Messalonskee hockey coach Mike Latendresse and Blaise MacDonald first crossed paths in the early 1990s, when the college hockey programs they were affiliated with competed in Hockey East.

MacDonald was an associate head coach under Jack Parker at Boston University from 1991-96. Latendresse was a 5-foot-10 left winger for the University of Maine for two seasons, 1992-93 and 1993-94.

“We go way back,” MacDonald said. “We were part of a pretty good rivalry.”

Now, the duo is part of the Colby program. MacDonald is in his second season as Colby coach, and this year he brought Latendresse on as a volunteer assistant.

“I ran into him last spring and we just talked about it,” said MacDonald, who came to Colby after head coaching stints at Niagara and UMass-Lowell. “We talked about him coaching with us here. We talked a lot and we also had to see if our coaching philosophies synced up, which they did. So he came on board.”

Latendresse, who scored 90 points in 73 career games for the Black Bears, will pull double duty this year.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Latendresse said. “It’s fun to be in the college game as well. It’s a good fit. There will be some long days, though.”

At Colby, Latendresse is working with the forwards as well as the power-play and penalty-kill units. Assistant coach Chris Hall works with the defensemen and goaltenders.

“Mike does everything,” MacDonald said. “We’re all involved with every aspect. He changes the forwards during games and he’s involved with our special teams. Mike brings a lot to the table. He has a lot of credibility. He’s very good with the team and he’s a true hockey guy. He’s great to have on the staff.”

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Kents Hill hired Meghan Toomey as its new girls hockey coach.

Toomey, 34, of Amherst, N.H., is a St. Lawrence University graduate and received a master’s at Northeastern University in Boston. She previously served as an assistant coach at Colgate University.

“I was looking to get into prep school coaching and this really worked out because they also had an administration job I was looking for,” Toomey said. “It worked out well.”

Toomey, who is an assistant director of admissions, also played professional hockey in Canada and Switzerland.

She inherits a hockey team that’s struggled a bit in recent years. However, Toomey expects the team to be competitive this year.

“Every game is open for us,” Toomey said. “I think we can be competitive. I think we can do some great things.”

Kents Hill (0-1-0) opened the season with a 4-2 loss to Milbrook School. The team is on break and will next play Dec. 6.

• • •

Skowhegan and Lawrence merged this year to form a co-operative program. After the merger, the program had to decide on a nickname as well as new uniforms.

“We thought about it for a little bit,” coach Ted Fabian said, “and they came up with the Bandits.”

The Bandits, who will compete in Eastern A, were set to receive their new blue and orange uniforms this week.

“The kids like it, but in the end they just want to play hockey,” Fabian said.

• • •

First-year Winslow boys coach Andy Dube said he didn’t know one player, parent or booster member when he took the job this fall.

“No one,” he said, “but maybe that’s not a bad thing. I just jumped into this feet first.”

His impressions afer a week of practices?

“Pretty incredible,” Dube said. “I know they’ve struggled in recent years but I see a pretty good skating team out there and the kids are pretty eager.”

Dube previously coached what was then the Maranacook/Hall-Dale/Winthrop co-op program. He took the Hawks to the Eastern A playoffs for three consecutive seasons.

Now, he hopes to rebuild the Black Raiders into a playoff contender as well.

“We’re going to stress discipline and playing smart,” Dube said. “We have some good players and I think we’ll improve.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640bstewart@centralmaine.comTwitter: @billstewartkj

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