Hockey, how we’ve missed thee.
For fans not satisfied by the one major hockey event in Lewiston/Auburn in the past two weeks (that being, of course, the Lewiston/St. Dom’s quintuple-header, Thursday will allow area folks to ring in the new year, puck-style.
And, while they’re at it, they can help out worthy charities in the area.
The Lewiston Maineiacs begin the stretch run of an already-amazing turnaround season this week, playing their first home game since Dec. 15, a 6-5 come-from-behind win over PEI.
The team kicked off its unofficial second half of the season Tuesday with a 7-1 thrashing of the Victoriaville Tigres on the road, despite missing five regular players and a backup goalie, either to injuries, tournaments or weather delays.
Christophe Lalonde and Dillon Fournier are playing hockey for Team Quebec in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, Kirill Kabanov and Andrey Makarov are stuck in London, trying to get back to the US through travel delays, and Zachary Evans-Renaud and Cole Hawes are both out for a long time with injuries.
The shortage of players — particularly on defense — didn’t appear to faze the Maineiacs. Six different players scored in the road victory.
With 40 games already in the books, the Maineiacs have just 28 remaining before playoffs begin. They are currently in a tie for fifth overall in the QMJHL with 52 points, though Gatineau, with which the team is tied, has one less game played.
Coach J.F. Houle, after the team’s morning skate Thursday, was quick to point out that an easy-looking win Tuesday may not necessarily translate to the same tonight.
“That’s the thing that’s tough to do in our job,” Houle said. “You have to keep the kids focused and on the task at hand. Whatever happened in the past, it’s over. It’s a new game, and they’re mad that they got embarrassed at home and they’re going to come out a lot stronger and they’re going to want to beat us.”
The Maineiacs did make a move at the opening of the mid-season trade period (which runs through next Friday) to help alleviate some of the problems caused by the missing players, acquiring Bryce Milson from Acadie-Bathurst for a second-round draft pick in 2012. In his first game with the club, Milson notched an assist, was a plus-1 and made a few good defensive plays. He is the sixth 1993-born player to play for the team this season (Francis Beauvillier, Sam Henley, Cole Hawes, Jonah Coonishish-Coon and Makarov are the others).
“He came in, the guys were great with him right away, he fit right in,” Houle said. “Everything was great. And where we have a lot of guys not here, it’s easy to put him in the lineup right now. In a couple weeks, if you ask me how it’s going with all of the forwards, I might have a different answer. But that’s part of our job, too. We have a lot of depth.”
One very good sign for the Maineiacs coming out of the break Tuesday was the play of a pair of particular forwards. Pierre-Olivier Morin, last year’s leading scorer, netted three points, including the game’s first goal, and Etienne Brodeur notched his 30th goal of the season. He continues to lead the league in that category.
“We have a lot of good players on this team, and it’s a different team from last year,” Houle said. “I know (Morin) led the team in scoring last year, but he does a lot behind the scenes that people don’t see. He’s very good defensively, he wins a lot of battles for the puck. He’s one of our assistants, he’s a leader, he’s well-liked in the locker room. When he gets points, it’s even better.”
As for Brodeur, Houle said that while he’s glad the break didn’t slow his new-found sniper down, he didn’t expect that it would.
“He’s not going to stop scoring right now,” Houle said. “The way he goes after the puck, they way he plays, he knows where to be and pucks come to him a lot. I hope he keeps scoring like this.”
The Maineiacs and Tigres face off tonight at 7 p.m., kicking off a five-game home stand for the Maineiacs. They’ll also play three games next week — once each on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.
Tonight is also teddy-toss night for the team. Fans are asked to bring a stuffed animal (or two, or three) and, when the Maineiacs score their first goal of the night, throw those animals onto the ice. The toys will be collected and donated to various area non-profits.
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