MAINEiacs Mid-Season Review

December 23, 2010 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


We have reached the first significant break in the schedule, so now is the perfect time to take a look back at the unofficial first half of the 2010-11 regular season.

The excitement for this season began at the QMJHL Entry Draft in Drummondville. The MAINEiacs traded up, gaining the first overall pick, which they used to select 16-year old defenseman Dillon Fournier. Lots of 16-year olds find themselves fighting just to stay in the lineup, but Fournier has already established himself, typically playing on the team's second defensive pairing. Another early selection that has found his way onto the team is Christophe Lalonde. Lalonde was taken 21st overall, and has been a constant source of energy in his rookie campaign. Fellow rookies Cole Hawes and Alex Zafiris didn't appear in the MAINEiacs' colors until September, but both have been valuable pieces to the puzzle, as Hawes has six goals, while Zafiris has eight assists. Meanwhile, goaltender Andrey Makarov has started to find his stride, winning three of his last four decisions.

The other big news from the draft came in the way of trades. Lewiston swung deals to acquire three 20-year olds - Nicholas Champion, Olivier Dame-Malka, and Antoine Houde-Caron. All three players have made significant impacts on the club. Champion has 19 wins, a 2.86 GAA, an .896 Sv%, and has been everything the MAINEiacs were looking for when they brought him in. Dame-Malka is tied for the team lead in defensive points with 24, while lighting the lamp a career-high ten times. If he keeps up his current pace, Olivier could become the first blueliner to reach the 20-goal plateau in franchise history. Houde-Caron has 25 points in 37 games on the offensive side of things, but the bigger story has been his play in the defensive zone. Antoine is one of the major players (along with Sam Henley, Sam Finn, and others), who have helped the MAINEiacs to the third best penalty kill in the league.

When the season began, most people looked at the MAINEiacs to hopefully finish in the top-8 overall, thus having home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Lewiston got off to a bit of a slow start, going 2-3-0-2 in September, before a 3-2-0-0 start in October. October 13th was the last time the MAINEiacs saw a .500 record, as they proceeded to win 16 of their next 19 games through the end of November, including a stretch of ten straight victories from October 23rd through November 20th. When all was said and done last Saturday in Shawinigan, Lewiston entered the break with a 24-13-0-2 record, good for 50 points, second place in the Telus East Division, and a tie for fifth place overall. The 24 wins and 50 points have already beaten the team's totals from all of last season.

Speaking of surpassing last season, a lot of players are on pace to set career highs in various offensive categories, if they haven't already. Etienne Brodeur has seen the biggest turnaround, scoring 29 goals and 48 points in 39 games. Prior to this season, Brodeur had 28 goals in 130 career games. Including Brodeur, six players have already set career highs in goals, eight players have set career high in points, and at least seven other players could easily set career highs in points.

The motto for this season is "Proud Past, Bright Future," and this team is going a long way into making that a reality this season. The 24-win first half is now a past that the organization should certainly be proud of, while there are really no limitations on just how bright the future could be. As the great Bill Nye the Science Guy (a childhood favorite on PBS) said, "Consider the following,"

- Lewiston has already beaten 15 different opponents this season (and they haven't even faced Halifax yet), meaning they can compete with and beat any team on any given night.

- The difficult road trips are done for the most part, as the MAINEiacs have finished the long journeys to Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or, and Cape Breton, while only having one trip left to Baie-Comeau.

- In terms of the toughest teams in the league, Lewiston has just four games left against first place clubs, with three of those games taking place at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. The team's average age is just barely over 18 years old (18.09), meaning that most, if not all of the players will only get better from here.

- Finally, there are the somewhat mindboggling statistics. The MAINEiacs have the 13th ranked power play in the league, while being shorthanded a league-leading 205 times. If those two numbers turn around, YIKES!

With 29 games left on the schedule, 40-45 wins and 85-90 points could be realistic totals, which would give the 2010-11 version of the MAINEiacs the second best regular season in franchise history!

The excitement continues with a home-and-home series with Victoriaville on December 28th and 30th, and I can't wait to see just how far this team can go!



Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from December 23, 2010


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