Quick – what do Father’s Day and the Stanley Cup playoffs have in common?

And no, it’s not that nobody’s paying attention to dear old Dad.

The answer is hockey pucks. And while they belong on the ice, they do not, under any circumstances, belong on the grill. Especially not on such a festive occasion.

That said, char-happy fathers everywhere will fire up their Webers this weekend and turn perfectly good hamburgers into dry, hard, black lumps of coal.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Even if you like your burgers on the rare side, there’s still room for improvement. And like any good self-help program, this one starts with inner beauty.

“Anything you put on the inside of a burger will help to keep it moist,” said Bill Stanek, a meat cutter at Megunticook Market in Camden.

Stuffed burgers are a specialty at this small grocery store, and when the weather warms up, customers savor such combinations as bleu cheese, sauted mushrooms and caramelized onions. But they’re a cinch to make at home, for a family or a crowd.

“You can get really fancy with a lot of fillings, but cooking at home, you might just want to have something you can put together really quickly,” said Lani Temple, the market’s owner.

That could mean bacon and Swiss, taco-seasoned beef with drained salsa in the stuffing, or a barbecue-flavored burger stuffed with cheddar. Temple likes roasted red pepper, goat cheese and pesto, and during a recent visit, she toyed with the idea of a BLT-style burger, stuffed with crumbled bacon and sun-dried tomato.

“Anything that goes well on top of a burger will taste good as a filling,” Stanek said.

One thing that’s not negotiable is fresh-ground meat. That can be turkey, lamb or beef, but if you can have it ground for you at the meat counter, your burgers will thank you for it. Oh, and so will your dinner guests.

“The juiciest, moistest burgers are going to be made from fresh ground hamburger,” Temple said. “As soon as meat is ground it starts to dry out; it starts to lose some of the natural juices that are in it.”

At the Castine Inn, chef Tom Gutow is as well-known for his decadent burgers as he is for his tapenade-encrusted salmon and his multicourse tasting menu. His secret? Locally raised, grass-fed beef seasoned before cooking with a touch of ketchup, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a hint of sweet Thai chili sauce.

“It’s relatively simple,” Gutow said. “We’ve just kind of played around with the proportions. It makes the burger taste a little better than a plain burger. It’s subtle, but it still tastes like a burger.”

At the restaurant, he serves his burgers with cheese on a toasted, homemade English muffin, but at home, he says, any brand of English muffin will do. Crunchy romaine, a slice of tomato and a little onion rounds out the mix.

And the hockey puck burger is never allowed at the Castine Inn. Ever.

“We’re all terrified of being sick, but the flavor of good meat comes out if you don’t cook it too much,” Gutow said.

Stuffed burgers 101

? Lani Temple and Bill Stanek of Megunticook Market recommend using 1/3 pound of ground meat per person, stuffed with 1 tablespoon, total, of fillings.

? If using beef, ground chuck is a good option, with at least 15 percent fat (sold as 85 percent lean). Any less, and the burgers will be on the dry side and they won’t hold together as well on the grill.

? Incorporating barbecue sauce, spice rubs, seasoning mixes or drained salsa into the meat before you stuff it is an easy way to add flavor. Temple likes the Maine-made Hick Lickin’ Good Mango Chipotle sauce in her burgers.

? Do not handle meat any more than necessary to keep the fillings in. The more you handle it, the mushier it will become.

? Form meat into a ball, and press in the center to form a “bowl” for the fillings.

? Fill with 1 tablespoon, total, of any combination of fillings.

? If you choose to fill your burger with cheese, soft varieties such as bleu and goat should be crumbled; cheddar, American or mozzarella should be diced.

? Pat beef to cover fillings and flatten burger – you don’t want it looking like a tennis ball, because it won’t cook all the way through.

? Cook to desired doneness. Please note that fillings cause meat to cook more quickly than usual.

Possible fillings

. Mushrooms sauteed in butter

. Caramelized onions (cook over medium-low heat until soft and browned)

. Diced roasted red pepper (jarred works fine)

. Finely diced jalapeno

. A pat of compound butter – butter mixed with salt and pepper is one of Stanek’s favorites, while garlic and chives also make a flavorful addition

. Drained salsa

. Scallions

. Any cheese

Crumbled bacon

. Diced and drained sun-dried tomatoes

. Pesto

. Any herb, chopped

Favorite combinations

. Pesto, goat cheese, roasted red pepper

. Sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onion and bleu cheese

. Crumbled bacon and cheddar in a barbecue-sauce-flavored burger

. Jalapeno, cilantro and horseradish cheddar

. Sun-dried tomato, bacon and mozzarella