Ten seconds remained in a one-goal game.

By Justin Pelletier – Lewiston Maineiacs’ defenseman Sam Finn chased the dumped puck into his own zone. His head on a swivel, he saw two opposing forwards charging after the puck, hot on his heels, and he also saw a third, hugging the boards.

Having glanced up at the scoreboard — and toward the other end of the ice — he knew there was little time remaining, and he knew the cage at the other end of the ice was empty. But, instead of turning and firing the puck the length of the ice, and banged to a stop against the corner boards to the right of his own net. He gathered the puck in his skates, and he began to shimmy along the dasher.

The puck moved enough to keep the play alive, but it never traveled more than three feet.

“Now that I have more experience, I really look at the clock more often, all the time,” Finn said. “I always know in the back of my mind how much time is left, so I know when to freeze the puck, or when to ice it.”

“It’s a skill that’s great to have that mot many people notice,” Lewiston head coach J.F. Houle said. “He’s a smart kid. He knows how to control the clock. If there’s eight seconds left in the game, instead of going for the clear, he might eat it, try to keep it along the boards and burn the time. He’s a smart player. He uses his strength and his body to protect the puck to the best of his ability.”

Finn, a four-year veteran of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, is in his second full season with the Maineiacs after being acquired by Lewiston at the mid-season trade deadline from Cape Breton during the 2008-09 season. He takes pride not in numbers of goals and assists (his stat line is 0-9-9 in 34 games this season), but in the number of goals scored against the team when he’s on the ice. The lower the number, the better.

“If you ask me how many points I have right now, I don’t even know, I couldn’t tell you. I never look at the stats,” Finn said. “The only thing in the stats that really matters to me is the plus/minus. I always want to be in the ‘plus’ because I’m a defensive defenseman.”

Finn is tied for 15th overall in the league in plus-minus with a plus-20 rating. Those numbers are a bit skewed, given that Saint John Sea Dogs players take up eight of the positions ahead of Finn, who leads the Maineiacs in that category.

He’s a mucker. A grinder. A player who’d rather get his nose dirty than sacrifice defense for more points.

He’ll even drop the mitts if he needs to, though he’s careful about avoiding a reputation as a pure fighter.

“I wouldn’t say I have to do it, but it’s in me sometimes,” Finn said. “I’m an aggressive defenseman, I like to play physical and when it comes down to it, I don’t mind dripping the mitts, but I’ll never be known as a straight fighter. A defensive defenseman and physical, yes, and who will fight once in a while, but not just a fighter.”

His work ethic was evident immediately upon his arrival in Lewiston. Immediately pegged as captain material by the staff in place at the time, he has endured two coaching changes and a pair of tough seasons in the standings with the Maineiacs.

“We’ve been through a lot, we’ve been through changes and we’ve been through tough times,” Finn said. “I feel that I’ve seen enough of that part, and I feel I can use that experience now on a winning team. I feel that helps me bring to the team a lot of experience.”

His ability to help the team through the rocky patches in the locker room was well-noted.

“His work ethic in practice, and his work ethic in the gym, he’s a leader,” Houle said. “He could be our captain, he and (captain Cameron Critchlow), it was a toss-up as to who would get the ‘C’ and who would get the ‘A.’ He could well be our captain. With him, it’s team first. He doesn’t complain about anything, he’s just a good team guy.”

With chemistry a focus in the Maineiacs’ locker room, the team is enjoying a remarkable turnaround on the ice this season. The team has already achieved 24 wins and 50 points, both of which are better than last year’s season total.

In addition, Finn’s presence on the team allowed the Maineiacs to enlist the help of his father, Steven.

The elder Finn is a veteran of 725 regular-season NHL games, during which he posted 34 goals, 78 assists and 1,724 penalty minutes as a defensive defenseman. He was also a four-year QMJHL skater for Laval, where he put up 38 goals, 127 assists and 552 penalty minutes in 227 regular-season games.

This season, the Maineiacs enlisted Steven’s help as a defensive consultant.

“He has a lot of experience, he’s played in the NHL and he’s seen a lot of hockey in his life,” Houle said of Steven Finn. “He’s very well-spoken as well, and the players kind of look up to him. He’s in great shape.

“It’s nice, too, for (Rumble) and I to have someone to talk to on the road, about different players on our team, things that maybe we need to do differently sometimes,” Houle added. “He’s been a great asset.”

For Steven, the opportunity to work with the team — and with his son — was too good to pass up.

“At any level, when you watch your kids play, you are always proud of them,” Steven Finn said. “Not only is he a good hockey player, he has a good heart. he works hard, has a good attitude and all that. I’m very proud of him. I was excited when they asked me to help. It also gives me the chance to get back into the game. You see it, you get excited. It’s in your blood.”

Sam, meanwhile, understands well the opportunity he has, one most hockey players at an elite level do not ever get.

“My relationship with him hasn’t really changed since he joined the organization,” Sam Finn said. “The only thing that’s better now is that when he comes down here to Lewiston, he gets to be in the locker room, and I get to see him a lot more often. That’s always great.

“I think a lot about what he tells me, because I know he knows what he’s talking about,” Sam Finn added. “Every advice he gives me, I sit down and think about it, and try to bring it to my game afterward.”

On a recent Maineiacs road trip to Quebec City, Steven had a chance to again watch Sam play hockey on the ice that for so long was his home. Steven’s longest tenure in the NHL was with the Quebec Nordiques, for whom he played in parts of 10 seasons, even serving as a co-captain with Joe Sakic.

“We sat to watch the game against Gatineau in Quebec (the day before our game there), and people were coming up to say ‘hello’ and talk to him,” Houle said. “People recognize him, they were happy to see him because he’d played there. You could tell he has a passion for hockey, and it’s exciting for him I’m sure to be back in that building to watch his son play.”

“It’s special for both of us, to be honest,” Steven Finn said. “Every time I go in that building, it brings back memories, and even Sam, when he was little, he used to come to the rink a lot, so it’s good to be able to share that.”

Sam has already turned some NHL scouts’ heads. Undrafted as an 18-year-old, Finn traveled to Colorado as a rookie invite to the Avalanche’s training camp. This year, San Jose came calling with an invitation. He stayed with the Sharks for a week before returning to Lewiston.

“It was a great experience, it gives me the opportunity to compare myself to the best players in the world, pretty much,” Sam Finn said. “It helps me know what I have to improve, to work on the future.”

“The only thing I tell him is to enjoy it,” Steven Finn said. “He’s very lucky to have the opportunity to go to pro camps. I tell him to make the best of it, enjoy it, because a lot of people would trade places with him.”

With a promising future, Sam has begun to focus that much harder on the present. People across the league are taking notice.

“A defenseman like that, everybody in the league would love to have him,” Houle said. “Guys like that, who are solid defensively, are hard to find. He knows when to drop the gloves, he knows when not to. He’s disciplined and strong. We’re looking for another one like that, and we can’t find him. We’re lucky.”