Bangor, Brewer host quarterfinals tonight Kerluke happy with decision to begin coaching

By his own admission, former University of Maine left winger Dan Kerluke didn’t know what to expect when he became the coach of the Bangor High School hockey team. It was his first shot at coaching.

He has been pleasantly surprised.

“I love coaching as much as I did playing. I’ve had a lot of fun,” said the 26-year-old Kerluke, who has led the youthful Rams to a 10-8 season and the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Maine Class A playoffs.

“I thought I might regret quitting my pro hockey career but I have no regrets at all,” said Kerluke, a native of Brampton, Ontario. “I had no clue I would like it this much.”

Bangor will host fifth seed Mount Ararat of Topsham, 9-10-1 including a 3-1 win over Bangor, tonight at 7 at Sawyer Arena.

Third seed Brewer, 16-4, will entertain No. 6 Cony High of Augusta, 8-11-1, in a 7:20 p.m. quarterfinal at the T.J. Ryan Center.

The Bangor-Mount Ararat winner will play top seed Lewiston with the Brewer-Cony victor facing the Edward Little of Auburn-Brunswick survivor in Saturday’s semis in Lewiston.

Kerluke introduced a lot of the systems and coaching tecniques he learned from the late coach Shawn Walsh at Maine including a heavy dose of video work.

“I try to keep it simple. The worse thing a hockey player can do is think [too much] on the ice. That was one of my problems as a player,” said Kerluke. “Video has helped us out a lot. It’s one thing to tell them what they’re doing wrong, it’s another to show them.”

Senior defenseman and assistant captain Ryan Largay agreed.

“You don’t realize you’re doing something wrong on the ice until you see it on tape,” said Largay.

The players enjoy playing for Kerluke and they said he works very hard at his new profession.

Junior defenseman and assistant captain Ben Payson said Kerluke has done an “outstanding job.

“He’s been through it all. We look up to him. He practices with us so he can show us what he means. And he’ll stay after practice and work with us on different things,” said Payson.

“The practices have been a lot better this year,” said senior winger and captain John Huhn. “He keeps the practices flowing and we have new drills every practice. I wish I would have had him as a coach earlier. He has done a good job.”

“I understand the game a lot better now,” said Largay.

Payson said Kerluke has been an effective disciplinarian and has stressed academics and Largay added that Kerluke has taught them the virtues of proper nutrition.

Kerluke is ecstatic with the development of his players and their positive response.

“I’m happy with every single one of them. They’ve improved 10-fold,” said Kerluke. “To see them implement a skill thing or a system thing gives you a great feeling as a coach.”

Kerluke said his Rams will face a Mount Ararat team that is “very disciplined and hard-working and very, very fast. [Defenseman] Mark Rogers is one of the best players in the state. We’re going to have to shut him down.”

Meanwhile, the Brewer Witches, led by a talented senior class including Spencer Dunbar, Jeremiah Richter, Jamison Cocklin, Josh Caldwell, Josh Kochis, Tim Largay, Wally Tardiff, Will Prescott and Tony Lorenz, will try to solve Cony junior standout goalie Casey Tuttle.

The Class B Eastern Maine playoffs get under way Wednesday with Aroostook County teams Presque Isle and Houlton-Hodgdon hosting playoff quarterfinals in the same season for the first time.

No. 2 Presque Isle, 15-3, hosts No. 7 Kents Hill, 7-9-1, at 4:15 and No. 3 Houlton-Hodgdon, 13-7, awaits No. 6 Hall Dale-Winthrop, 10-9, at 6:15.

Meanwhile, top seed Hampden Academy, 17-3, hosts No. 8 Stearns, 7-12, at 7:20 and No. 5 Gardiner, 12-8, will travel to play 12-7-1 fourth seed Winslow at Sukee Arena at 6.

The semifinals will be Saturday at Sukee.