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Amesbury hockey standout accepts Triton coaching job

Wednesday, December, 05 By Dan Guttenplan
Sports editor

The Triton administration has had no problem finding hockey coaches over the last four years.

Retaining them that has been the issue.

Amesbury High alumnus Kevin Dodier was recently hired to be the Triton hockey team's fourth head coach in the last four years. He will take over a squad that went 11-5-5 last season under coach Drew Wile, who was fired after one year on the job.

Triton's senior class will now have played under a different coach each year; the list includes Jay Gallant (2004-2005), Russ Moser (2005-2006), Wile (2006-2007) and now Dodier. Dodier, 23, was a two-time Cape Ann League MVP at Amesbury where he played goalie from 1998 to 2002. His last two Amesbury squads advanced to the Division 2 North semifinal and combined for a 30-8-8 record. Kevin's father, George Dodier, coached Amesbury for 13 years (1985-1999) in the peak of the rivalries between Amesbury, Newburyport and Triton.

The 23-year-old Dodier graduated from Fitchburg State with a degree in education in 2006. He played college hockey for four years.

He has since served as a tutor at Amesbury Middle School. He will begin serving the same role at Triton Regional High within the next two weeks.

"I want to be here working in the school system for as long as I'm allowed," Dodier said. "This team has a storied tradition, and I want to continue building that. I'd love to stay for the long haul."

Dodier said Triton's administrators expressed a similar desire through the interviewing process.

"I interviewed with multiple people from the administration, and they don't want me to take over for one year," Dodier said. "They want consistency, and I'm on the same page."

Dodier's career path is very similar to that of his father. George Dodier started as an assistant at Triton under Dan O'Connell in 1980 before taking Amesbury's head-coaching job in 1985.

He coached his eldest son to a CAL title before walking away after Kevin's freshman season so he could spend more time enjoying his son's games.

"I wore myself out," George Dodier said. "I was coaching and earning master's degrees, and I was so involved in the youth level. I wanted to watch my last one play. It was a lot of fun."

Kevin Dodier served as an Amesbury assistant, specializing in coaching goalies, last winter under Peter Cignetti. "I really didn't think it would happen this fast for him," George Dodier said. "I know how good he is with kids and how much he enjoys working in schools. I never thought it would come about this fast."

Amesbury struggled through a 3-16-1 season last winter. Cignetti harbors no ill feelings despite what would appear to be a step up for Dodier on the CAL food chain.

"I was disappointed because we're losing a good coach," Cignetti said. "But any time a member of my staff moves on, it's good for me and good for the program. It's a feather in my cap. I want my assistants to succeed."

Despite the turnover in the coaching ranks, Triton has remained one of the top teams in the CAL since Dan O'Connell's departure in 1998. O'Connell's teams captured 10 CAL titles in his 24-year tenure. Since 2002, the Vikings are 64-24-17 with two CAL titles.

"I've been around a while, so I know what Triton hockey is all about," Kevin Dodier said. "They're always one of the top teams in the league, and if you beat them, you have the power in the CAL. That's how I'd like to keep it."