When he’s on the bench, Bangor Youth Hockey coach John Benton smiles, laughs and cheers as he watches the members of his Travel Peewee team compete.

When he’s on the ice with his players at practice, he darts about on his skates, drawing on a lifetime of hockey experience as he demonstrates techniques and explains strategies.

“I haven’t lost any interest in hockey – though I might have lost a few steps,” Benton said with a laugh. “The kids are pretty amazed that I can keep up with them at 48 years old.”

Benton is back in the rink this year for the first time since 1996, when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Benton is now cancer-free – and delighted to be coaching in a league he helped to create in 1971.

“I like the kids. I adopt them almost. When they hurt, I hurt. I like to see them learn the game and have fun playing it.

“Once hockey is in your blood, it’s always in your blood,” Benton said.

Benton fell in love with the game as a child growing up in Bangor, honing his skills on frozen ponds and the outdoor ice rink on Thirteenth Street near the present site of Mansfield Stadium.

Benton played on the first organized league for high school students in Bangor in 1969-1970, and on a Canadian Junior B League team in Ontario in the summer of 1970. He also played a year and a half for a semiprofessional club, the Portland Nordiques, in 1970 and 1971.

When he returned to Bangor after his stint in that league, he coached in the newly formed Bangor Youth Hockey program until 1983, then left the area so his wife, Sandy, could pursue a career as a traveling nurse.

The Bentons moved back to Bangor in 1993 to raise a family, and Benton immediately started coaching a Squirt team. He was coaching a Peewee House team when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Benton returned to coaching this year after Travel Peewee coach Steve Van Dolman resigned to become the coach at Brewer High.

Benton “brings a lot of hockey sense to the program,” said Bangor Youth Hockey president John Dionne. “He has a lot of enthusiasm, and is helping at other [age group] levels and in special sessions.”

The Travel Peewee team is for players age 11 and 12.

“I’ve taken over a very successful program,” Benton said of his Tier II Peewee Travel team. “The team is very excited. I feel we have a chance to win the Tier II championship.” The team has compiled a 10-8-2 record.

Bangor and Brewer will host the state championships for travel teams in the Squirt, Peewee and Bantam divisions Feb. 22-24.

But as excited as Benton is about his team’s success on the ice, he says that winning isn’t his main focus as a coach – or the main focus of the Bangor Youth Hockey program.

Rather, Benton and the program’s other volunteer coaches are committed to teaching children the proper fundamentals, maintaining an energetic attitude, and having fun.

“The success of the program is principally because of the volunteers and the parents of the kids who are a part of it,” he said. “We all have the same goal: to enhance the game for the kids.”

It’s a challenge that Benton enjoys.

“Coaching is not as easy as it looks. You have to keep on top of the kids and make sure they do well in school … and teach them good sportsmanship as well,” Benton said.

Hockey in Bangor: the early years

As a teen-ager, Benton would rise at 4 o’clock on frigid winter mornings and trudge up the hill from his Cedar Street home to the outdoor rink on Thirteenth Street.

“I had my bag on my shoulders with all my pucks and my sticks. I wanted to get on the ice before anyone else, so I could have clear ice,” Benton said.

In those days, the Bangor Fire Department hosed down the outdoor rink to make it smoother for skating.

In 1969, Benton had the chance to play for his hometown on its first organized hockey team since the 1930s. The Senior Division team, for high school age players, was formed under the auspices of the Bangor Recreation Department and competed against teams from northern Maine and Canada.

Benton also gained valuable experience in the Canadian Junior B league. Then, a hockey friend from New Hampshire, Wilbur Bullock, set up a tryout for him with the Portland Nordiques, and he made the cut.

After his stint with the Nordiques, Benton returned to his hometown on Saturday mornings to push the puck around on the Thirteenth Street rink.

It was then that he, Tim McDougall, Clarence Gillis and John Hinch began instructing younger players. With the assistance of local businesses and financial support from Bob Bowles, teams of youngsters from Bangor began competing in age divisions in the Northeast Regional Division – including clubs from Brewer, Old Town, Millinocket, Presque Isle, Madawaska, Fort Kent and Woodstock.

In 1974, Bangor Youth Hockey incorporated its program and formed a board to govern its affairs. By then, Benton was actively involved, coaching two Squirt teams and a Mite team.

In 1987, Bangor Youth Hockey became a chartered member of the Maine Amateur Hockey Association. The foundation for Bangor Youth Hockey’s success was laid in those early years.

“We didn’t have a lot of coaches then, but we emphasized the fundamentals all the way up through,” he said.

Back on the ice

Today, there are 12 teams, including four travel squads, in the Bangor Youth Hockey program. There is also a Learn To Play program for children ages 4-8. About 220 boys and girls participate.

Benton said that during his 10 years away from the area, he and his wife always thought about returning.

“All I thought about was coming back and coaching,” Benton said.

While he and his wife were traveling, Benton managed to find the time to earn a baccalaureate degree from the University of Southern Florida in biology and an associate degree from St. Petersburg Junior College in Florida in medical technology. He is now a medical technician at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth.

The Bentons settled in Dedham and have two sons, Rob, 5, and Patrick Ryan, 2.

Benton discovered his cancer while conducting a self-exam and called his doctor immediately. He had surgery to remove the cancerous lump the very next morning.

“I’m proud to say I’m a cancer survivor,” Benton said.

Benton added that the experience has altered his outlook on life.

“What became important was my family, and spending time with my boys and my wife,” he said. “I’ve become more compassionate [with the patients] and with these kids [on the hockey team]. I smile and laugh a lot more. Now I have a little more fun.”