Road Report from Verdun

Published on December 17, 2010 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


Good morning from the Auditorium de Verdun, where the Lewiston MAINEiacs have taken the ice in preparation for tonight's game against the Montreal Junior.

One of my first impressions when entering the doors of this arena was that this place has been around for a long time. After looking it up online, I was correct, as the building was first erected in 1939. The ground level portion of the arena (locker room area) has sort of an Old England kind of feel, as the hallways have rounded entryways, almost like the ones you would see in a castle. Once you get inside of the locker rooms, they are pretty standard, with the exception of one thing - old school metal radiators.

The age of the arena continues once you get into the rink, as you are greeted by wooden seats. The seats are very unique from what I've seen, as they are separated into pairs. For example, seats one and two are sitting directly next to each other, before an armrest separates them from seats three and four. In that case, hopefully you like the person sitting next to you, or it could be a long night! There is one level of seating on three of the four sides, with a second level on the end behind one of the nets. There isn't a single seat along the glass, which is mindboggling, especially if you consider the fact that the most expensive seats here are $51 a pop. The scoreboard also has an old feel to it, although there are five video projection screens scattered throughout. The benches are directly across from each other at the blueline, meaning Lewiston will have a longer line change for two of the three periods.

Now that we've covered the hockey, let's move on to the fun stuff. Yesterday's bus ride was rather comical. We had more passengers than usual, as Tim Schurman, Rob Mainville, Kevin Shrader, and Eugene Kavanagh tagged along for the ride. The trip started with Secret Santas. At the beginning of the week, each player and staff member picked names out of a hat, determining who they were to purchase gifts for. JF Houle, Darren Rumble and Alex Zafiris received three of the more amusing gifts that I can remember. JF got a furry pink blanket, which he is currently using as a cover for his seat, making it almost look like a throne. Darren got a gift card to Tim Horton's, which he was obviously thrilled about. Alex got his very own Cameron Critchlow jersey t-shirt, which he wore for the remainder of the day. Other memorable gifts included Justin Bieber posters (Critchlow & Henley), as well as an alphabet book for Andrey Makarov.

After Santa Critch took care of the presents, Stefan Fournier took over to be the host of Rookie Idol. In Rookie Idol, all of the rookies have to stand up in the aisle and sing a song. The good news is that the rookie has his choice of song, and the rookie can also have an I-Pod or laptop in their ear, that way they aren't forced to sing the song from memory. This year's contestants were: Dillon Fournier, Cole Hawes, Christophe Lalonde, Andrey Makarov, Alex Zafiris, Kevin Shrader, and me. From what I can remember, Makarov teamed up with Kirill Kabanov, and the two sang something in Russian. Zafiris had a fun tune, but I can't remember the title. Fournier picked a song with some high notes, which he hit beautifully. Shrader wasn't having much luck finding music, so he went with the standard "Jingle Bells." As for me, I went with my old dependable - "Shipping up to Boston," by the Dropkick Murphy's. I have probably listened to that song a good 500 times. It's on almost every CD that I have burned, and it is my cell phone's ringtone. Needless to say, I was ready to rock, and at the end of the day, Stefan Fournier crowned me the champion, as the bus erupted into cheers. Definitely a cool moment!

The other fun part of the bus ride was when we got in to Montreal. Traffic around the hotel was out of this world, as it literally took us over 30 minutes just to go a few blocks. I have to give major props to our bus driver, Bryan "Wolfie" Wolf, as he did an incredible job dodging traffic. The roads were insanely tight, with cars parked on the side, and only two lanes for driving. There were a few times when JF had to get out and direct traffic, as there was really only one way for the traffic jam to be corrected with everyone being happy. This was because most of the drivers we encountered were clueless. That being said, I can't say I blame them, as I probably would have gone through a few pairs of pants if I was in their shoes. I can't tell you how impressed I am with Wolfie - from dodging traffic to dodging moose, as someone on the bus said last night, "He could maneuver that bus in a phone booth!"

When we got to Montreal, we were greeted by Mark Just, Bill Schurman, Roger Shannon, and Steve Finn. Mark, Roger, and Steve joined us for dinner, while Bill had his own fun dodging traffic. Every team member received a pair of sweat pants, as well as a long sleeve t-shirt. Long sleeve t-shirts are my thing in the winter, so I was definitely pleased!

Tonight, we get started with the pregame show at 6:45, as Montreal somehow feels the need to be the only team in the league that starts games at times that end in 5. The puck drops at 7:05.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2010


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