A big change that will more closely align Maine high school girls hockey to the boys game is here to stay.

For the first time since Maine high school girls hockey debuted in 2008, ice sheets will be resurfaced between every period, like it’s done in the boys game. Previously, the ice for girls games was resurfaced only after the second period. There was a brief three-minute intermission between the first and second periods.

Many players and coaches welcome the change, saying it levels the playing field and keeps players fresher late in games. Others say the change, which will extend girls games from 90 minutes to two hours, will come at a cost.

“I think it’s nice having a clean sheet of ice between every period because it’s like the boys get,” Edward Little co-op forward Kaylee Hudson said. “I think it’s fair for us to get it, too. It’s just easier, because it’s not all dug up and there’s no snow all over the ice. So yeah, I think it’s pretty nice.”

Added Cheverus co-op coach Scott Rousseau: “Some people made it out to be an equality event. I never saw it that way. I saw it as a means of what was best beneficial for girls programs. Some of them are very well-funded, while other programs are not well-funded. And they’re funded by boosters and parents. We just ended up creating more costs for those parents. But on the flip side, now we’ll have nice ice for all three periods.”

Girls hockey games will now include two 12-minute intermissions, to align with boys hockey.

This change was introduced during last season’s playoffs but is now here to stay.

Maine joins Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont as New England states that resurface the ice twice in girls high school hockey. In Connecticut, it’s only required during the playoffs.

USA Hockey and the Maine Amateur Ice Hockey Association governed girls high school hockey in Maine before the Maine Principals’ Association first offered the sport in 2008-09. Under USA Hockey rules at the time, regardless of gender, ice sheets were only resurfaced between the second and third periods.

Lewiston athletic director and former MPA Ice Hockey Committee member Jason Fuller said the MPA didn’t want to make major changes when it started governing the sport.

“Financially, it was just a better situation to try to reduce time, make it an hour and a half game, and so forth,” Fuller said. “I think that was a big part of it, just trying to keep the game going, get it started. It was new to the state, and a lot of that aligns with what USA Hockey does, sort of their games, they’re an hour and a half block.”

Some girls hockey coaches in Maine said ice conditions deteriorate when the sheet is not resurfaced after every period.

“When we play Yarmouth/Freeport, or we’ve had some real up-and-down games with the (Cheverus/Windham/Medomak Valley cooperative), the ice will get pretty banged up,” Brunswick coach Chris Ledwick said.

Elliot Emberley, the new head coach of the Winslow co-op team after three seasons an assistant coach, agreed.

“So by the end of, say, maybe even the middle of the second period, because of how chewed up the ice is, the puck would hardly move sometimes,” he said. “There was just so much snow on top of the ice that getting passes across was tough. Or with how chewed up it was, sometimes you’d get a weird bounce in front of the net, and then it would cause a goal or something like that.”

Not everyone agreed.

“I understand the drive or the change and to match the boys game,” Lewiston co-coach Dan Goyette said. “I don’t think it was necessarily needed in terms of the condition of the ice, just because it doesn’t get chewed up as much. But in terms of the game, it’s going to be better for the girls to experience a break in between first, second and third periods because it’s going to mirror the college game or the club (hockey) game more accurately.”

Financial concerns

Some coaches and athletic directors are concerned about the added costs of ice time now that girls games will be scheduled for two hours instead of 90 minutes. Booking ice times is also proving to be a challenge for some programs.

“I think that it makes sense for the boys and girls to follow the same procedures for games and for there to be fresh ice for every period,” Portland athletic and co-curricular director Spencer Allen said in an email. “It does put a strain on ice times because it makes girls game slots two hours now and ice was already hard to come by.”

If a team plays a maximum of nine regular-season home games, programs are adding the equivalent of three extra games of rental time.

Edward Little co-op coach Dana Berube said the additional ice time could add as much as $1,000 to an athletic budget, depending on the venue. For some teams, though, the additional cost isn’t an issue.

“For us, financially, it wouldn’t make a big difference,” Falmouth athletic director James Coffey said. “I honestly think I’d have to check, but I think we’re paying (Family Ice Center in Falmouth) out the same. So, I mean, we have a great relationship with our rink.”

The added cost is a small price to pay, Brewer athletic director David Utterback said.

When the Penobscot Pioneers (Brewer/Bangor/Hampden/John Bapst/Old Town/Orono) became a girls hockey program in 2022, Utterback raised concerns to the MPA about the inequity between boys and girls hockey.

“In my opinion, schools find ways to afford two-hour ice slots for boys programs, so the girls deserved (and are required to have) the same opportunity,” Utterback wrote in an email. “The reality was, most rinks were carving out two-hour ice slots anyways for most girls games. Most importantly, from a rest and recovery standpoint, the full intermission is not only equitable, but it is how competitive hockey is played at all levels.”

Players stay fresh

Girls hockey teams will have extra time between the first and second periods to regroup and discuss strategy.

Winslow co-op player Leah Michaud said she’s excited for the break.

“We were usually pretty tired, so that was really helpful (after the second period) being able to go into the locker room and have almost a reset if we were having a bad game or something,” Michaud said. “So, I think it would be very good to have it after the first period.”

Brunswick, the only Maine girls hockey program that isn’t a co-op, had problems with fatigue during the regular season, but the extra intermission in the postseason proved beneficial.

“When we got to the state tournament and we could take a deep breath between the first and second, as well as the second and third, that certainly helped us out,” Ledwick said.