Chris Imes may have been the best defensive defenseman ever to play at the University of Maine.

His career culminated with an appearance in the 1995 NCAA national championship game after he had been named the Hockey East Player of the Year and was the runner-up for the Hobey Baker Award given to college hockey’s best player.

Imes will make his debut as a head coach next fall when he leads the first-year Pittsburgh Forge into North American Hockey League play.

The 10-team league is for 16- to 20-year-olds and Imes is the third head coach with University of Maine ties.

Former Maine captain Guy Perron is the general manager and coach of the Chicago Freeze and Josh Mervis, a former Bear assistant, is the coach of the Danville (Ill.) Wings.

“I’ve always been interested in coaching,” said Imes, who was an assistant coach for the Tri-Cities Storm (Neb.) of the United States Junior Hockey League to begin the season before leaving in January to coach Pittsburgh.

Imes had been approached about the job by Forge General Manager Kevin Constantine, the former coach of the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I played for Kevin at the World Junior Championships in Saskatchewan in 1990-91 and he is from International Falls, Minnesota, which is basically my hometown,” said Imes, a native of Birchdale, Minn. “I had also gotten to know him through hockey camps. I’ve known him for around 10 years.”

Constantine and Imes have been on the recruiting trail and have already locked up 12 of the 25 players they will carry on their roster next season.

“Geography plays a huge part in your recruiting. We’ve been primarily recruiting Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Philadelphia. They’re all within five hours of us,” said Imes. “We’ve done a lot of recruiting. I think I’m becoming better at it. I’m learning some of the tricks of the trade.”

NAHL teams can have only two players from outside the United States on their rosters.

Imes, 28, played four of his five pro seasons in Slovenia and played for the International Hockey League’s Minnesota Moose in his first pro season. He met his wife, Gretchen, in Slovenia and they are soon to become parents for the first time.

Rheumatoid arthritis in his back ended his career prematurely.

Imes said his coaching philosophy has been culled from all of the coaches for whom he has played.

“I learned a lot from coach [Shawn] Walsh. Kevin Constantine is at the same level,” said Imes. “The biggest thing is the players must know what to do in every situation on the ice. They will be held accountable [for their play]. We will have a hardworking team.”

He said he believes in having structured systems in place but he also intends to have gifted offensive players who will be allowed to implement their creativity.

The two-time All-American and 1994 U.S. Olympian said there will be a 56-game regular-season schedule and high school-aged players will attend the high school in the area where their billets live.

High school-aged players are housed in homes of local families.

He is looking forward to the season and is holding a camp for the players and prospective players this week and in July before starting in earnest in August.

New catcher’s masks popular

Whenever one thinks about America’s pastime, one of the vivid images is of the catcher.

That image is a little different these days. Times have changed and so have the masks.

According to Eric Conway, a manager at Turner Sporting Goods in Bangor, the old-time masks have been replaced by ones worn by hockey goalies.

“It’s safer for kids and they have a better view, better peripheral vision,” explained Conway. “It’s a better product than the old catcher’s masks. They are a little bit lighter and the mask is more rounded so catchers don’t take direct blows [from the baseball]. The ball ricochets off them. The old masks are square boxes with wings.”

He said they have sold approximately 75 of the new pro-style masks compared with 20 old-time masks. He said the new masks are more expensive, ranging from $89 to $200. The old-time masks, with helmet, are $50.

He said the sport that is showing the most growth in the business is soccer.

“It used to be a fall, mid-summer sport and now it’s also spilled over into spring and they have indoor soccer in the winter,” said Conway. “We did 500 T-shirts for the Bangor Soccer Club.”