Change comes hard to some people.
To others, transitions come more smoothly.
Then there are those who have a double-dose of disruption to the routine with which to deal.
That can be a whole lot more difficult, but you wouldn’t know it by watching Bryan Dallaire operate.
The big Biddeford junior has had two lifesized pylons to swivel past.
The first came with his transfer over the summer from Thornton Academy to Biddeford.
It’s no big deal. Kids change schools all the time.
They keep the old friends, but make new ones.
And Dallaire has done that.
The second switch came with the beginning of the hockey season, when Tigers coach Rich Reissfelder moved him from defense to forward.
Except that Dallaire was a first-team All-State selection last year, as a defenseman. Now he was being asked to center the top forward line on a defending state championship team.
“It was hard at first,” Dallaire said. “But I made the switch, and I found someone I like playing with. We all move the puck very well.”
That would be an understatement.
In fact, the results so far have been electrifying.
The troika of Dallaire (11-19-30), Brady Fleurent (17-17-34), and Tyler Audie (7-10-17) have become the most prolific scoring unit in the West, even as Biddeford has rolled to an undefeated 9-0-2 record.
Hockey notes
Along with teammate Scott Callahan (10-7-17), the Tigers occupy the top four spots in the Western Tier I scoring ladder, according to MaineHSHockey.com. Thornton’s C.J. Maksut (10-4-14) and the Kennbunk duo of Tyler Fowles (3-10-13) and D.J. Robinson (12-1-13) fill out the Top 10. ”¦ A full house is expected on Saturday (7:50 p.m.) when Biddeford and Thornton tangle at BIA. ”¦ Meanwhile, Biddeford alum Brian Dumoulin and his Boston College Eagles are back in the top spot in the latest USCHO.com Division I poll. UMaine dropped from No. 11 to 16, after a loss and a tie at home to Boston University last weekend. ”¦ Jr. Pirates forward Tim Searles was named the AJHL’s Player of the Week. Searles helped the PJP’s capture all four games on their recent road trip, going 5-5-10 in the process. ”¦ Meanwhile in the EJHL, Kennebunk grad Brian Billett is second among the league’s goalies in goals against (1.97) and has posted a stellar .930 saves percentage, while backstopping the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs to another Northern Division crown. Billett will be Boston College bound next fall. ”¦ The game between UNE and Franklin Pierce was postponed (for the second time) by Tuesday’s heavy snowfall. No make up date has been fixed as of yet. ”¦
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
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