Greely Boys' Varsity Hockey Makes History

The 2008-09 Greely Boys' Varsity Hockey team made history on Saturday, March 7, by winning the first state championship in the 25-year history of the program.

In front of a large and noisy crowd at the Lewiston Colisee, Greely beat East B champion Presque Isle 5-1 to win the 2009 Class B State Championship and cap off a phenomenal season. The team compiled a 20-1-0 regular season and playoff record, the most wins and best winning percentage in the history of the program. The 20 wins included wins against four top Class A teams (Kennebunk, Biddeford, Scarborough, Falmouth) and two wins each against longtime Class B rivals Cape Elizabeth and York and top Class B East teams Winslow, Presque Isle, and Houlton-Hodgdon. The team also beat eventual Class A State Champion Waterville in the Maine Invitational Tournament at Christmas and New Hampshire Division I runner-up Hanover in the same tournament. The team also avenged its only regular season loss, to Class A Thornton Academy, by beating them, 5-4 in overtime, in the semifinals of the Fix Cup to make it to the finals of that late-season tournament. In other playoff games, Greely beat York 8-0 in the West B Semifinals and then Cape Elizabeth 6-3 in a dramatic West B Final, in which they trailed 3-1 halfway through the game, to advance to the state final.

"It was truly a championship season," said Coach Barry Mothes, who completed his 15^th year as coach of the team. "The players worked extremely hard and played at a very high level for almost four months against some outstanding competition. They beat the very best teams in the state in the regular season, in-season tournaments, and the post-season playoffs. It was a very special season."

Many Greely players received post-season recognition. Senior defenseman and captain Kevin Hart was a first-team league all star, Class B West Defenseman of the Year, and Class B Player of the Year; senior forward Jesse Shavel was a first-team league all-star; sophomore goaltender Matt Labbe was a first-team league all-star and Class B West Goaltender of the Year; freshman forward Brian Hart was a second-team league all-star; senior defenseman Jake Downey was a second-team league all-star; senior forward and captain Brian Allyn was a third-team league all-star; senior defenseman Ryan Howland was a third-team league all-star; and senior forward Kyle Selig was a honorable mention league all-star.

In addition to the players listed above, other members of the 2008-09 State Championship Greely Boys' Varsity hockey team were senior forward Peter Hoffman; junior forwards Ian Gray, Jason Lewis, and Ben Walsh; junior defenseman Casey Stevenson; junior goaltender Sam Kurland; sophomore forwards Tucker Geoffroy, Justin Murphy, and John Downey; sophomore defenseman Michael Tuller; and freshman defenseman Nick Robinson. Assistant Coach Matt Gilbert (10^th year) and Assistant Coach Damian Bolduc (6^th year) complete the coaching staff.

"We had great contributions from everyone on the team over the course of the season," said Coach Mothes. "This was the deepest team that we have had in my tenure here, and it was remarkable how many different players contributed key goals and assists and just played very well whenever they got their chances. We were led by a great group of seniors, but we also had key players across the other three classes too. This was a true team."