ORLEANS — Nauset Regional High School sophomore Logan Poulin has made a fast start in the current hockey season on a team he didn’t expect to be part of at the beginning of the school year.
Poulin, who lives in Truro, had a short stint at Milton Academy before returning to Nauset early in the fall.
“I realized Milton wasn’t the place for me,” said Poulin. “Leaving home early — it just didn’t seem like the right time or something I wanted.”
The 16-year-old was a key faceoff man for the Nauset lacrosse team in his freshman year. It was the only varsity sport he played as a freshman, and he will be a welcome returnee on Jesse Peno’s roster in the spring. But he’s now become a key cog on first-year head coach Connor Brickley’s veteran hockey team, which is undefeated after its first three games.
“I just feel comfortable and confident with the guys,” Poulin said. “It’s something not a lot of kids get to do — play for someone like Coach Brickley. He and I stay in touch a lot and have a good relationship. We chat about games and what players are doing that I should try to emulate. He’s always finding a way to get me and the team better. I could not ask for a better person and coach.”
Poulin tallied hat tricks in both of the Warriors’ opening wins, against St. John Paul II and Nantucket High School, and then scored a pair of goals against Plymouth North to go with one assist. He leads the team with 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists). He scored four goals in the victory over the Whalers.
“The most important thing Logan brings is energy,” said Brickley, 30, a native of Everett who played for the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. “He’s really uplifting, and he’s very electric and fun to watch. He’s a great teammate. Having guys like that in your locker room is a huge value.”
Brickley, who logged 81 games in the NHL and 247 in the American Hockey League, knows what it takes to make it to the highest level — something that Poulin can lean on. He has professional aspirations.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Poulin is a student of the sports he plays and tries to model his game around a few players including the Toronto Maple Leaf’s Auston Matthews. Matthews possesses one of the best shots in the league, and it’s a strength of Poulin’s game as well.
In the first three games of the year, he displayed not only a strong shot but also creativity, elusiveness, and playmaking ability from the right wing. He has set up linemates Cooper McIntire and Cam Connery for a combined five goals in three games.
When asked about carrying the weight of a team’s offense as a sophomore, Poulin said, “We’ve just got a good line going. We’re doing a lot of damage, and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”
