Freeman gave the Yachtsmen the lead, finding the net at 10:57 to go up 3-2. Shortly after, Mitch Tapley was rewarded for his persistence, collecting his own rebound and putting it in at 11:47 for a 4-2 lead.

The two teams would go back and forth once more before all was said and done. CJ Maksut scored on the power play for Thornton, bringing them back within a goal at 13:19.

On the ensuing face off, Falmouth gained control of the puck and charged it in from center ice, taking back their two-goal lead just six seconds later. Tapley set up Tuttle for his second goal of the night at 13:25, pushing the Yachtsmen to a 5-3 victory, upsetting defending State Champs Thornton Academy with their first loss of the season.

“We’re a very strong team, we’re young, so we’ve got a lot to learn,” said Falmouth coach Deron Barton. “But the kids proved to themselves tonight that they can win in tough situations.”

With tonight’s win, Falmouth improves to 2-1 for the season, while Thornton Academy drops to 3-1.

Congratulations to all runners!

See Link Below:

  Lynn Olson 615-4082 (c) / lynnolson18@gmail.com

Maren Nagem 329.4891 (c) / mnagem@maine.rr.com

Mike Nagem 203.505.2270 (c) / mnagem2@aol.com
 

It's that time of year again, when we start thinking about the hockey season! We have consolidated the advertising efforts for the Falmouth Ice Hockey Association and the Falmouth Girls Ice Hockey Association and are proud to offer you the following Advertising opportunities.

All Teams Program Book - Featuring the Middle School Teams, High School Boys and High School Girls Teams. Schedules, stats, awards, and senior dedications.

You can place a personal or business ad in this wonderful program book or make a donation and be listed as a Friend of Falmouth Hockey. Program books will be available at the home games of all the teams.

If you advertise in this program book, you also will be placed in the Spring Classic Brochure (a fun tournament in the Spring for area towns for players grade 3-5). You will also be listed on our website as a sponsor of our programs.

All Teams Website - We also have a wonderful website filled with information about our teams. You can be a Banner Sponsor with your business logo and link to your website.

Advertising is a large part of our fundraising efforts and we hope you will consider supporting Falmouth Ice Hockey this year!

Below is the advertising request form, simply fill it out and return by Nov. 23, 2011.

Please feel free to contact Terri St. Angelo with any advertising questions. 781-4746. tsaint@maine.rr.com

Thank you for your continued support of Falmouth Ice Hockey.

Update for 2011-12 Falmouth Middle School Hockey
We are pleased to announce the coaching staff for the upcoming season. Falmouth will be entering three teams into the Southern Maine Middle School league this season:

• Soule A Division team
o Head Coach: Jay Schofield
o Asst Coach: Peter Metcalf
o Asst. Coach:  Sean  Conroy
o Asst. Coach: Adam Horgan

• Petterson Division - Girls team
o Head Coach: Megan Irving
o Asst. Coach: Christine Noyes
o Asst. Coach: Kris Aaskov

• Ingals B Division team
o Head Coach: Stephen Nash
o Asst. Coach: David Means
o Asst. Coach: Brad MacDonald

Evaluations:

Coaches are looking forward to evaluations at Family Ice this coming Thursday (10/6) at 7:30PM and Friday (10/7) at 6:10PM.
As we will be collecting the required forms for all players and will be distributing practice jerseys for the evaluations, please plan to arrive at Family Ice at least 45 minutes prior to the first session. Please check in at the front lobby upon arrival.

The second night of evaluations is optional for those girls in the program that are not interested in potentially skating with Soule or Ingals division teams as a swing player.
If your player is interested in being a goaltender during the evaluations AND you require equipment, please email Sam Pierce (spierce@maine.rr.com) to make arrangements.
Evaluation results will be emailed to the players the week of October 10th. They will not be posted at the rink after the skate on the second night.

Southern Maine Middle School League Updates:

There were some changes to the league since the Spring meeting that are important to note.

• All A division teams, including Falmouth’s Soule division team, will be operating under the rules of the Bantam age group.
• The most important rule change based on this for the current season is that the A teams will remain checking teams (as they have been in the past). This is different than we expected at the time of the parent meeting.
• The Petterson and Ingals divisions will both be operating under non-check rules that are currently in force with USA Hockey for the PeeWee and younger age groups.
• All players, including swing players, who will be eligible to play for the Soule Division team will be required to sign a waiver indicating that they are opting to play under the Bantam rules.

Falmouth Specific Updates:

While we have a large number of players registered (47 currently), those numbers did not support the addition of a fourth league team this year. However, this also means that the number of times players are asked or expected to swing up to a second team will be limited. This will be a change from previous years, when this was a much more common occurrence (or necessity).

Due to a shortage of available ice, the SMMSHL asked all programs if they were willing to offer some of their practice ice for use as game slots. As this increases the number of games at our home rink and potential eliminates the need to extend the season beyond its normal schedule, the Board has decided to offer some of its late Monday night practice slots to the league for us to use as home games.

Again reflecting upon the large number of registered players in the program this season, there will be a hard deadline of October 28 for late registering players. While it is our goal to serve all skaters in Falmouth, it becomes unfair to the rest of the players if they have to lose playing time because of over-extended benches.

We are very much looking forward to the upcoming season. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact either Neil Armitage (nearmitage@ol.com) or Sam Pierce (spierce@maine.rr.com) in advance of evaluations or just ask away at the rink on the evaluation nights.
 

Giving hockey a try in Southern Maine just got a lot easier. MGIHA is offering 10 free girls hockey clinics in October and November to help girls learn to play.

If you are interested in playing, email us or just show up to play. We will have equipment for you to use at the rinks. We welcome girls from 1st through 12th grades.

If you are already playing, please bring a friend (and dress to skate yourself) and you can join in the fun of introducing a friend to the greatest winter sport there is.

Here is the initial schedule--check back for additional dates and locations.

October 9 -- 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. USM - Gorham Ice Rink

October 15 -- 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Biddeford Ice Arena

October 16 -- 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. USM - Gorham Ice Rink

October 22 -- 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. -- Portland Ice Arena

October 23 -- 3:30 to 5:30 --Dover (NH) Ice Arena

October 30 -- 4:30 to 6:30 -- Dover (NH) Ice Arena

November 19 -- late afternoon--check back here for time--Biddeford Ice Arena

November 19 -- late afternoon--check back here for time--Portland Expo

RSVP or email questions to mgiha2009@gmail.com or call Alex Agnew at 207-450-5363.

Reminder that this season's Middle School Parent/Player meeting was held on Monday September 19th, 7 pm at the Family Ice Pond House.

Below is a copy of the Parent letter that was distributed at the meeting.

Your Falmouth Ice Hockey Board is looking for a coordinator for our annual Christmas tree fundraiser. This position is one of our most important to reach our annual fundraising goals. While it may look daunting, the coordinator will have plenty of assistance!!! This is a GREAT way to earn play-to-pay credits!!!

Please contact one of the FIHA Board members if you are interested.

The Falmouth Ice Hockey Association is seeking qualified applicants for the upcoming 2010 hockey season. There are a number of coaching slots available for the Middle School ice hockey teams, including the head coaching positions for the Varsity Boys and Junior Varsity Co-Ed teams. A detailed description of the available positions and requirements are listed below. If you are interested in applying to coach in the program, please submit a resume and cover letter to Neil Armitage at nearmitage@aol.com.

The Falmouth Middle School hockey program strives to effectively balance fun, playing time and hockey skills development for all interested boys and girls in the Middle School. Additionally, the program is designed to be a feeder program for future High School teams, aligning its development with the overall hockey philosophy for all Falmouth teams. Here are general parameters for coaches in the program:

Named head coach of the Falmouth High School Boys’ Varsity ice hockey team, Deron Barton grew up in Boxboro Massachusetts and played youth hockey in the Boston Metro League for the Assabet Valley All Stars and the Middlesex Islanders.

Deron was a two time captain at Acton Boxboro Regional High School and won the Massachusetts State scoring championship his senior year. He went onto become a two time captain and team MVP at Merrimack College, leading his team to the NCAA tournament in his junior season and remains among Merrimack’s top career scoring leaders.

Deron graduated from Merrimack College in 1985 and received a B.S., Finance and Marketing.  Deron brings over 20 years of ice hockey coaching and training experience to the program and has proven success building winning teams at all levels and attributes this success to a coaching philosophy that values teaching solid fundamentals, disciplined conditioning and an unconditional commitment to team work.

Deron lives in Portland with his wife Liz. Their four children are all student athletes and graduates of Merrimack College, UVM, Colby College and Cushing Academy.

As a result of the FIHA Annual General Meeting the following will be your Board for the upcoming year. Board member page will be updated after election of officers at the June 1st meeting.

2011-2012 Board:

Neil Armitage

Chip Boehm

Martha Bohrmann

Theresa Freeman

Mary-Ellen Grade

Charlie Hurdman

Steve MacDowell

Sam Pierce

Danielle Tracy

Brad Weller

Congratulations to all new Board members. Thank you for your willingness to serve.

Girls hockey program for middle school skaters.  Run by Bob Mills and Mark Snyder, both veteran coaches who keep it fun, this skills and games program runs from late June through late August.

 

See link below for registration materials and more info:

Falmouth players Ben Freeman, Connor MacDowell, and Alden Weller played in the Nationals

Five players scored as a bantam boys hockey team from Casco Bay won a national title, 5-0, over a team from Nashville this morning.

Competing in the USA Youth Hockey Tier II national tournament for boys 14 and under in Williamsville, N.Y., Casco Bay swept through pool play with a perfect 6-0 record before defeating Atlanta 8-0 in Saturday's semifinals and Nashville in the final.

Griffin Py, Ted Hart, Reid Howland, Colin Merrill and Ben Freeman scored for Casco Bay. Kyle Kramlich and William Coleman combined on the shutout.

Freeman, Hart and Sterling Weatherbie each had two assists for Casco Bay, which allowed only one goal in eight games. Stephen Barry, Zach Luce and Peter Hurley also had an assist in the championship game.

Thank you to all who assisted in every way in our fundraising event! It was another successful year! We are also thankful for parents and players, who generously gave their time and volunteered to sell trees.

FIHA would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have supported our biggest fundraising event of the year.  There are a couple of companies and individuals who have continually supported our Christmas Tree sales and need a special thank you! 

Yarmouth Lumber

Comedian Bob Marley

The Hanley Family

The Chase Family

Lastly, thank you to all who purchased our trees.  We hope they were beautiful in your homes and we look forward to seeing you again, next year!

 Mary Sue Mainella Joel Noyes

Christmas Tree Coordinators

Middle School Varsity:

Paul Freeman is the new Head Coach of the Boys Varsity team and will be assisted by Peter Metcalf and Andrew Barris.

Middle School Girls:

Megan Irving returns for her second season as the Head Coach of the Girls’ Varsity team, assisted again this year by Kris Aaskov and Christine Noyes.

Middle School JV:

Stephen Nash returns to coach the Junior Varsity team, assisted by first year coach Rob Grygiel.

Coach Nicholas article from the Portland Press Herald on 8/24/2010

www.pressherald.com/sports/falmouth-gets-its-new-hockey-coach_2010-08-24.html

Maine Class A High School Hockey
Coaches Association
 
 
PRESS RELEASE
February 19, 2010
 
TRAVIS ROY AWARD SEMIFINALISTS ANNOUNCED
 
The following eight senior players have been named semifinalists for the prestigious Travis Roy Award, given annually to the most outstanding senior in Class A Hockey.  The four finalists for the award will be announced on Monday, March 8th.  The Travis Roy Award winner will be announced at the Class A Hockey State Banquet at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston at 12:00pm on Sunday, March 14th.
 
Additionally, the Class A Hockey Coaches Association would like to announce the East-West Senior All Star game, which will be played at 6:30pm on Saturday, March 13th, at the Family Ice Center in Falmouth. The rosters for the Senior All Star Game are also listed.
 
 
Rick Hebb – Thornton Academy, Goaltender  1.30 GAA  .936 Save Pct
      The Senior has been a three year starter for the Golden Trojans.  Hebb leads all West goaltenders in GAA and Save Pct this year in leading Thornton to their best record in school history.  He has recorded 18 career shutouts and has 44 career wins.  Rick is an honor roll student and volunteers as a goalie mentor with Biddeford Area Youth Hockey.  He hopes to pursue a postgraduate year at Bridgeton Academy.
 
Conor Kelly – Brunswick, Forward                                   16 Goals, 16 Assists, 32 pts
          A four year varsity player and team captain the past two seasons, Kelly finished the year as the 5th leading scorer in Class A East.  He has 87 career pts in 80 career games.  Conor is also a standout soccer and baseball player and is in the top 5% of his class with a 93.6 GPA.  A National Merit Finalist, he has been accepted to both Boston College and Notre Dame.  Kelly is also a member of the Casco Bay Midget team that will compete in the Tier II Nationals in April. Conor volunteers with youth baseball and hockey and officiates youth soccer.
 
Dixon Pike - Falmouth, Forward                     11 Goals, 14 Assists, 25 pts
            A 4 year varsity player and team captain, Pike currently has 99 career points entering the playoffs.  A standout two way centreman who also plays defense for the Yachtsmen, Dixon is an honor roll student and two year starter on the Falmouth state championship soccer team.  He is also a member of the Casco Bay Midget team that will compete in the Tier II Nationals in April and volunteers with Maine Adaptive, a program that teaches children with disabilities how to skate and play hockey.  The two time All State selection has been accepted at UNH, Delaware, and Miami, Ohio.
 
Nick George – Bangor, Defenseman                                   5 Goals, 21 Assists, 26 pts
     The lone defenseman among this year's semifinalists, George leads the Rams in scoring.  A First Team All State Hockey selection each of the past two seasons,  George was also named the Class A Soccer Player of the Year in 2009.  An honor roll student and National Honor Society member, Nick has volunteered at EMMC in patient assistance and has maintained a paper route the past 6 years that requires a 4am daily start.  He is undecided on his college of choice but hopes to study engineering.
 
Dan Hanley – Falmouth, Forward                  17 Goals, 14 Assists, 31 pts
           The team captain and member of the Casco Bay Midget team that will compete in the Tier II Nationals, Hanley is a four year varsity player who is third in career goals at Falmouth with 80, as well as 5th in career scoring with 136 pts.  The High Honors student is in the top 10% of his class, is a student tutor, and also volunteers with Maine Adaptive, a program that teaches children with disabilities how to skate and play hockey.  Hanley is a three time All State selection and is also an All State Lacrosse player who will attend Bowdoin College this fall.  
 
Mat Gordon – Edward Little, Forward                    24 Goals, 24 Assists, 48 pts
     A four year varsity award winner and captain of this year’s resurgent Red Eddies squad, Gordon leads Class A East in scoring.  Gordon has recorded 125 pts in his career and is a two-time All State member.  The National Honor Society member volunteers with Big Brothers-Big Sisters and the Auburn Learn to Skate program.  Gordon is a standout baseball player and plans on attending either Barry College or Limestone College to play baseball.
 
Trevor Fleurent – Biddeford, Forward                     28 Goals, 23 Assists, 51 pts
      A four year varsity player and two time State Champion, he has never missed a game in his career. Fleurent is the leading scorer in the State this season and has only 6 penalty minutes.  Trevor has recorded 141 pts in career at Biddeford and is a three time All State selection.  He is also the Captain of the Tiger baseball team.  Trevor volunteer's with Biddeford Youth Hockey and Habitat for Humanity and plans on playing junior hockey next season.
 
Nick Deblois – Waterville, Forward                          11 Goals, 8 Assists, 19 pts
      A four year varsity player and State Champion, Deblois is the Captain and leading scorer of the #2 ranked team in the East.  A three time All State selection, Nick is a High Honors student and will attend the University of Maine to study Engineering.  Nick works as a youth hockey official. 
 
 
 

(Walpole, Mass.) -- Walpole Express Goaltender, and Falmouth's own,  Derek Kump will suit up for Atlantic Hockey NCAA Division 1 Holy Cross after committing to the respected Worcester, Massachusetts school. Kump is the leading goaltender in the AJHL this season with 1.61 goals against average, .941 save % and 13 wins. He was recently named to his second AJHL All-Star team as the starting goaltender.
"This a great honor for Derek," said Express Coach Tony Dalessio. "He has been the best goaltender in the AJHL for the past two seasons and has worked extremely hard on and off the ice to achieve his goal of playing D I ice hockey at a great academic institution."