It was Nov. 18, 1977, when he began his career with the rest of the University of Maine’s first varsity hockey team. The team was composed of all freshmen except for one senior.

Bill Demianiuk would go on to captain the Bears in their third and fourth years, parlaying his tireless work ethic, intelligence, and grittiness into four productive years.

He has used those same character traits to become highly successful in the business world as the chief operations officer for the Shields Health Care Group, based in Brockton, Mass.

“Life is going very well,” said Demianiuk, who lives with his wife of 17 years, the former Karen Blair, and their son Dusty, 17, and daughters Danielle, 13, and Megan, 7, in Franklin, Mass.

Demianiuk spent 12 years working for DuPont, eventually becoming the global product manager, before joining the Shields Health Care Group five years ago.

The native of Alliston, Ontario, said he enjoyed working for DuPont, but the grueling travel schedule and the fact he was going to have to uproot his family from their Wilmington, Del., home to the West Coast or Germany resulted in his decision to change jobs.

“I wanted to be home more often,” said Demianiuk, who also would have faced the prospect of moving his family every three years with DuPont.

“This is a nice challenge. It’s a great company to work for,” said Demianiuk of Shields Health Care Group, which has six magnetic resonance imaging facilities and an oncology center for radiation therapy among its properties. “Our network covers southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.”

Demianiuk, who had 49 goals and 70 assists in 127 career games at Maine, said he has nothing but fond memories of his four years in Orono and is proud of what they accomplished.

“When I look back on it, it seems like yesterday,” said Demianiuk. “The time has gone by so quickly. My feeling is we did pretty well. We started off in Division II and migrated to Division I within two years.”

“Jack [former coach Jack Semler] had some rough years after that, but the bottom line is I don’t think Jack ever got the credit he deserved for bringing the program in,” added Demianiuk, who helped the Bears to two playoff appearances, one in ECAC Division II East and the other in ECAC Division I.

He also said it was enjoyable to be on the ground floor of a sport that was new to the area.

“It was refreshing. The people didn’t know a hell of a lot about it, so everybody started with the same enthusiasm and very few expectations,” said Demianiuk. “Everything you did either created or set a record. The fans were great. They were on a learning curve. It caught on like wildfire. They packed the place. It was a great place to play hockey. We had a great group of guys.”

Demianiuk added, “The only downer is it went by too fast.”

He has followed the program’s progress over the years and takes pride in the fact it is regarded as one of the best in the country.

“When you talk to hockey people whose kids are thinking about college and you mention Maine, their ears perk up,” said Demianiuk. “Maine is looked upon as being a Tier One school.”

He fully expects the Bears to snap back from the turbulent years they have had recently.

“The environment is too wholesome not to. Every program goes through periods where there are going to be violations or whatever. If you dig deep enough, you’re going to find something. With the [high] visibility Maine had and the fact Shawn [Walsh] is a pretty aggressive coach who gets under the skin of rival coaches, people are going to try to get back at you one way or the other,” said Demianiuk.

Demianiuk has occasionally returned to alumni reunions, but said it is difficult getting to see the Bears play because of his kids’ involvement in various activities.

“But I’ve never forgotten Maine and once my schedule gets less hectic, I’ll have a chance to go up again,” said Demianiuk.