SACO — With D.J. Robinson, it’s best to expect the unexpected.
In the space of a year, Robinson has gone from a senior defenseman on a middle-of-the-road Kennebunk High team, to landing a spot on the Portland Junior Pirates “B” team, to earning a battlefield promotion to the PJPs “A” squad.
All without drawing a whole lot of attention to himself.
The 5-foot-10, 170 pounder registered just four points in just 11 games with the “Bs”. But it wasn’t scoring that Pirates head coach Brad Church was looking for from Robinson.
“D.J. is a funny story for us,” said Church. “Coming into the season, we didn’t know what we were going to get. He wasn’t the greatest skater, fundamentally. But we learned that he was quick enough and agile enough to get the job done with his skates.
“But his biggest strength is his poise with the puck. He’s not afraid to make plays. We (on the “A” team) were having trouble executing our breakouts, and he had the confidence to make good plays. That’s really why he’s stayed. It was a big surprise.”
Robinson said he didn’t know what to expect coming after four years at Kennebunk, except for knowing that a strong work ethic is important at any level of play.
“I just came in with the mindset that I’m going to get what I put into it,” he said. “I worked really hard, and I still work really hard, every day in practice. I try to skate all the time.”
He said he responded to the challenges of better competition and more rigorous training.
“I’ve never gotten better, faster than I have in the Pirates program,” he said. “They’ve really developed me as a player. Mentally, too, they teach us new systems that keeps teams pinned in.”
Adding 10 pounds of muscle hasn’t hurt him, either.
“My shot’s getting better,” said Robinson, who is taking courses at SMCC while waiting for his chance to skate for a college team.
He said he was encouraged by his progress in the early season games, but that the real jolt of confidence came when Church summoned him to the “As” in late October.
“I started to do pretty good in the Met (Metropolitan Junior League),” Robinson said. “They called me up and I started to do well there, too. I tried to be aggressive in my first tournament. Then I found my way up to the power play. That’s good.”
Said Church, “He’s been really good for us at the ‘A’ level. He hasn’t allowed us to make a different decision. I don’t know if he knows he’s on the bubble, so that’s why he plays so well every day. He’s now earned a spot on our ‘A’ team, no questions asked.”
Robinson wasn’t asking for anything other than to continue playing after graduating from Kennebunk.
“I just wanted to keep playing,” he said. “I love the game. It (stinks) to think that it’s over after high school.”
Robinson said that while in high school, he could have gone to Berwick Academy to play, but chose to stay at Kennebunk instead.
“The prep school hockey probably would have been better,” he said. “But I don’t regret the decision to stay at all. It was fun. It was a good group of kids, and (Coach) Don Hill is a good guy.”
Robinson, who was a freshman on the Rams team that came within an eyelash of going to the 2008 state championship game, said that experience, too, made him want to stay at Kennebunk.
“Ever since then,” he said, “I was hungry for a state championship.”
Even though the Rams haven’t gotten that close since then, but the wealth of ice time Robinson received the past three years helped get him ready for the PJPs.
There, Robinson works closely with PJPs assistant coach Jeff Libby, a former UMaine and professional defenseman.
“He always has good things to say,” Robinson said. “He’s a great skater, and that’s what he wants me to work on. He says, I’ve got a great mental and skills game. But if I can get faster, I can be a much better player.”
At least that much can be expected.
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