Brody Emond, an Oak Hill High School senior, is playing for the Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester Kings and the Maine Nordiques’ NA3HL team this winter, and leads both teams in scoring. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Brody Emond started playing hockey when he was 2 years old and hasn’t stopped since.

The Oak Hill High School senior has been on the ice a lot this winter. Not only is he the top scorer for the Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester Kings (19 goals, 24 assists), he also leads the Maine Nordiques’ NA3HL junior hockey team in scoring (18 goals, 22 assists).

“It’s kind of hard,” Emond said. “There’s a lot to do. It’s a lot on my body. But I love hockey, so I’m going to keep doing it.”

Emond, who earlier this month scored his 100th high school point, said he plays for both teams because it will help him achieve his goal of playing college hockey.

Both of his coaches support Emond’s endeavor.

“We’ve been able to have a good relationship there, where he’s missed maybe one or two games with us,” Nordiques coach Chris Pomerleau said. “But he’s been able to be there full-time to practice and try to keep it well-balanced, because you don’t want to overwork him and get a fatigue injury with him. He’s been doing really well. He’s balanced his hockey career well and he’s doing really good. He’s a talented young player.”

Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-NG coach Jason Rouleau said the important thing is for Emond to make the Kings his No. 1 priority.

“He came to me and said, ‘Hey Coach, this is what I want to do,'” Rouleau said. “I said, ‘I’m not going to stand in your way, Brody, if that’s what you want to do.’ I conveyed to him that there are rules from an MPA perspective that you can’t miss high school stuff. So he understood that. He’s been able to make it all work. So, yeah, I’m on board with it, as long as his body can handle it.”

The MPA’s Bona Fide Team rule says that student-athletes must be regular participants in their high school team’s practices and games, and they cannot miss practices or games to practice or compete elsewhere.

Athletes can receive two waivers per season to miss a high school game. Emond used one to accompany the Nordiques to the NA3HL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota, from Dec. 15-17.

“He understands it. And, as I said, he did miss one game, and we got an exception approval through the appropriate paperwork,” Rouleau said. “Other than that, he’s made everything, so I can’t complain from my end at all.”

Emond said he won’t miss another high school game this season. The fifth-seeded Kings (10-8) open the postseason with a Class B South quarterfinal against No. 4 York (13-5) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Rochester Ice Arena.

Making it work

One of the reasons Emond is able to pull double duty is the Nordiques usually play afternoon home games, while most of the Kings’ games are at night.

“When we looked at it, when he committed to the North American 3 Hockey League and to the Nordiques here, we just wanted to make sure it worked out,” Pomerleau said. “We looked forward to the schedule with PLOG, the schedule with us. (Nordiques assistant) Kyle Secor actually went through it with him, and we were only missing minor stuff either way.”

There have been times that Emond has had to go to great lengths, literally, to play for both squads.

The NA3HL’s East Division includes teams as far away as New York and New Jersey. The Nordiques had games against the New Jersey Titans on Jan. 26-27,  but the Kings had a home game against Brunswick/Freeport on Jan. 25. Emond played for the Kings then met the Nordiques in New Jersey before Sunday’s game.

“I flew in the next day,” Emond said. “That was a long day for me.”

Emond said either his parents or the Nordiques pay for his flights. Pomerleau said the Nordiques are willing to pay for Emond plane tickets because he is so crucial to the team.

“So we flew him out,” Pomerleau said. “We Uber’d him from the airport to the hotel. He slept that morning, and we had an afternoon game, and he played well. So it’s nice to have him around, too.”

Emond had an assist in the Nordiques’ 5-0 win. After the Monday game, Emond traveled home on the team bus.

The Nordiques have some weekday road games, which takes him out of school, but Emond makes sure to be up on his studies.

“I missed like 20 days of school this year — Fridays, Wednesdays and Mondays — from away trips,” Emond said. “I’m doing good in school. I need to keep it up.”

Other high schoolers doing the same?

Cam Plourde of Lewiston and Landan Anctil of Gorham also suited up for the Nordiques before the high school season but are no longer on the roster. Plourde is impressed with Emond’s dedication.

“I think it’s really real dedication, and he’s on the ice like twice a day. It’s just great,” said Plourde, who had to stop playing for the Nordiques by Dec. 31 in order to maintain his eligibility to play for the Maine Gladiators at the USA Hockey Tier II 16U Nationals in the spring.

Rouleau thinks Emond might be setting a blueprint for other high school players.

“I think if (the Nordiques) continue to be around, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it happening a little more often,” Rouleau said.