New Hampshire Mountain Kings coach Cam Robichaud said there’s a buzz heading into Sunday’s game against the Maine Nordiques.

The Auburn native is making his coaching return to The Colisee, where he coached for several years until being let go by the Maine Nordiques organization as the Maine Nordiques Academy 16U coach in October 2020.

Former Lewiston High Schools standout Damon Bossie also is making a return for Sunday’s game, which starts at 4 p.m.

Robichaud helped get the North American Hockey League to Lewiston when the USA Hockey’s Tier II junior league announced the Nordiques as an expansion franchise in February 2019. At the time, he was the head coach of the L/A Nordiques, who played in the Tier III North American 3 Hockey League.

“It’s obviously a game a lot of people are talking about back home,” Robichaud said. “I am still involved with the youth program at Norway Savings Bank (Arena), I am still involved in the local hockey scene. A lot of people are excited about the Sunday game and telling me they will be there. I am looking forward to it.”

Robichaud, along with his duties with the Mountain Kings, also is the executive director and co-director of the Maine Gladiators youth hockey organization.

After being let go by the Nordiques, he joined the coaching staff of Auburn’s Tier II junior hockey franchise, the Twin City Thunder of the United States Premier League’s National Collegiate Development Conference. Robichaud became a co-owner and associate head coach of the Thunder’s NCDC team in the summer of 2021. He sold his stake in the Thunder in April to become the Mountain Kings’ head coach.

Robichaud said he’s also excited to return to The Colisee but doesn’t solely want the focus to be on him.

“For personal reasons, I am excited about the game, but I have to keep it in check,” Robichaud said. “The game is for the players; the players win games, players compete, players lose games. It’s an opportunity for the players to be seen by colleges. The message has been don’t let the emotions take over the game or distract us from our business and why we are traveling up to Maine on Sunday.”

Robichaud said he’s still friendly with The Colisee staff, including game day operations coordinator/corporate partnerships Dave Gagnon, operations manager Don Lamontagne, assistant general manager Jim Mercier, and is looking forward to getting a hug from Claire Barclay, who works in the ticket office.

BOSSIE’S BACK

Robichaud isn’t the only person with strong area ties making his return Sunday. Former Lewiston High School and Thunder defenseman Damon Bossie will be playing on The Colisee’s ice for the first time since the coronavirus-shortened 2021 high school season when Bossie was a junior with the Blue Devils.

Bossie was a defenseman on Lewiston’s Class A state championship team in 2020.

“It is exciting,” Bossie said. “There’s a lot of emotion with everything, but at the end of the day, we are going for two points.”

Bossie said he will have family in attendance for Sunday’s matinee.

“My family is excited,” Bossie said. “They have been really supportive of me and the team. There’s nothing better than they want to see, is us there against the Nordiques this Sunday.”

The Mountain Kings are an expansion franchise in the NAHL, and Bossie is one of only a handful of players with prior junior hockey experience on the roster, having spent the past two seasons with the Thunder organization.

Bossie made the Mountain Kings roster as a free-agent invitee. In addition to being coached by Robichaud with the Thunder the past two seasons, Bossie works with Robichaud during the offseason at PucDevelopment — Robichaud’s hockey-specific training facility in Lewiston.

Robichaud said Bossie is transitioning well to the grind of the NAHL’s schedule — the East Division has teams across the east coast, including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, in addition to the league-wide showcase in Blaine. Minnesota, in the middle of September. By comparison, the Thunder’s schedule is mostly in the New England states.

“I have been happy with his play,” Robichaud said. “It’s been a big adjustment for him, more than just the hockey where he was playing — with the Thunder and (two) years before at Lewiston High School — it’s the travel and the demand of the schedule. We had to take a trip right away to Blaine — that’s five days there. We come back, and we have the home opener, then we are on a 10-hour bus trip to Johnstown.

“The travel is much more intense and it takes a little bit of a transition on how to be a player in this league.”

Bossie has one goal and three assists in 11 games this season after recording six assists in 21 games with the Thunder’s NCDC team and six goals and 15 assists in 21 games with the Thunder’s Tier III Premier League team in 2022-23.

“The NAHL, it took some adjusting,” Bossie said, “but it has been a good transition, obviously, under coach Robichaud and the coaching staff here. They make it easier for players to transition. They are a good support system.”

OTHERS MAKING RETURN

While the Mountain Kings and Nordiques are playing each other for the first time — their series is called the Margaritas Rivarly Cup — on Sunday, the two organizations have already become familiar with each other as trading partners early in the season.

New Hampshire has four former Nordiques forwards on the roster this season: Hunter Fetteroff, one of the Mountain Kings’ leading scorers, Cameron Stehle, Kai Dunits, and Layton Liffrig.

Liffrig, a free agent signing by New Hampshire, was the only player not acquired by trade.

Robichaud said his history of the Nordiques organization didn’t play a factor in acquiring those players.

“They are all the same to me,” Robichaud said. “For me, it’s what’s in the best interest of the player and for the team. Does it improve the team and does it put the player in a better situation where they may have more opportunities?”

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