As the weather gets colder out there, Philadelphia's favorite assistant high school hockey coach is back at work.

Matt Stairs enters his fourth season at John Bapst High School in his hometown of Bangor, Maine.

“Coaching is fun,” Stairs told the Bangor Daily News. “You get back the first couple of days, everyone asks you questions about how it was, what’s going on and what’s this guy like.

“But the good thing about it is when I get here, everyone treats me just like a regular coach. The biggest thing is I’ve been around so long and I’ve played the game for so long, what I try to teach the kids as a positive role model is if you have a dream, anything is possible."

Stairs has a year remaining on his contract with the Phillies and said the World Series championship still has not sunk in.

“I don’t think it really sinks in until the first day of spring training when you see all your buddies again and you get those rings,” he said. “It’s nice knowing you’re the World Series champions for 2008 and everyone is going out there to knock you off the throne.”

For more from Stairs in Maine, click here.

*

And just a random observation, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins turned 30 yesterday.