Maine Hockey Journal

Opening Weekend in Lewiston

The Lewiston Maineiacs open up their home schedule on Friday night against the Shawinigan Cataractes at 7pm at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. They also face each other on Saturday night, also at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Lewiston comes home after they split last weekend with the win against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and a loss to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Shawinigan had no problem defeating the Val d’Or Foreurs last Saturday 8-2 but lost to the Montreal Junior 6-4 on Sunday.

Shawinigan Cataractes
2008-2009 Season: 1-1-0-0 (2nd in the Telus Central)
Goals For: 12 (2nd in the League)
Goals Against: 8 (12th in the League)
Powerplay Goals: 4 (Tied for 6th in the League)
Powerplay Percentage: 44.4% (2nd in the League)
Penalty Kill Percentage: 73.3% (12th in the League)
Powerplay Goals Allowed: 4 (Tied for 11th in the League)
Short Handed Goals For: 1 (Tied for 4th in the League)

On thing that the Cataracts have going for them is the fact that they only have two players in the NHL for training camp. Goaltender Timo Pielmeier and defenseman Simon Lacroix are the players that will miss the games (Edit, they will be missing seven players.). The offense seems to be in full force as they’re averaging six goals a game in this very young season. The offense is spread around throughout. Dave Labrecque has two goals and four assists to lead the team. Philippe Paradis has two goals and three assists.

Defensively, Gabriel Lemieux has two goals and four points. That’s second in the league. He also has a +3 which is fourth in the QMJHL. Simon Lacroix played last weekend where he recorded two assists and a +3. In net, Gabriel Girard held down the fort and was 1-1 with a 3.53 goals against average and a .891 save percentage.

Lewiston Maineiacs

2008-2009 Season: 1-1-0-0 (2nd in the Telus Central)
Goals For: 7 (8th in the League)
Goals Against: 11 (4th in the League)
Powerplay Goals: 5 (Tied for 2nd in the League)
Powerplay Percentage: 50% (1st in the League)
Penalty Kill Percentage: 64.3% (14th in the League)
Powerplay Goals Allowed: 5 (Tied for 17th in the League)
Short Handed Goals For: 1 (Last in the League)

The Maineiacs showed some offensive flashes last weekend but the flashes came from guys that aren’t known for their scoring ability. Marc Bourgeois and Lucas LaBelle each had two goals in the win over Baie-Comeau. At this point, the team will take goals from anybody. They will be without Danick Paquette who will be at Atlanta Thrashers camp. Maxime Gratchev will join fellow New York draft pick Simon Lacroix at their training camp this weekend.

Eric Gelinas has gotten a great start to the season. The defenseman had two assists against Baie-Comeau. He had Maineiacs only goal against the Sagueneens on Saturday. The second year player will be a contributor this season. Maineiacs get Patrick Cusack and Michael Ward back after spending the last week playing in prospect tournaments. That means someone will be in the press box to make room for them. Denis Reul will be in Boston to attend the Bruins training camp.

Who will be in net this weekend for Lewiston? Will the Maineiac faithful see Phillip Wright for the first time or will Jonathan Connelly continue to defend the pipes? I could see both guys getting a game. Wright hasn’t seen any playing time yet and he should get some time to stay fresh. Peter Delmas is attending his first training camp with the Colorado Avalanche right now.

Tune into 870 or 1470am ESPN Radio for the call and Telus has the game online.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply