If there was one thing the Northern Maine Pioneers lacked in their inaugural season, it was time.
The entire National Collegiate Development Conference franchise — from its roster to its coaching staff to branding — was cobbled together in three weeks after the season had already begun, after a different team slated for Presque Isle had collapsed.
The city’s first junior hockey franchise had little time to recruit, let alone structure a roster. The Pioneers went 11-37-3-1, finished fifth in their seven-team division and missed the playoffs by six points.
This year, the team had a full offseason to put together its team. Jack Lowry thinks the on-ice product will be better for it.
“At the end of every day, you can take a deep breath and think of what you want to do, what you need to do, which makes a huge difference,” Lowry, the Pioneers’ second-year head coach, said.
“Not taking away anything from last year, because I thought the guys on the team gave us a good season,” Lowry said. “That allowed us to have the time this year to be able to recruit, go after certain types of players.”
This year’s schedule, and team, look different. The NCDC doubled in the offseason, growing from 33 teams to 68. That boom triggered a league-wide realignment which moved the Pioneers into the newly-created Northeast Conference, now one of eight conferences in the league.
They are joined in the conference by four former divisional opponents: the St. Stephen County Moose, Lewiston MAINEiacs, Quebec Universel and the Woodstock Warriors, who rebranded from the Woodstock Slammers in the offseason.
Also in the Northeast Conference are the New Hampshire-based Thunder Hockey Club, the Montreal Black Vees and the Perth-Andover Bobcats. The Bobcats are under the same ownership as the Pioneers, and were brought to Perth-Andover, a mere 30-minute drive from Presque Isle, with the intention of creating a local rivalry.
Northern Maine is only returning 10 players from its inaugural season, and none of its top five scorers. But Lowry doesn’t believe scoring will be an issue for his team, which has tallied nine goals through its first three games.
Forward Grant Levins, who recorded 17 points in 48 games last season, started out hot this year with four goals and five points in three games. His linemate Luca DiSilvestro, a 19-year-old who played a handful of games in the NCDC in 2025-26, matched that point total.
“I think he’s going to be one of the top five forwards in the league,” Lowry said of DiSilvestro.
On the back end, the Pioneers are returning six of their defensemen from last season, among them Daniel Raskin, Jacob Heron and Owen Eckdahl.
Raskin, a top-pairing defenseman who logged 14 points in just 29 games with Northern Maine in his first junior season, is co-captaining the team with forward David Artenosi.
The Pioneers will have an entirely different playstyle this year that Lowry said attempts to mimic that of the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
He wants his group to move the puck up the ice quickly, be relentless to force turnovers and transition aggressively with the aim of creating extended offensive zone possession. He also wants grit.
“We want to have size where we need size, have skill and speed throughout the lineup, but also have some grit,” Lowry said. “I thought last year in certain instances we got pushed around a little too much and didn’t respond.”
The Pioneers dropped their first two regular season games over the weekend, but pitched a shutout against Quebec Universel on Sunday where they only allowed 12 shots. They’ll host Montreal at 3:30 p.m. at the Presque Isle Forum on Saturday.
“I think that we have a really skilled team and when we’re playing the way we want to play, we’ll be able to play with anybody in the league,” Lowry said. “It’s going to come down to execution, but I’m excited about the team.”
