LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Douris skating his own path with York boys hockey
DURHAM — When asked if he ever had a five-goal game in high school, York High School boys hockey head coach Pete Douris said his high school playing days were so long ago he couldn’t remember.
“We can only dream about a five-goal game,” joked Douris, who played collegiately at the University of New Hampshire and later went on to an 11-year career in the NHL, including two years with the Boston Bruins.
Although he can’t recall ever scoring five goals in a high school game, Pete Douris saw his son, Luke, a senior, do just that in Tuesday’s 7-0 win over Mt. Ararat at Rochester Ice Arena.
Luke, who has 14 goals and seven assists through York’s first seven games of the season, doesn’t recall ever scoring four goals in a game, and says Tuesday’s five-goal performance is a career high.
“I think it was just clicking that game,” said Luke, a Maine all-state selection last year, who credited his teammates and linemate Laird Masterson. “Five goals, that sounds nice and all, but honestly I think I just played a good, strong game overall and the goals just came with that.”
Douris wasn’t thinking about his play during Tuesday’s game.
“Not really thinking about it too much during the game, but after (the game), maybe you kind of reflect on it and you look back and like ‘oh, that’s pretty cool’,” he said. “But, not thinking about it too much during the game.”
A consistent scoring threat
Luke has scored in six of York’s seven games this season, and has two hat tricks; a three-goal effort against Cape Elizabeth and Tuesday’s five-goal game. He also has two-goal games against Poland and Kennebunk. In the one game Luke didn’t score a goal, a 4-3 loss to Poland, he had two assists.
Pete Douris, who had 46 goals and 35 assists in his two-year career at UNH (1983-84 and ‘84-85), said Luke has been a threat for the Wildcats all season.
“He’s definitely one of the guys we’re going to count on all year to produce like that,” Pete said. “Against a team like Mt. Ararat, they’re probably a little less experienced, and they have a tough time
handling someone like Luke in a game like that. If he comes and skates the way he did, and gets himself in open ice, he’s going to get his chances. And fortunately (Tuesday) night, he was able to make more than his share.”
Hard work paying off
Pete said his son has worked hard on his overall game, particularly his shooting and skating.
“(His hands) are definitely his strengths,” coach said. “He has pretty good vision out there and knows where to go. I think he’s still got to work on some of the finer points. Maybe defensively, there’s times in high school hockey, it gets chaotic and it gets difficult to find out where you’re supposed to be.”
Hockey, skating runs in the Douris family
Luke said skating and hockey has been in his life as far back as he can remember.
“I probably was on skates when I was 2 or 3, and started playing when I was 4 or 5,” Luke said. “I just kind of fell in love with (hockey). I think it’s in my blood, so I think I was meant for it.”
Pete, along with his time with the Bruins, also had stops in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Dallas Stars. He had 54 goals and 67 assists in his career; his best year coming in 1992-93 with 12 goals and 22 assists for the Mighty Ducks.
“(Luke) probably has more talent in a lot of ways than I did,” Pete said. “I was probably physically bigger at a younger age, but I was playing center, and I was probably more of a wing at his age.”
Is there pressure being son of a professional athlete?
With a father, and coach, who played professionally, one would expect it comes with pressure, but Luke talked about what kind of pressure it actually is.
“If anything, it would be self-pressure,” Luke said. “I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure (with being his son). I think he just wants me to have fun and enjoy the game.”
“I’m sure it plays within his mind sometimes, I think he handles it quite well,” the York coach said of Luke being the son of an 11-year NHL veteran. “It’s a process. It’s hard enough to be 16, 17 and 18 these days; to play a sport where your father had some success is probably an added pressure. I think he’s stepped into it now and I think he’s finding his own identity, and that’s what I think is important.”
‘Amazing' having father as a coach
Luke said having his father as his coach has been “amazing.”
“At the end of the day, he’s my dad and I kind of just look at him like that,” Luke said. “And when we’re here (at practice), he’s a coach to me, so I think it’s great. He has a lot of wisdom to share with all of us, so it’s awesome.”
“We’ve just been doing it a long time, so it’s just an understanding,” Pete said. “We get home, I’m no longer coach, and we get here, I step out of the dad role. I look at coaching all these kids, and you kind of take on a bit of a paternal role. But, as leaving it at the rink, we tend to do that.”
Luke said he wants and plans to play at the next level collegiately, but is unsure where that will be, and is focused on the present.
Wildcats rolling along in Class B South
It’s not just Douris leading York, and the Wildcats as a whole are off to a fast start, boating a 5-2 record through the team’s first seven games. The five wins are tied (with Greely) for the most in Class B South.
York dropped a close game, 3-2, to Greely earlier in the season, and the two teams will meet again in penultimate game of the regular season. York’s other loss, was also by one goal, a 4-3 overtime decision to Leavitt/GNG/Poland/Oak Hill.
“We have a lot of returning players from last year, so I think that’s huge,” Luke said. “I think we’re a tight-knit group, and everything is working well. We’re keeping the same message throughout the course of the season so far, and we’re just sticking to that. We’re not riding the high’s too high and the low’s too low.
“Obviously we want to keep this up, and the goal is to get home ice in the playoffs, I’d say; that’s big,” Luke added. “We want to be peaking come end of February, start of March, the start of the playoffs, that’s where we want to be hitting our peak. So just working towards that goal.”
York has outscored opponents 31-16, averaging just over four goals a contest. Brunswick/Freeport’s 27 goals is the closest to York’s Class B South’s leading 31.
“We just try to make sure we’re taking care of all of the little things that add up and make you a better team,” Pete said. “And if everybody buys into that, and we bring the effort every night, then I think we have just as much of an opportunity to win as anybody else.”