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Road Report Part 1 from PEI

March 4, 2011 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Lewiston MAINEiacs News Release


Greetings from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where the MAINEiacs will play the second game of their three-game road trip tonight against the PEI Rocket.

Last night, Lewiston picked up a 3-1 win over Halifax, which will hopefully serve as the boost they needed to start putting the wins together in these final few weeks of the season. As much as I enjoy seeing the team play at home, I honestly believe this stretch of five out of seven games on the road could be beneficial as the team looks toward the playoffs. Some of you might think that I am crazy, but if you think back to the beginning of this season, there were a few long road stretches there that led to positive results. The MAINEiacs picked up five out of eight points in a week long trip to Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or, before a stretch of six out of seven games on the road in late October led to a 5-1 record. The end of that stretch was the beginning of Lewiston's ten-game winning streak. Success on the ice, and added chemistry by bonding more off of the ice could lead to a pretty fun postseason.

Along with the victory, all in all, last night was a lot of fun. On the ice, two highlights stuck out, as Nicholas Champion was spectacular between the pipes, while Etienne Brodeur's franchise record 48th goal of the season (in 62 games) was certainly great to see. Now, we'll look forward to when Brodeur reaches 50 (no pressure, Brody!). Thanks to last night's victory, Champion is on the verge of tying a franchise record as well, as his next win will be his 27th of the season, which will tie him with Jonathan Bernier for the most wins in a single season.

Off of the ice, Lewy's Legion was awesome! The group of fans that traveled up from Lewiston all grabbed a section in the seating area, and they definitely made themselves noticeable. They were loud and proud, and from what I've read, fans listening at home could even hear them on last night's broadcast. Ladies and gentlemen, that is what you call passion! One of the things I found particularly nice last night was the Mooseheads' camera staff, who made sure to get the MAINEiacs' fans on the big screen in center ice. Some teams don't like to show fans from the opposing club, but hats off to Halifax for recognizing loyalty when they see it!

Adding to the Lewy's Legion, there were lots of other MAINEiacs' fans in the house, as Ian Saab, Cole Hawes, Alex Zafiris, and Brian Morrison all had friends and family members in attendance. In fact, I found out after the game that Brian's sister sung the "Star Spangled Banner" last night, and did a marvelous job. I apologize for not getting that on the broadcast last night - I'm not usually tuned into the public address announcer at that point!

Speaking of B-Mo (that's Brian), he did a terrific job with dinner last night on the bus, as we enjoyed a Chicken Alfredo dish with tomatoes, as well as a Caesar Salad from a place called Freeman's. Typically, Matt Flaherty handles the meals on the road (which he is very good at), but since Brian is from Halifax, we put his expertise to the test. Darren Rumble was a huge fan of the salad, while I enjoyed the pasta. It's interesting, as I am not usually a fan of whole cooked tomatoes in my pasta. However, since the tomatoes still had that fresh out of the garden crunch, I was hooked.

Moving ahead to today, there was no morning skate, allowing for a little bit of extra sleep before a 10:15 breakfast. I started the day with my standard road favorite - Froot Loops. However, today's highlight in terms of food and drink came later on, when we were given some free time to check out Charlottetown's mall, as well as some of the surrounding areas. Being a PEI native, Tim Schurman took us to a famous coffee shop called "Timothy's." Thanks to that stop, Second Cup in Montreal now has a close rival. My drink of choice today was a Chocolate Mint Hot Chocolate, and all I can say is "wow!" I am a big fan of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream to begin with (I believe there is an open container of it right now in my freezer at home), and this hot chocolate literally made me feel like I was sipping up the remains of my melted ice cream on a hot summer day. Fantastic!

Prior to our walk around the mall, we had a tour set up at Province House. For those that don't know, Province House served as the birthplace of Confederation, and has served as the seat of Prince Edward Island's provincial legislature since 1847. This morning, we were fortunate enough to be toured around Province House by Kathleen Casey, who currently serves as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. As you can see in the picture, Cameron Critchlow presented Kathleen with a team autographed stick (during the tour, we found out that Kathleen is quite a hockey player herself), before the picture was snapped. If you're wondering how the picture came to be, we took at least one team member from each province and country - New Brunswick (Shannon), Newfoundland (Champion), Nova Scotia (Saab), PEI (Critchlow), Quebec (Henley), Russia (Kabanov & Makarov), and the United States (Flaherty).

One of the things that I have enjoyed the most about this job (aside from the obvious - broadcasting hockey games) is the fact that I've had the opportunity to see some pretty unique places that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten the chance to visit. In fact, I am already looking ahead and starting to plan some stops for next season (the Biodome in Montreal, Old Quebec and Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, and the Citadel in Halifax are few off the top of my head).

For those of you tuning in from Lewiston (Eastern Time), tonight's pregame show gets started at 5:40, before the puck drops at 6:00 between the MAINEiacs and Rocket. Zach Evans-Renaud joined us earlier this morning, so I'm looking to get him on the broadcast at some point tonight, and I'm also hoping to track down University of PEI student and former MAINEiac Matt Boyle for a chat.

THE RACE FOR THE PLAYOFFS

1 Saint John Sea Dogs 51-6-1-2, 105 PTS, 8 GR

16 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 17-39-1-4, 39 PTS, 6 GR

2 Montreal Junior 43-10-4-4, 94 PTS, 7 GR

15 Halifax Mooseheads 19-39-1-2, 41 PTS, 6 GR

3 Quebec Remparts 43-15-1-3, 90 PTS, 6 GR

14 Val-d'Or Foreurs 22-31-4-3, 51 PTS, 7 GR

4 Drummondville Voltigeurs 41-14-5-2, 89 PTS, 6 GR

13 Rimouski Oceanic 28-30-1-2, 59 PTS, 7 GR

5 Acadie-Bathurst Titan 40-20-1-1, 82 PTS, 6 GR

12 PEI Rocket 28-24-2-6, 64 PTS, 8 GR

6 Gatineau Olympiques 37-17-3-5, 82 PTS, 6 GR

11 Chicoutimi Sagueneens 27-23-5-6, 65 PTS, 7 GR

7 LEWISTON MAINEIACS 37-22-1-2, 77 PTS, 6 GR

10 Moncton Wildcats 30-22-2-7, 69 PTS, 7 GR

8 Shawinigan Cataractes 37-21-2-1, 77 PTS, 7 GR

9 Victoriaville Tigres 33-24-1-3, 70 PTS, 6 GR

The teams are lined up based on first round series if the playoffs were to begin today.

RALLY FOR THE PLAYOFFS!

On Wednesday March 23rd, the Lewiston MAINEiacs will be hosting a pep rally at the Ramada in Lewiston to lead the team into the playoffs! In addition to the rally, the 2010-11 team awards will be presented at the event, and all of the players will be available for autographs, pictures, and more.

Stay tuned for the full details for the pep rally, which will be released at some point in the next two weeks.

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from March 4, 2011


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