LEWISTON – The 2024-25 hockey season officially opened in the Lewiston-Auburn region on Friday with the Boston Bruins Fan Fest at the Colisee.
The fan fest coincided with the start of the Maine Nordiques’ 40-man training camp.
The guest of honor was one of the best ice hockey players at the University of Maine and current Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.
Bruins alumni Ben Guite, Rick Middleton and Graeme Townshend also participated in the first day of the three-day Fan Fest tour, which also includes two stops in Massachusetts – Lowell on Saturday and Plymouth on Sunday.
Montgomery said one of the reasons the Bruins organization wanted to start in Lewiston was because of the mass shooting on October 25, 2023.
“Yeah, I mean, it hit us hard,” Montgomery said. “I think you could see that night, you know, the next game after the shooting, the Bruins had a moment of silence beforehand. I know a lot of the players went out after the game and met with a lot of people and families that were affected by the tragedy. We’re a family. And that’s why it’s great for us to kick off the Bruins Fan Fest here in Lewiston – because it’s important to us.”
In the weeks following the shooting, the Bruins also hosted the Lewiston girls hockey team and the Lewiston-Auburn youth hockey team.
The Boston Bruins Foundation pledged to donate $200,000 to the Maine Resiliency Fund and the One Lewiston Resiliency Fund at Fanfest.
Nick Skerlick, general manager and head coach of the Maine Nordiques, said the Bruins Fan Fest is the perfect start to the season for the junior hockey club.
“Oh, it’s great. We’ve been looking forward to it for four or five months,” Skerlick said.
He praised Nick Withee, the Nordiques’ director of public relations and media, and Jim Mercier, the Colisee’s assistant manager, for doing a “really good job of bringing the Boston Bruins here.”
“Obviously they’re doing a really great job with this Fan Fest tour. I’m actually a Rangers fan and I know all the NHL teams are doing their own thing,” Skerlick said. “But for them to come to Lewiston, Maine, is pretty special. And to see the turnout, probably 1,500 to 2,000 people down there right now, and the traffic here, it’s kind of cool. It’s a lot of fun. And I know our kids are a little confused, especially our (European players). They’re wondering: What’s going on here?”
OUTLOOK FOR THE NEW SEASON
The Bruins finished 47-20-15 for 109 points last season and lost in the second round to eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers.
Montgomery, who is in his third season coaching the Bruins, said he hopes for another quick start.
Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery (right) thanks the crowd for their support at the Boston Bruins Fan Fest in Lewiston on Friday. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
“You know, it’s about starting the year strong like we have the last two years, taking that into a good regular season and getting ready for the playoffs,” Montgomery said. “But it all starts — we can’t think about the playoffs because you have to get in, you have to earn your way in, and the first step is getting off to a good start and having a good regular season.”
The biggest question for the Bruins entering the season is the status of goaltender Jeremy Swayman, a restricted free agent seeking a new contract.
Boston traded goalie Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators in June in exchange for goalie Joonas Korpisalo, defenseman Mark Kastelic and a 2024 first-round pick, which the Bruins used to select forward Dean Letourneau.
Montgomery spoke with Swayman, a former University of Maine goalie, on Thursday at a golf tournament hosted by former Bruins star Ray Bourque at the Golf Club of New England in Stratham, New Hampshire.
“He and I had a great conversation about how to lead and become a leader as part of the Bruins,” Montgomery said. “I have nothing to do with the contract situation. That’s not part of my job. My job is my connection with the players and how we’re going to be good this year. And I have no doubt Jeremy Swayman will be a Bruin starting training camp and we’ll be ready.”
The Bruins training camp begins on September 18th.
MEMORIES OF MAINE
Montgomery played for the Black Bears from 1989 to 1993 and was part of the 1992 to 1993 national championship team that finished 42-1-2.
He said that during his visits to Maine, what stood out in his mind most was the championship team, particularly his head coach, the late Shawn Walsh, and teammate Paul Kariya.
“It was magical,” Montgomery said. “You know, we had one of the best coaches, if not the best coach, that college hockey has ever had. We had the best player, in my opinion, to ever play a season. And I think we had the best team that ever played together. And the way we dominated college hockey that year and to finish as the No. 1 team and to go through the tournament like that was special.”
Friday was not the first time Montgomery visited the Colisee. He played two games in the building during his junior season at UMaine. The first was on Oct. 19, 1991, when the Black Bears lost 7-1 to the Canadian national team, which included future NHL players Joe Juneau, who played for a time with the Bruins, goalie Sean Burke and Ray Whitney.
The second was a 4-2 win over Kent State on November 1, 1991. Montgomery said he remembers that game well.
“I know Walshie was great in that game, I know I had three assists,” Montgomery said. “The memory is good.”
NORDS BACK
After interacting with fans at some exhibits, the Nordiques players took a short trip across the Androscoggin River to a practice game at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
The Nordiques feature a small but strong group of returning players from last year’s squad that lost to the Maryland Black Bears in the East Division finals.
“I would say we were pretty weak after the Game 5 loss,” Skerlick said. “We only have seven or eight returnees, and they all decided to come back this year, which is incredible. They all want to come back. They all want to be here. …We got three or four players through trades, and we had two ID skates, one main camp and one tournament.”
The Nordiques’ training camp runs through September 6. They will play three home games at the Colisee, two against the Hawkesbury Hawks of the Central Canadian Hockey League on September 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. respectively, and one against East Division rivals the New Hampshire Mountain Kings on September 6 at 7:30 p.m.
“We saw in main camp and at the tournament that we’re going to have a really, really competitive 40-man camp,” Skerlick said. “I think there are 20 guys that we’ve kind of picked already, but the guys are here to steal jobs.”
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