Curtis Wheeler, left, and his St. Dom’s teammates celebrate his first-period goal against Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester on Saturday at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

AUBURN — As the new boys hockey coach at St. Dominic Academy, Marc Frenette has good reasons to be focused only on the present and the future, and certainly not on last winter, when the Saints’ season came to a screeching halt in the first round of the playoffs.

They finished the regular season 13-3-2 and earned the No. 2 seed in the Class A playoffs. But instead of a deep postseason run, they were ousted by Portland/South Portland/Deering/Waynflete.

“To be frank, I told the boys that last year’s team is dead, like it’s done,” said Frenette, who was hired to coach St. Dom’s in the spring. “We’re not thinking about that anymore. This year’s team, we’re playing a little bit of a different style of hockey.”

Senior forward Curtis Wheeler said that while the Saints have moved on from the 2023-24 season — he said they got over it during summer hockey — there are some lessons they can take from the disappointment.

“We learned that we really have to play better, especially in the tough moments,” Wheeler said. “We have to play physical. We have to get to the front of the net and just really get the dirty goals.”

Three of the Saints’ four losses in 2023-24 were by two goals or less. Ben Dumais, a junior, said that going through the experience of losing close games should help the Saints.

“It will, because we know what it’s like to lose a tough game,” Dumais said. “And when we’re there again this year, we’re going to have more confidence. We’re going to know what it’s like. We’re going to know how to handle it, especially late in games. Hopefully, we’re not down late in those games that have to come. Hopefully, we can take advantage early in games this year.”

The Saints (3-0) aced their first close-game experience of 2024-25 on Wednesday night. St. Dom’s overcame a pair of two-goal deficits and scored the final three goals, including Spencer Morgan’s winner with 35 seconds left, to beat reigning Class A champion Lewiston, 4-3.

The Saints actually added a player from the Blue Devils’ championship team, sophomore Deano Scalia, who transferred to St. Dominic Academy during the offseason.

St. Dominic Academy’s Deano Scalia barrels into Lewiston goalie Will Routhier as Lewiston’s Coleman Mercier and Ben Junkins trail Scalia during Wednesday’s game in Auburn. Though only a sophomore, Scalia has been a nice addition for the Saints after transferring from Lewiston in the offseason. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Scalia said one of the things he learned during the Blue Devils’ playoff run is that players can’t look ahead.

“Just that, never to underestimate another team,” Scalia said. “I know we came out flying against Bangor in the state (final). And I know we were close, neck and neck with them in the regular season. So just as long as we play our game, we just should do our best, we should be good.”

Dumais said Scalia has been a good addition to the locker room and on the ice. While Scalia is still young, he scored eight goals, assisted on eight others, and played a lot in the postseason as a freshman.

“It’s been good. It doesn’t feel like a sophomore,” Dumais said. “It feels like someone who’s had experience, which he does, and it’s been great. We’re working together. We’re working on chemistry right now, and we’re going to get there.”

Frenette said he has changed the team’s style of play to how he coached the Maine Gladiators youth hockey teams, which is creating traffic in front of the net and the defensemen being more active in the offensive zone.

“I think the boys are excited about that because it allows all five players to play,” Frenette said.

St. Dominic Academy’s Ben Dumais, middle, slips between Poland/Leavitt/Oak Hill/Gray-New Gloucester’s Mason Aldrich, left, and Breck Langevin during Saturday’s game at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

He also wants the Saints to shoot with purpose this season.

“Last year’s team, they had a lot of shooters, and the shooters like to shoot from the high slot or even outside of the slot,” Frenette said. “This year, we got great shooters as well, but I’m grading shots differently. There’s no traffic, there’s no screens, no rebounds — it’s not a great shot, you know? We need to get people there in the trenches for screens, tips and rebounds.”

Frenette said there was some initial skepticism of the more aggressive style, but the players are getting the hang of it.

“Yeah, I mean, having the defense just hop in, sometimes forwards can’t do it all,” Wheeler said. “So having the defense to come in and help with us, it’s a big help for us.”

Dumais said the Saints have several goals for this season, including winning a playoff game, something the program hasn’t done since winning the Class A championship in 2019.

“We’ve got to at least win a playoff game this year,” Dumais said. “We haven’t won one in several years now, so that’s something that needs to happen.”