Back in the early days of the Portland Pirates, they would practice at Portland Ice Arena.

“We’d drive over with half our gear on,” Kent Hulst said. “It was a good barn.”

Cheverus girls’ hockey coach Kent Hulst talks to his players during practice Monday in Portland at the same arena he practiced at as a Pirate. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

It still is – though the barn is now known as Troubh Arena – and Hulst is still skating in it.

Back then, Hulst was one of the boys – a 25-year-old on the Calder Cup-winning Pirates in 1993-94. Now, Hulst is the only guy on the ice.

Hulst, 47, conducted his first practice as the new Cheverus High girls’ hockey coach on Monday – the first day high school teams in Maine could practice (the rest of the winter sports, including boys’ hockey, begin in two weeks).

Hulst replaced Amy McNally, who took the head girls’ job at North Yarmouth Academy. Ironically, it was NYA where Hulst got into coaching, after retiring from hockey in 2001.

“When I finished playing, I found I loved to do it,” Hulst said.

Hulst retired as one of the Pirates’ most popular players and their team captain.

Jill Hannigan, Cheverus’ senior captain, met Hulst a long time ago, but has no memory of it.

“I have a picture of myself with him when I was maybe 11/2 and he was playing on the Pirates,” Hannigan said. “I’m getting an autograph from him.”

A more formal introduction came when Hannigan was 7 and a teammate of Hulst’s daughter, Alyssa, on a Casco Bay Youth Hockey boys’ team. Kent Hulst assisted the head coach then.

Two years later, Hulst was coaching an all-girls travel team with his daughter and Hannigan.

“They’re fun to coach,” Hulst said of directing girls. “They kind of giggle. As they get older, they get more intense. They want to get better.”

Hulst’s teams do get better. He left NYA in 2010 to coach with the Portland Junior Pirates program. Last year, he coached the Under-19 girls, including Alyssa and Hannigan, to the national Tier II championships.

While Alyssa moved from Scarborough High to Berwick Academy – where she will be a senior – Hannigan has stayed at Cheverus.

The Stags, who won the 2010 state championship, have not been a contender the past couple of years, finishing 5-13 last season.

When McNally left for NYA, Hannigan knew who she wanted for a replacement. Hulst did not know Cheverus had a vacancy, but Hannigan made sure he would.

“I was refereeing a summer hockey game and Jill came over and asked if I was interested in being their coach,” said Hulst. He had left the Junior Pirates and was interested.

Hulst contacted Cheverus Athletic Director Gary Hoyt. The interest was mutual.

“Kent is a very knowledgeable and fundamentally-sound ice hockey coach,” Hoyt said. “He comes with an impeccable track record and seems like an excellent fit for our program.”

Besides Hulst, the Cheverus program has another boost to its program – numbers. With more players joining the team – along with three players from Kennebunk High and one from Old Orchard Beach High – Cheverus has a roster that numbered 23 Monday. It is expected to grow.

“I’m excited to see what he does with the team because he wants to rebuild it,” Hannigan said.

Hannigan is also excited because the Stags freshman class includes plenty of defensemen. In the past, Hannigan has had to play defense to give Cheverus a player capable of bringing up the puck. Now she can play forward, her natural position.

Time will tell whether the Stags can get back to challenging the usual South powers, Scarborough and Falmouth. They have a new coach; one who knows all about this barn Cheverus plays in. Hulst has good memories here. He’d like to make some more.

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