Last season, Biddeford was a surprise contender in Western Class A boys hockey, as was goalie Brandon Daigle. This season, being a known commodity, both the Tigers and Daigle proved their mettle.

Daigle was the constant in goal for a Biddeford team that dealt with youth, adversity and stiff competition ”“ sometimes all at once. He was equal parts spectacular and solid in the crease game in and game out.

Daigle put Biddeford on his back in some of the season’s biggest games, including four shutouts, and that is why he has earned the distinction of 2014-15 Journal Tribune Boys Hockey Player of the Year.

“Brandon’s success this season really started at the end of last season. He played great down the stretch last year and it carried over into this season,” said Biddeford head coach Rich Reissfelder. “After a strong summer of workouts and spending time with his goalie coach, Brandon was elected captain by his teammates and dominated from day one this year. Going into this season we knew he’d be a natural leader and had the chance to be one of the best (goaltenders) in the state.”

By the end of the season, Daigle had proved to the Class A hockey coaches that he was one of the best goalies in the state, as he was the only goalie named a semifinalist for the Travis Roy Award, given to the top senior Class A player in the state.

It was a short ride but a long distance to notoriety for Daigle, who wasn’t a shoo-in to replace the graduated Jon Fields prior to last season. Fields left a large void in net for the Tigers, and Daigle and then-sophomore Tom Green competed to try to fill that void.

By the end of the season, Daigle had edged ahead in the race to be Biddeford’s No. 1 goalie. But nothing was guaranteed heading into this season.

“We have a great group of goalies ”“ Brandon, Green and freshman Owen Sullivan ”“ that we believe can all play at the varsity level,” said Reissfelder. “But Brandon set himself apart with his work ethic on and off of the ice. Having guys like Greener and Sully pushing him every day in practice made Brandon realize that he couldn’t let up. Every practice mattered, every game mattered and he made the most of them.”

Daigle had a heavy handful of notable performances this season, but the one that stood out the most was a 1-0 victory over eventual West top seed Falmouth on Jan. 19. Daigle stopped all 47 shots he faced in arguably Biddeford’s biggest victory of the year.

“His play gave our guys the confidence to know that they had a chance to win every game. That was never more evident than in our victory over Falmouth in January. The boys fed off of his stellar play that day and we ended up with a huge win,” said Reissfelder.

That wasn’t Daigle’s only marquee performance, however, as Reissfelder pointed to a stopped penalty shot against Cheverus and a stuffed breakaway against Thornton Academy in games that Biddeford won by one goal, and a pair of breakaway stops early against Cape Elizabeth while the Tigers’ skaters slogged in the first period of an eventual 7-0 victory.

“We won all of those games and each one of them could have gone the other way had Brandon not made those saves,” said Reissfelder. “That’s what a leader does. That’s why he was a Travis Roy semifinalist. And that’s why he’ll be a success in life, because he does whatever it takes and doesn’t care about getting the credit.”

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.