Thornton Academy’s Trent Lesieur maintains control of the puck while under pressure from Cheverus/Yarmouth’s Colby Carnes during the championship game of the St. Dominic Academy Christmas Classic in Saturday in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Holiday tournaments give coaches an opportunity to experiment with their lineups in the middle of the season. They also allow players to gain experience that can help later in the season.

Most of the teams from Maine that competed at the St. Dominic Academy Christmas Classic used their backup goalie. Thornton Academy, for example, played Dalton Cole in all three of its games instead of its usual starter, Drew Johnson. After a 9-3 win to open the tournament against West Haven (Connecticut) on Thursday, Golden Trojans coach Jamie Gagnon said he wanted to ride the hot hand.

“This is a real good chance for us to give him some really good competitive looks at the puck,” Gagnon said of Cole after the Trojans’ 4-3 win over John Bapst in overtime on Friday. “We did that yesterday, we did that again today, who knows where we’ll be tomorrow, but again, just trying to make sure that we can last the whole entire season as well with both guys, and they both become game-ready when we need them. And so, yeah, we thought it was a pretty good effort yesterday by Dalton. We went back with him today, and he again gave us a chance right there to the very end.”

Cheverus/Yarmouth coach David St. Pierre used each of his backups, Milan Polianchev and Brayden Fitch, for one game as a starter, giving them some competitive action just in case either of them is needed later this season.

John Bapst coach Devin Fitzpatrick gave both of his goalies playing time, but the Crusaders don’t have enough depth to tinker with their lines.

“For us, it’s a competition we don’t typically see,” Fitzpatrick said after the loss to Thornton. “I think there’s a lot of parity in the top six in Class B, and we’ll see all those teams. So, for us to be able to see some competitive Class A hockey is nice. In terms of changing up lines, we made a couple of adjustments based on needs, but the reality is we’re putting 14 guys on the (ice) for varsity hockey.”

Teams with deep rosters, like St. Dom’s, didn’t need to rely on their top two lines all three days and were able to give third and fourth lines opportunities they don’t normally see.

“Unfortunately, you know, the fourth line, I think, was on the ice for probably half of their goals, maybe a little more,” St. Dom’s coach Marc Frenette said after an 11-8 win over Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse on Friday. “That happens, right? They got to get experience, too. We don’t have a full JV team, so we try to give them minutes when we can. And it can be frustrating, but it can also help them grow.”

Edward Little coach Kevin Smith stayed with his normal lineup throughout the tournament except for the final day, when a few players missed the game for various reasons.

Smith was still looking for a complete game from the Red Eddies.

“The biggest thing is that we have a lot of things to, we have a few things that we’re trying to work through, and I didn’t want to break up any chemistry and an opportunity to work on some things,” Smith said after Saturday’s win over West Haven. “We made one adjustment to the lines yesterday that we got a little spark out of. But mainly, I didn’t want to disrupt anything that we’ve been building momentum on. So that was the main reason for it.”

THE ST. DOM’S tournament used different rules for overtime than the normal eight minutes teams play during the regular season. Instead, a five-minute 3-on-3 period was played, followed by a shootout, if necessary.

Cheverus/Yarmouth had a 2-1 shootout win over Guilford (Connecticut) in the opening game of the tournament on Thursday.

“We do a good drill in practice that’s 3-on-3,” St. Pierre said. “It’s not something we practice (often), no.”

St. Pierre said his team did a good job of moving the puck into space in overtime.

John Bapst played two overtime games. The Crusaders lost to Thornton Academy, 4-3, and to St. Dom’s, 3-2.

THE BRUNSWICK GIRLS are getting a lot of production from Lauren Labbe (17 goals), Solveig Ledwick (14) and Lisi Palmer (11). All are among the top 10 goal scorers in the state.

“They all push each other a little bit harder,” Brunswick coach Chris Ledwick said. “They’ve all played against some of the better competition locally and nationally for Casco Bay, for the girls travel team there. They bring that experience and ability to grind and compete hard.”

Coach Ledwick said juniors Quinn McCormack (three goals, five assists), Natalie Perham (three goals, two assists), Gillian Countway (goal, four assists) and Sydney Perham (two assists) are developing into secondary options.

“Yes, Lauren, Lisi and Solveig understandably and justifiably get a lot of the press, but we have another group of players who have just made massive strides in their game,” Ledwick said. “They play in the offseason. Sydney and Natalie Perham, Gillian Countway and Quinn McCormack have really, really pushed themselves and brought their game. I think their improvement is a lot of what’s driving our team right now. Their improvement since freshman year has really made us who we are and is just a testament to the work that those girls have put in.

THE TRAVIS ROY AWARD, which has been given out annually to the top Class A senior boys hockey player since 1996, will remain a Class A-only award this season.

There were hopes in the fall of 2023 that starting this season, seniors from both Class A and B would be eligible, but Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse coach AJ Kavanaugh and member of the Maine High School Hockey Coaches Association executive committee said talks stalled on that front.

“I think our coaches association will certainly bring that up again in the near future,” Kavanaugh said.