Life has been a bit hectic for Brian Dumoulin of late.
That’s what happens when you win the Stanley Cup. Dumoulin, a defenseman, played an integral role in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ championship run through the NHL playoffs this spring.
“It’s been a very busy summer but a great one so far. I can’t complain,” Dumoulin said by phone Thursday while taking a break from his summer class at Boston College.
Dumoulin confirmed the Stanley Cup – one of the most iconic symbols in all of sports – will be coming to his hometown of Biddeford on Aug. 9.
“It’s definitely going to be very available for people to see,” Dumoulin said. “It should be a good time. We still have to come up with a plan of how we’re going to do it exactly. I know the public wants to see it and I definitely want to show it to them.”
Dumoulin, 24, became the first Maine native to play for a Stanley Cup champion – and he accomplished it in his first full NHL season.
“It’s good to win one early. But once you win it once you realize how hard it was, how satisfying it was and how crazy it was and you want to do it again,” he said. “If you win it once – and I’m sure other guys would say this, too – you want that feeling again. You don’t get that satisfaction unless you win it again.”
Championships have followed Dumoulin throughout his career. He won two at Biddeford High (2007 and 2008) before leaving to play for the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs, a junior hockey team, as a senior. He then won two NCAA championships at Boston College, leaving after his junior year to turn pro. He spent most of three seasons playing in the AHL, playing 14 games with the Penguins in that span.
This season, Dumoulin played in 103 games for Pittsburgh, 24 of them in the playoffs. His average ice time jumped from 18 minutes, 53 seconds in the regular season to 21:31 in the postseason, including a whopping 29:23 in the Stanley Cup finals against the San Jose Sharks. Only three-time NHL All-Star Kris Letang logged more ice time against the Sharks.
“During the game you don’t even notice how much you’re playing,” Dumoulin said. “I just go out there and focus on doing my best. Sometimes it’s easier to play 25 minutes than 12 minutes because you’re into the game more.”
Dumoulin increased his scoring in the playoffs, netting two goals with six assists after having no goals and 16 assists in the regular season. He scored the first goal in the Pens’ 3-1 series-clinching win over San Jose.
“That’s kind of the way Brian’s always been,” said his father, Pete Dumoulin. “He can play his best when it matters most.”
Brian Dumoulin said he didn’t think much about the potential for making history as the first Maine native to play on a NHL champion.
“I wasn’t sure of it and, plus, you don’t really want to think about that until you actually win it,” Dumoulin said. “Once we did win and I kind of realized it, I was shocked and a little surprised. It’s an honor to be able to win it and bring the Stanley Cup to Maine.”
After the Penguins won the Cup in San Jose on June 12, Dumoulin was able to savor the victory with his mother Debbie, sister Katherine, brother John and girlfriend, Kayla Ermold. Pete Dumoulin joined the family in Pittsburgh for the celebration parade.
“There were close to 400,000 on the parade route,” Brian Dumoulin said. “That’s a big turnout for Pittsburgh.”
Traditionally, each player on a NHL championship team gets to spend time in the offseason with the Stanley Cup. Already this summer, the Cup has been on a beach in California with forward Beau Bennett and down a water slide in North Carolina with goalie Jeff Zatkoff.
“Me and my friends from Maine and Boston College can enjoy it too,” Dumoulin said.
Dumoulin is back in New England, taking a class at Boston College. He needs just one more class after this to complete his degree in marketing.
“The class is called Psychological Development Through a Lifespan,” Dumoulin said. “It doesn’t really apply to hockey too much, nothing that would really help me in a season, but it’s good to learn something different.”
Returning to a classroom has also given Dumoulin some needed down time.
“Being down in Boston I’m just fitting in like normal. I like it,” Dumoulin said. “I’m not the high-profile guy. I like not being a distraction.”
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