Hockey game, Hill Mill, Lewiston, ca. 1940
Item 67542 info
Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine Libraries
The other great contribution of Franco-Americans to cultural life in the United States was hockey, the Canadian national game.
In mill towns like Lewiston, hockey was popular long before it was embraced statewide. In the 1950s, the St. Dominic High School team had so few opponents of their own age that they scheduled matches against the college teams of Colby, Bates and Bowdoin.
Hockey brought a community spirit that helped to alleviate the pessimism caused by the worsening economic atmosphere after 1945.
When St. Dominic’s hockey arena was destroyed by fire in 1956, it was seen as a disaster for a community that was already suffering from the closure of manufacturing industries in the area.
The community strongly supported a successor to the Arena, the Androscoggin Colisée, which until 2011 was home to the Lewiston Maineacs, a member of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
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