NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



QMJHL Weekend Preview

March 2, 2011 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


Lewiston, ME (QMJHL) - There is an ancient saying about the month of March, telling about how the month comes in and goes out, using both a lion and a lamb to describe it. For the Lewiston MAINEiacs, their hope is that the entire month takes the personality of the lion, as they look to attack the prey that is the QMJHL. The MAINEiacs will play their final seven regular season games to start the month, before the first round of the playoffs begins at the tail end.

The first weekend of March starts with three games in three nights against two opponents that Lewiston hasn't seen in quite some time. On Thursday night, the MAINEiacs will make a visit to Halifax, where they will face the Mooseheads. Lewiston and Halifax have met once this season, with the MAINEiacs blasting the Mooseheads 9-3 on January 13th at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. In that contest, Etienne Brodeur netted his first of three hat tricks on the season, while Michael Chaput registered the tenth five-point game in franchise history. Halifax currently has a 19-39-1-2 record (41 points), which is good for fifth place in the Maritimes Division, as well as 15th place overall.

After that game, the MAINEiacs will cross over the Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island, where they will meet up with the Rocket on Friday and Saturday. Lewiston and PEI last met up on December 15th, when the MAINEiacs won a 6-5 seesaw affair. Lewiston led 2-0 and 4-2 in the game only to see the Rocket take a 5-4 lead after two periods of play. However, the MAINEiacs made sure to capture the two points with a pair of tallies in the third. Cole Hawes led the way offensively with two goals, while Andrey Makarov won his second game since returning from injury at the end of November. PEI's record currently stands at 27-24-2-6 (62 points), which is good for fourth place in the Maritimes Division, as well as 12th place overall.

The MAINEiacs enter the weekend with a record of 36-22-1-2 (75 points), which remains good for second place in the Telus East Divsion, as well as eighth place overall. Lewiston currently leads Victoriaville by five points for home ice advantage in round one, while trailing Acadie-Bathurst by seven points, Gatineau by five points, and Shawinigan by three points for fifth, sixth, and seventh place respectively.

Who's Hot for the MAINEiacs

44-D-Olivier Dame-Malka (has at least 1 point in 14 of his last 17 games)

23-F-Etienne Brodeur (has at least 1 point in 13 of his last 18 games)

55-D-Sam Carrier (has at least 1 point in 9 of his last 12 games)

26-F-Michael Chaput (has at least 1 point in 6 of his last 10 games)

73-F-Matt Bissonnette (has at least 1 point in 4 of his last 5 games)

Learning the Opposition (Thursday)

Halifax Mooseheads

Established in 1994

0 President's Cups

Notable Alumni: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Milan Jurcina, Pascal Leclaire, Ladislav Nagy, Jakub Voracek

NHL Draft Picks

Konrad Abeltshauser (San Jose)

Sawyer Hannay (Vancouver)

Who to Watch for

19-F-Carl Gelinas (26 goals, 25 assists, 51 points in 61 games)

91-F-Martin Frk (16 goals, 28 assists, 44 points in 55 games)

17-F-Darcy Ashley (18 goals, 19 assists, 37 points in 56 games)

26-F-Charles Bety (21 goals, 12 assists, 33 points in 59 games)

79-F-Brent Andrews (12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points in 61 games)

10-D-Konrad Abeltshauser (7 goals, 18 assists, 25 points in 53 games)

31-G-Frederic Piche (16-9-3 record, 2.71 GAA, .904 Sv%, 3 shutouts in 34 games)

Learning the Opposition (Friday & Saturday)

PEI Rocket

Established in 2003

0 President's Cups

Notable Alumni: Jimmy Bonneau, Marc-Andre Gragnani, David Laliberte, Maxim Lapierre, Vyacheslav Trukhno

NHL Draft Picks

Samuel Morneau (Carolina)

Andrej Nestrasil (Detroit)

Philippe Paradis (Chicago - traded from Toronto, Carolina)

Adam Polasek (Vancouver)

Who to Watch for

16-F-Ben Duffy (31 goals, 35 assists, 66 points in 59 games)

11-F-Andrej Nestrasil (15 goals, 40 assists, 55 points in 49 games)

17-F-Philippe Paradis (23 goals, 26 assists, 49 points in 53 games)

14-F-Samuel Morneau (25 goals, 17 assists, 42 points in 58 games)

8-D-Matthew Hobbs (12 goals, 22 assists, 34 points in 56 games)

3-D-Adam Polasek (5 goals, 26 assists, 31 points in 52 games)

1-G-Evan Mosher (19-20-8 record, 2.77 GAA, .918 Sv%, 1 shutout in 48 games)

Special Teams

Lewiston Power Play: 46-for-263 (17.5%), 13th

Halifax Power Play: 43-for-254 (16.9%), 14th

PEI Power Play: 44-for-232 (19.0%), 12th

Lewiston Penalty Kill: 261-for-323 (80.8%), 6th

Halifax Penalty Kill: 200-for-262 (76.3%), 16th

PEI Penalty Kill: 190-for-232 (81.9%), 4th

Season Series

Lewiston 1, Halifax 0

Lewiston 1, PEI 0

All-Time Series

Lewiston 17, Halifax 15, 1 tie

Lewiston 20, PEI 11, 1 tie

All-Time Series on the Road

Lewiston 8, Halifax 7, 1 tie

Lewiston 9, PEI 7

This Weekend in the Telus East Division

Following Tuesday night's win at Rouyn-Noranda, the Quebec Remparts will remain in the western portion of the league for one more day, as they will visit the Val-d'Or Foreurs on Wednesday. After that, the Remparts will be off until Sunday, when they play their third road game of the week, taking on the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

The Victoriaville Tigres will also be on the road for three games this week, beginning on Wednesday night, when they travel to Gatineau for a meeting with the Olympiques. Over the weekend, the Tigres will head up to Baie-Comeau for a two-game weekend series against the Drakkar.

The Chicoutimi Sagueneens are currently the hottest team in the Telus East Division, as they are unbeaten in regulation in seven straight games (6-0-1). The Sagueneens will get their weekend started on Friday night in Rimouski, before moving on to Shawinigan on Sunday afternoon.

The Rimouski Oceanic will only be in action once this week, as they will play host to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Friday night. Rimouski currently trails Chicoutimi by six points for fourth place in the Telus East Division, while PEI is three points ahead of the Oceanic for 12th place in the overall standings.

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar will be playing for their playoff lives this weekend, when they welcome the Victoriaville Tigres to town for a pair of divisional games. If Baie-Comeau gets swept with two regulation losses, they will be officially eliminated, giving Halifax and Cape Breton the final two playoff spots in the QMJHL.

Elsewhere in the QMJHL

Prior to Sunday's game against Chicoutimi, the Shawinigan Cataractes will have a big home-and-home series on the docket, as they will battle the Drummondville Voltigeurs. The series begins at Centre Marcel Dionne in Drummondville on Wednesday, before finishing up at Centre Bionest in Shawinigan on Friday. The Cataractes currently lead the MAINEiacs by two points in the overall standings.

Following their home game on Wednesday against Victoriaville, the Gatineau Olympiques will embark on a brief two-game road trip to the western portion of their division. The Olympiques will visit the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Friday, before meeting up with the Val-d'Or Foreurs on Saturday.

The Montreal Junior will also be headed that way, following one day behind Gatineau. Montreal will be opposed by Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday, before they hop over to Val-d'Or on Sunday.

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan will play a couple of divisional games on home ice this weekend. On Friday, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles will visit the KC Irving Regional Centre, before the Moncton Wildcats make their appearance on Saturday. Moncton and Cape Breton will end up swapping locations during the weekend, as the Wildcats will visit the Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday, before the Screaming Eagles travel to Harbour Station on Saturday.

One other game takes place in the QMJHL this week, as Cape Breton visits PEI on Wednesday night.

• Discuss this story on the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League message board...

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Lewiston MAINEiacs Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central