The prevailing sentiment at the start of the boys’ hockey season was that Lewiston had all the pieces in place to win the Class A state championship.
Yet the Blue Devils had been down that road before in the 14 seasons since 2002, the last of Lewiston’s then 20 state titles.
This year, the Blue Devils added championship No. 21 to the trophy case at Lewiston, marrying potential with production.
Junior forward Jeromey Rancourt was symbolic of that marriage.
With a surplus of skill on the ice, Rancourt showed this year what Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau calls “soft skills” — the intangibles that can’t be measured, but show up in the results nonetheless.
“That is playing through adversity, responding to adversity, being a leader when things are tough,” Belleau said. “It’s easy to lead when things are going your way, and granted we had a good season. … True leaders lead when things aren’t going well, and there’s adversity, and he obviously did that.”
Rancourt was named a team captain as a junior. It was an honor he earned through his showing as a sophomore and off-season, off-ice workouts leading up to this year.
“I remember last year, us getting that feeling of losing, I didn’t want that again, so I just tried to give my all and do everything I could for the team, no matter what the role is that the coach asked me to play,” Rancourt said.
The Blue Devils’ 2014-15 season ended at the hands of rival St. Dom’s in the regional final. Rancourt helped Lewiston exact revenge for that loss this season, beating the Saints twice during the regular season and again in this year’s Class A North final. Rancourt totaled two goals and two assists in those three games.
However, Lewiston boys’ hockey seasons are not defined by results against rivals — even if those results help back bragging rights for a year. For the Blue Devils, it’s championship or bust.
Rancourt was at his best helping Lewiston avoid another bust. He started the play that gave the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead over Scarborough in the Class A state championship, carrying the puck into the zone before dropping off a pass to Alex Rivet, who then passed to Joe Bisson for the goal. He then won the game with a goal of his own with 29 seconds left for a 2-1 win.
“I still think about it to this day,” Rancourt said of championship-winning goal. “At that moment I don’t think any nerves were going through me. Probably the greatest feeling. If I could get that second back, I’d relive it again.”
Rancourt made sure to point out that it wasn’t just him that won the game. There were a lot of moving parts on that play, as well as the previous 44 minutes of the game. Rancourt said it just so happened he was the lucky one to score the goal to win the title.
“He takes things seriously. He takes his team and his teammates seriously,” Belleau said.
Rancourt scoring the game-winning goal in the championship isn’t much of a surprise. The junior forward was the Blue Devils’ leader in points, with 31, and third with 12 goals during the regular season. he had another five points (one goal, four assists) in the three-game run to the title.
“He was able to succeed and lead us in many aspects during the course of the year, including points,” Belleau said. “Obviously was rewarded for his efforts all year and offseason in the championship game.”
Belleau said Rancourt has all the tools for a great hockey player — good hands, good feet, good vision, moves well, shoots well. He put those tools to use against every team’s best defenders, and had to use them with a few different linemates.
Rancourt had Rivet at one wing all season (though Belleau often changed lines in the middle of games), but on the other he had Alex Robert, then Cody Doyon, and finally Bisson, who was injured for much of the year.
Rancourt’s play never wavered, posting points in all but three games, with one of those being a shutout against Bangor to end the regular season.
“It doesn’t take that long to get used to somebody on your line,” Rancourt said. “I’ve grown up playing with most of these boys, so it’s not hard to get chemistry real quick with them.”
Lewiston had arguably the deepest team in the state this year (Rancourt attributed three solid lines and a good fourth for helping beat Scarborough in the state final), with talent at all levels. Rancourt didn’t have to be a one-man wrecking crew, and at his best he was a key cog in a well-oiled machine.
He was at his best when Lewiston proved it finally again was the best. He’s got the hardware, and the moment in time, to back it up.
“You can dream about it, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that it’s so much better in person, in real life, than it is in a dream,” Rancourt said.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
F Jeromey Rancourt Lewiston Jr.
F Austin Roy St. Dom’s Sr.
F Reese Farrell St. Dom’s Fr.
D Ben Steele Edward Little Sr.
D Gavin Bates Lewiston So.
G Kyle Welsh St. Dom’s Jr.
Second team
F Kyle Morin Lewiston Sr.
F Liam Benson Edward Little Sr.
F Alex Rivet Lewiston So.
D Cole Ouellette Lewiston Jr.
D Ryan Bossie Lewiston So.
G Devin Dumont Edward Little Sr.
Third team
F Riley Boivin Cony/HD/Monmouth Sr.
F Noah Toussaint St. Dom’s Jr.
F Tyler Halls Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse Jr.
D Cam Wilson Cony/HD/Monmouth Jr.
D Isaac Lapointe St. Dom’s Sr.
G Jacob Strout Lewiston Jr.
Honorable mention
F-Cody Woodward, Edward Little, Jr.; F-Griffin Wade, Lewiston, Sr.; F-Conor Drouin, Poland/Gray-NG/Oak Hill, Sr.; F-Joey Baumann, Leavitt, Sr.; F-Blayne Arsenault, Leavitt, Sr.; F-Connor Perry, Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth, Sr.; F-Brendon Croteau, Lewiston, Sr.; F-Alex Robert, Lewiston, Fr.; F-Sam Frechette, Lewiston, Fr.;F-Huxley Lovering, Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills, Jr.; F-Sam Johnson, Maranacook/Winthrop, Jr.; F-Noah Austin, Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse, Jr.; F-Mark Abreu, Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse, Jr.; D-Nate Foye, Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth, Jr.; D-Brendan Donovan, Sr. Dom’s, Sr.; D-Kaleb Currier, Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills, Sr.; D-Nick Lepage, Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills, Sr.; D-Jon Sturgis, Lewiston, Sr.; D-Ryley Austin, Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse, Jr.; G-Tom Small, Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth, Sr.; G-Trent Spaulding, Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills, Sr.
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