LEWISTON — Dixon DiLodovico’s Twitter account reads like that of many 20-year-olds — full of random thoughts and discussions with friends.
One tweet from the 2015 Edward Little graduate, who played hockey for the Red Eddies and the Lewiston High School Blue Devils, stood out.
“I need some hockey in my life its been too long,” DiLodovico wrote on Oct. 22.
At the time, he didn’t know hockey would come back into his life the way it did, just a week later.
The L/A Fighting Spirit were in a numbers crunch as injuries mounted on what was a small roster to begin with, and they needed a forward quickly. Dixon’s father, Mike, a local hockey official who officiates NA3HL and college games, got in touch with the Fighting Spirit and told them that he has a son who played hockey.
“My dad called me and he’s like, ‘The Spirit knew a little bit about you,'” DiLodovico said. “My dad told them I played and they said, ‘Tell him to come skate.’ My dad was like, ‘No way.’ My dad is 100 percent behind me.”
Dixon DiLodovico hasn’t played competitive hockey since high school and was doing roofing work with Hahnel Bros. Co., but took the tryout opportunity. Fighting Spirit coach Rod Simmons liked what he saw and offered DiLodovico a spot on the team.
DiLodovico made his debut last weekend when the team played a pair of games in New Jersey against the Skylands Kings, where they lost 6-4 on Friday and won 5-2 on Saturday.
Simmons said every day he steps on the ice it’s a positive step.
“Right now, we have him playing on the third or fourth line,” Simmons said. “His skating is getting better. Once he gets his speed caught up with his hands, there are some things that he didn’t get in his teachings when he was younger. So it’s been a bit of a learning curve for him, but he’s accepted his role very well. He’s done a good job with it.”
DiLodovico said he’s had to get accustomed to the speed and the aggressiveness of junior hockey.
He returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee this weekend as the Fighting Spirit play host to the Binghamton Jr. Senators on Saturday at 7 p.m. and again Sunday at 2 p.m. They will be wearing special-made military jerseys that will be auctioned off next week at the Colisee and at www.fightingspirithockey.com.
“It’s going to be crazy,” DiLodovico said. “It’s going to be awesome. I have a bunch of family and friends coming to support me so, it’s going to be like the old days playing for Lewiston and EL again.”
This isn’t the first time the Fighting Spirit have had a Mainer on the roster. Last season, they had four, but none from the Lewiston-Auburn area.
The Mainers included goalie Marcus Mitchell of York, defenseman Joseph Mooney of Kennebunk, forward Nick Hudson of Berwick and forward Austin Davis of Augusta, who joined down the stretch.
Simmons is always looking at local talent. This past summer, the team drafted Alex Rivet out of Lewiston High School in the NA3HL draft.
“We drafted a young man from this area, and (he) chose to play high school hockey for whatever reason — that’s fine,” Simmons said. “We are certainly here to give a local kid an opportunity, if that is what they are looking for.”
The Fighting Spirit also made some other moves. They acquired defenseman Phil Pistraya, who had two goals and four assists in 15 games with the Kings this season. Defenseman Clayton Thomas was sent to Skylands. He had four goals and five assists with the Fighting Spirit.
“(Pistraya) is another 20-year-old with junior experience. We are trying to complement some of the younger guys a little bit,” Simmons said. “We got a lot of young guys and we are trying to fit the right people on. He’s a tough (defenseman), pretty responsible, not overly flashy, tries to do the best he can with his skill set.”
The Spirit also have 20-year-old goaltender Daniel Potter skating with them and trying to get back into shape. The well-traveled Toronto, Ontario, native from the junior A hockey circuit in Ontario is looking for a professional hockey opportunity. He was with Port Huron of the Federal Hockey League for a short stretch last season. He played in both games for the Spirit last weekend. He got pulled on Friday, but played all 60 minutes Saturday.
nfournier@sunjornal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
