Boys hockey: St. Dom's Timothee Ouellette wins Travis Roy Award
Mar. 16—BRUNSWICK — Timothee Ouellette grew up watching his dad, Steve Ouellette, coach Travis Roy Award candidates at St. Dominic Academy.
Winning the Travis Roy Award naturally became a goal for Timothee Ouellette.
Past Travis Roy winners
"When my dad coached, he coached some great players, and that's who I saw," Ouellette said. "They didn't end up winning it, but I kind of wanted to finish the mission, I guess."
The goal was achieved Saturday when the St. Dom's forward was announced as the 29th winner of the Travis Roy Award at the Class A Coaches Association banquet at the St. John's Community Center in Brunswick.
Ouellette is the fourth St. Dom's player to win the honor, which goes to the top senior in Class A Hockey, joining Brian Toussaint, the first winner in 1996; Joe Dumais in 2001; and Richard Paradis, who Steve Ouellette coached, in 2009.
Timothee was only a toddler when Paradis won the award, but he remembers watching Brad Berube, a 2015 finalist, play for his dad. Berube was the last St. Dom's finalist prior to Ouellette.
The other three finalists for this year's Travis Roy Award were Dylan Blue of Lewiston, Oxford Hills' Kadan Neureuther, who played on the Fryeburg/Lake Region/Oxford Hills co-op team, and South Portland's Tobey Lappin, a member of the Portland/South Portland/Deering/Waynflete co-op team.
Current St. Dom's coach Dan D'Auteuil said Timothee put his mind to capturing the award after the 2022-2023 season.
"I think at the end of last year, he and I talked, and he said that's what he wanted to do," D'Auteuil said. "He did everything on and off the ice to earn that award, and it paid off for him."
Timothee led the Saints in scoring this season with 14 goals and 22 assists in 19 games. His 36 points tied him with Neureuther for most in Class A.
"This season, being my last, I put a lot into it," Timothee said. "There were many times ibuprofen was my friend — I will definitely be honest about that — with the soreness and everything. I really wanted to make this season to be special, being the last. The guys that I was surrounded with, everyone, we were on a mission as a team that kind of led me here."
D'Auteuil said Timothee is a complete player who does everything well in all three zones.
St. Dom's was the second seed in the Class A playoffs, but the Saints fell 2-1 to the Tobey Lappin-led Portland/South Portland/Deering/Waynflete Beacons in the quarterfinals.
D'Auteuil said seeing Timothee speak to the team after the loss is what he will remember the most about coaching Ouellette the past four years.
"It's that last game, when he pulled the whole team together, brought them all together for a big hug," D'Auteuil said. "The emotion and love he shared for his teammates."
Ouellette, a captain, said it was his job to speak to his teammates after the heartbreaking loss. He reminded them about how far the team came tis season after losing in the play-in game in 2023.
"I kind of felt obligated to," Ouellette said. "But, I told them, 'Look, boys, we were a team that barely squeaked in last year, and we are a two-seeded — not many people get that accomplishment. No one thought it would have been us."
Other awards were handed out at Saturday's banquet. Lewiston coach Jamie King was named the Bob Boucher Coach of the Year after leading the Lewiston Blue Devils to their 25th state championship with a 5-0 victory over Bangor in the Class A title game earlier this month.
St. Dom's received the Class A Coaches Association Sportsmanship Award.
The coaches association also recognized outgoing Edward Little coach Norm Gagne, who announced his retirement last month after 50 seasons of coaching. He was presented a plaque that listed all of the schools he coached — Gardiner, Waterville, Gorham, Lewiston, Scarborough and Edward Little — and noted the seven state championships his teams won and the 812 victories he amassed in his career.
"I am not going to do next winter," Gagne said after accepting the plaque. "I will tell you this: I never realized the amount of people I touched over the years, but it's a pleasure to me to watch all of you grow up to where you are today.
"Dylan, Timmy, Tobey and Kaden, I watched you grow up over the years ... I go out and scout you guys time and time again. To see where you started and where you are today, it's really a pleasure."
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