His first line wasn’t properly executing a play he had just drawn up, but he remained positive and called the team over to a portable dry-erase board hanging above the ice in front of the rink’s glass-enclosed scoring table. He spelled out exactly what he wanted and the players quickly caught on.

The defending Division 1 South sectional champion, Archbishop Williams is going back to the drawing board this season after last winter’s run to the state final.

So, too, is defending Division 2 champion Canton High. Each team graduated 13 seniors and, coincidentally, lost one key starting junior to prep school, so both will rely on relatively inexperienced players this season.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a rebuilding year,’’ said Curtis, now in his third season. “I’d definitely say it’s a reassessing year — see where we are, see what kind of talent we already have. A good group of kids left last year, but we’ve got a good group of kids here. They just need to learn how to win and put themselves in a position to be successful.’’

Archbishop Williams, which was blanked by Catholic Central (Large) rival Arlington Catholic 5-0 in the Division 1 state final, returns just three players, all seniors, who received regular shifts on last year’s 17-6-3 squad: captain Mike Thiesing of Sandwich, along with forwards Ryan Bagge of West Bridgewater and Mike Boyle of Weymouth.

“We have more than just three guys coming back, those other guys just never saw regular time,’’ Curtis said. “They were the seventh, eighth defensemen, they were the fourth line — guys that weren’t playing. Most of the guys coming back didn’t have an opportunity to contribute.’’

Archbishop Williams lost two of its first three games, falling in a rematch to Arlington Catholic, 3-2, and losing to Norwood, 4-3, before stopping Matignon, 5-1.

The inexperience of the new-look Bishops, who have four dynamic freshmen receiving significant playing time in Mike Sorenti (Bourne), Bill Sweezy (Hanson), Nick Menzel (Raynham), and Ryan Dunn (Rockland), was evident. The Braintree team blew one-goal third-period leads in both losses.

“We’re a young team, but we definitely think we’re going to have some success and try to make it to the tournament,’’ said the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Thiesing, who according to Curtis is a legitimate NCAA Division 1 prospect. “I think we’re definitely underrated. If we work hard, we can definitely have some success, we’re looking to go pretty far.’’

Perhaps the biggest question mark is in goal after Nick Commesso transferred to the Governor’s Academy in Newbury, leaving a pair of sophomores to compete for the position.

Canton coach Brian Shuman can sympathize with Curtis. The best player off last year’s 19-3-2 squad at Canton, Kevin Rooney, transferred to the Berkshire School. His uncle Steve won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens.

“The whole Rooney family is synonymous with Canton hockey,’’ Shuman said. “This will be the first year I don’t have a Rooney on the team. That says a lot about this team.’’

In addition to the departure of Rooney, graduation took away four-year starter Matt Buckley, who now plays for Bridgton Academy, and goalie John Donaruma. Shuman is replacing the graduation losses with 13 freshmen and a host of sophomores, but he is not terribly concerned: He was in the same situation the year before.

“People asked me the same thing at this time last year,’’ Shuman said. “After we lost to Newburyport in the state final in 2009 we lost 13 seniors as well. Even though we’re young, we’ll bounce back.’’

A light early-season schedule (just one game in the first two weeks) has helped the squad come together. But like Curtis and his Archies squad, Shuman saw his team’s raw inexperience lead to a 3-3 tie with Quincy.

“We were up 2-0 and then 3-1 midway through the third,’’ Shuman said. “We took some needless penalties and it ended up a tie. I’ve seen our inexperience in practice, especially inconsistency of focus and effort. Some days have been good, others we haven’t even shown up. The kids are starting to realize it takes a full effort every day.’’

As the Bulldogs prepare for battle in the new two-division Hockomock League with the addition of Attleboro, they’ll rely on senior captain Greg Boyd, a power forward, and Nick O’Connor, a “gifted goal scorer,’’ according to Shuman.

Michael Mancinelli can be reached at mmancinelli@globe.com.