LEWISTON – The fact that the Lewiston Maineiacs have a solid group of defensemen isn’t much of a shock. Jonathan Paiement, Brandon Roach, Chad Denny, Sebastien Piche and even Mathieu Ricard have played well in recent games with the absence of regulars Michal Korenko and Kevin Marshall.
But after Friday’s game against Saint John, Sea Dogs coach Christian Larue took it a step further.
“With Paiement, Roach and Denny, that might be the best trio in all of the league,” Larue said.
Looking strictly at point totals, something usually reserved for a pack of forwards, Larue isn’t far off.
Roach is currently in the top 10 among defensemen in the QMJHL with 35 points, including 13 goals. Paiement has 11 goals and 28 points, while Denny has 12 goals and 27 points. All three are among the top 20 scoring defensemen in the league, and Lewiston is the only team in the league with three defensemen among the top 20.
“They could be if they’re moving the puck,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Ed Harding. “We’ve got to get Mr. Denny to think the game a little bit better, but that will come.”
Harding also said he doesn’t think the team’s defensive talent stops there.
“It doesn’t slack off, either, when you add Kevin Marshall, Michal Korenko, Sebastian Piche and then you get Alex Sousa back, we’re pretty happy back there.”
Power play roller coaster
Based on the Maineiacs’ two games prior to the Christmas break, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that both Halifax and Saint John asked for a cure for the Maineiacs’ power play for Christmas.
It worked, at least at first, and the Mooseheads and Sea Dogs combined to hold Lewiston to 2-for-24 efficiency with an extra skater on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the two games prior to the break, Lewiston went 10-for-23.
Friday, though, the Maineiacs started clicking and, if not for a stellar performance from Jason Churchill in the Saint John net, might have done damage similar to pre-break levels.
“Churchill did a good job, too, on our power play,” admitted Maineiacs assistant captain Mathieu Aubin. “We missed, I think, four goals on a 5-on-3, but I think when the power play is hot, we will be a tough team to beat because of our speed. We are young and fast, and the power play makes a big difference.”
Lewiston went 2-for-8 on the power play against Saint John, and the puck movement was more fluid and more effective.
One more week
One more week will pass before the end of the league’s trade window, and more and more it appears several teams will wait until the very end to make any more major moves.
A few minor deals were finalized last week, including a deal Saturday between Rimouski and Val d’Or. The Oceanic sent defenseman Erick Tremblay, winger Sebastien Lafferiere and their third-round pick in the 2006 draft to the Foreurs for their second- and fourth-rounder in 2006.
Friday, Halifax sent Matt Carroll (not the same skater who suited up in Maineiacs’ training camp) and a third-round pick in 2007 to Shawinigan for the rights to defenseman Benjamin Chiasson.
Also this week, Baie-Comeau sent power forward Nicolas Robillard to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for defenseman Pierre-Cedrick Labrie. The Huskies then flipped Robillard to the Quebec Remparts in exchange for a 2006 ninth-round pick.
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