He is 40 years old and retired from professional hockey for 14 years. He has a 17-year-old son who is playing junior hockey and a seven-month-old daughter who is about two years from her first pair of skates.

So where is Dave Capuano now? The former All-Stater at Mount St. Charles and All-American at the University of Maine is helping his father, Jack, with his new car-wash business in Warwick and preparing for Hall of Fame weekend at Maine.

“I’m very happy,” Capuano said of the honor, “especially since I didn’t graduate.”

A Black Bears star in 1987, 1988 and 1989, Capuano will be inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday. He and his family will head up to Orono tomorrow, however, because the Class of 2008 will be recognized on Saturday as well during football and hockey games against Northeastern.

Capuano’s hockey odyssey began in Cranston as a kid following his brother, Jack, who was two years older and a defenseman. They went to Mount St. Charles and were part of the early years of that high-school hockey dynasty.

“The first couple of years I went through the trials and tribulations. I got sent to the showers more than anyone. I got yelled at. Why me?” Capuano said in recalling those seasons two decades ago. As he grew older and matured and became a parent himself, he understood why Mount’s Bill Belisle coaches the way he does.

“There’s a pride in playing for the Mount, and they care for every kid who comes through there,” he said. “It was great. We won a lot, and when you win a lot, it’s fun. I remember playing for the state championship in front of 3,000 people.”

Boston College and Boston University recruited Dave, but he followed Jack to Maine, where Shawn Walsh was recruiting talent that could have gone anywhere but chose Maine and its 3,800-seat Harold Alfond Sports Arena.

“I went up there and was sold right away. There’s nothing comparable around here to the atmosphere. It was so loud. We didn’t lose at home. The atmosphere there was tremendous,” he said.

Jack and Elaine Capuano drove to Orono every other weekend to watch their sons.

A 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward, Dave Capuano played 121 games for the Black Bears, scored 89 goals and assisted on 122 for 211 points. He was Maine’s first two-time first-team All-America and two-time Hobey Baker Award finalist. He was also first-team All-Hockey East and All-New England twice. He stands fourth on Maine’s career scoring list and third for points in a season, 85 in 1988. He skated on Maine’s first two NCAA Frozen Four teams.

Taken by Pittsburgh with the 25th pick overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, he left Maine after the 1989 season and signed with Penguins. He played six games with Pittsburgh in the 1990 season before being traded to Vancouver. His best year as a pro was with the Canucks in 1991. He was leading the team in scoring (13-31-44 in 61 games) before a knee injury required surgery. In 104 NHL games with four teams Capuano scored 17 goals and assisted on 38 for 55 points. He retired after the 1994 season, which he spent with the Providence Bruins (24-29-53 in 51 games).

“The experience on the whole was fantastic. I played with Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh. I had dinner with Wayne Gretzky. I went fishing with Paul Coffey,” he said.

Capuano was a financial planner for a decade before joining his father at the Bald Hill Car Wash in Warwick. He follows his son Max’s progress with the Bridgewater Bandits of the EJHL and regrets that Max has not had the high-school experience he enjoyed. He married Lori Pembroke three years ago, and they are the parents of Jaclyn.

The Rhode Island Capuanos will meet the Maine Capuanos — Jack’s wife and children — in Bangor for the Hall of Fame festivities. Jack won’t be able to attend because he is head coach of the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but Dave plans to begin lobbying for his brother’s induction into the Maine Hall of Fame. Jack was an All-America and scored 32 goals from the blue line as a junior, the Maine record.

“He should have been in already,” Dave said.

mszostak@projo.com