When Derek Damon was a sophomore at Bangor’s John Bapst Memorial High and looking for a school that would help him further his hockey goals, there wasn’t a question where he would go.

“If you were around hockey in the state of Maine, you knew about St. Dom’s,” Damon said.

St. Dominic Academy has been one of the state’s hockey juggernauts, for decades. The Saints have 26 state titles, all in Class A. Even as enrollment declined, the team always elected to play in Class A and remained competitive against the state’s largest schools. Tradition defies weight class.

Not for much longer, it appears. In March, the Diocese of Portland announced it will close the Auburn high school at the end of the current academic year. While there are ongoing efforts to save the school, there’s a very good chance Friday’s graduation ceremony was the school’s last.

If that’s the case, it’s a loss for a number of reasons, the school’s status as a hockey superpower among them. A Maine high school hockey landscape without St. Dom’s would be like the Montreal Canadiens suddenly erased from the NHL.

“Growing up, I always went to St. Dom’s games as a kid,” said Joe Dumais. “That’s what I wanted to do as a kid. I wanted to play hockey at St. Dom’s.”

Dumais was one of the school’s best, winning the Travis Roy Award as Class A’s top senior in 2001. Brian Toussaint (1996), Richard Paradis (2009), and Timothee Ouellette (2024) also won the Travis Roy Award for the Saints. Many others, including Damon, were finalists for the honor.

It’s not just a hockey tradition that’s being lost if St. Dom’s is shuttered. The baseball team has won the last three Class D state titles, currently has a four-game winning streak, and has all the motivation it could ever need to make a run at a fourth championship. The boys basketball team just won its first state title this past winter. The girls hockey team has won three state championships.

But it’s boys hockey where St. Dom’s left it’s biggest mark.

The games against Lewiston High were often intense. Until St. Dom’s moved to a new campus in Auburn in 2002, both schools were in Lewiston, separated by city blocks, not the Androscoggin River. The St. Dom’s-Lewiston games were “the best hockey around,” Dumais said.

“It was a true rivalry. I always looked forward to those game,” Dumais said.

Added Damon: “Every time we played Lewiston, the Colisee was sold out. It was just a fantastic atmosphere. To have that environment for high school hockey was just incredible.”

Scott Rousseau, who coached the Cheverus girls to the last three state titles, graduated from St. Dom’s in 1989. His brother, Gary, graduated from St. Dom’s in 1980. Another brother, Steve, went to St. Dom’s for two years, “thereby making me a target of the Lewiston faithful,” Rousseau said.

On a list full of great teams, the 1999 squad, with Damon as its captain (“a total honor,” he called it) might be the best. They were an undefeated state champion. The top line of Damon, Dumais and Greg Moore all went on to exceptional college hockey careers. Damon and Moore played at the University of Maine, where they helped the Black Bears reach the national championship game, with Moore as an All-American and finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Dumais went on to Quinnipiac, where he’s still an assistant coach and helped the Bobcats win the national title in 2023.

Moore and Damon are still in hockey, too. Damon was recently hired as head coach and president of hockey operations for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, the top junior league in the country. Moore coached the U.S. National Development team’s U-18 squad at the 2025 world championships and has been head coach of the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate.

Declining enrollment at St. Dom’s has been a problem. Damon said his graduating class in 1999 had 68 students. That’s almost double the 35 diplomas handed out at Friday’s graduation ceremony. Not even the strongest tradition can withstand the slow decline that comes with lower numbers. While St. Dom’s has 26 state crowns, just four came in the last 37 years. It wasn’t that St. Dom’s forgot how to skate. The high school game in Maine changed. Top players everywhere left for junior programs or prep school. That leveled the playing field.

The Saints didn’t lose their competitive spark. Other teams gained one.

Dumais admitted he doesn’t know much about the current situation at St. Dom’s, but he hopes it can be resolved in a way that allows the school to stay open.

“My sister’s kids go there,” Dumais said. “I met some of my best friends there. St. Dom’s was a special place for me. It sent me in the direction that allowed me to continue my playing career, and then get into coaching.”

The Saints’ last boys hockey state title was in 2019, six years ago. It would be a shame if that’s the last one, period.