The QMJHL has twice attempted to expand into the United States. The first time was during the 1984-85 campaign. The Plattsburgh Pioneers lasted just 17 games, registering a pitiful record of 0-16-0-1 W-L-T-OTL while fielding a roster consisting entirely of American players and that was not created via an expansion draft. The team was a catastrophic failure in a way that can only be summarized in very succinct paragraphs in the QMJHL’s archives. The next attempt came about in 2003, and would be much more successful… well, sort of. This is the fascinating story of the second, much more accomplished but not sustainable incarnation of the QMJHL being present in the United States of America. This story takes place in the city sometimes known as “Little Canada” – Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine.

The franchise that would come to be known as the Lewiston Maineiacs (stylized as MAINEiacs) was originally located in Trois-Rivières, Québec and was known as the Ducs initially, then subsequently the Draveurs before relocating to Sherbrooke. In their 11 years there, the club went by the Faucons and the Castors (which additionally was the name of an earlier club which has since relocated twice, first to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu where they would retain the Castors name initially before becoming the Saint-Jean Lynx, then Rimouski in 1995 where they remain today as the Océanic, a club most famous for producing Sidney Crosby) before moving to Maine. The Maineiacs spent their first season in the Vacation State under the guidance of head coach Mario Durocher. He guided the club to a record of 33-31-5-1, good for third place in the Eastern Division behind Rimouski and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and a playoff spot. Lewiston had a goal differential of +18, with 233 goals for vs. 218 goals against. The Maineiacs pushed the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to seven games in round one, but ultimately fell. LW Alexandre Picard was a standout in the inaugural season, registering a combined 91 points in 76 regular season + playoff games and winning the Mike Bossy Trophy as the QMJHL’s best NHL draft eligible prospect (he would be picked eighth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets that summer, though he would bust in the NHL, registering just two points in 67 career NHL games) and the right wing spot on the Q’s first All-Star Team. D Jonathan Paiement was also named to the First All-Star Team on the back of his 62 points in 65 games campaign and would be drafted by the New York Rangers as an eighth round selection as an overager (though he would only progress to the AHL). The first season provided plenty to be happy with, but change would be on the horizon.

Over the summer, the Maineiacs would undergo a head coaching change that saw Clément Jodoin take the reins. Jodoin was something of a heavyweight, having already won the Ron Lapointe Trophy as the QMJHL’s Coach of the Year in 1997 when leading the Halifax Mooseheads (he was their first ever head coach and saw increasing returns each of his three years, guiding them to Division Finals in his final season and improving the culture of their club and consequently their recruiting prowess, manifested in drafting eventual Colorado Avalanche star Alex Tanguay for just one example), as well as having experience on the coaching staffs of both the Quebec Nordiques and the Montreal Canadiens. Jodoin initially led the Maineiacs to back-to-back fourth place finishes in the Eastern Division. In the former of the two campaigns, Picard had another stellar season, registering 85 points in 65 games in the regular season and 7 points in 8 playoff appearances. However, perhaps the best individual narrative was RW Alex Bourret taking a step forward after an impressive D-1 (63 points in 65 games), registering 86 points in 65 games as well as going on an impressive postseason run featuring 14 points in 8 playoff game. Bourret would earn a second All-Star Team nod this season and be picked at 16th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers (though he would never suit up in an NHL game, never playing higher than the AHL). The Maineiacs swept the Shawnigan Cataractes out of round one but would be subsequently swept in round one by Rimouski, who were seemingly a team of destiny that year led by Sidney Crosby en route to the President’s Cup and a berth in the Memorial Cup final (where they’d be defeated by the only opponent too great for them, the Team of the Century in the London Knights powered by Corey Perry, Marc Methot, and Dave Bolland amongst many others, 4-0). In 2005-06, Lewiston would be sans the services of both Picard, who departed for the pros, and Bourret, who requested and received a trade to Shawnigan in exchange for LW Stefano Giliati. Nevertheless, we saw a better incarnation of the Maineiacs, who bettered their two previous marks of 72 standings points by 11 and improved their goal differential from +15 to a +33. A highlight would come in the form of Jodoin winning the Paul Dumont Trophy as Personality of the Year. The Maineiacs would be defeated, however, by the Halifax Mooseheads in round one in six games. This sparked something of a rivalry and a season to remember the coming year.

The Sun Journal’s YouTube channel provided us with a ten year retrospective on the 2006–07 Lewiston Maineiacs that featured a discussion between its sports editor, Justin Pelletier, and former Maineiacs radio play-by-play announcer Jeff Mannix that will serve as a primary source for this section. You can listen to it here for even more detail.

To describe the 2006–07 Lewiston Maineiacs as “a ragtag group” may not be unfair. As noted by Pelletier and Mannix, only ten of the 24 players that suited up for the team was either 19 or 20 (seven 19 year olds and three twenty year olds). This entailed that more than half of the roster was 16-, 17-, and 18-year olds, and the youth was particularly prominent on the blue line. The defensive core in particular was extremely young outside of the top pairing. The team was led in points by a constantly overlooked forward in David Perron (83 points in 70 games), who was in his D+1 and spent his DY in AAAs. He was terrific there but, per the retrospective, had been passed over twice in the QMJHL draft and was eventually a sixth round pick (he impressed enough in his sole season in the QMJHL to be selected in round one at 26th overall as an overager by the St. Louis Blues and we know what sort of career the one-time All-Star and Stanley Cup champion has had since then). Additionally, while Jonathan Bernier (yes, that one) would be a prominent part of the narrative and be selected to the second All-Star Team, there would still be a lot resting on Peter Delmas’ shoulders as the then-16-year-old would have to make a number of appearances (to which he rose to the challenge quite well and would be recognized as a member of the All-Rookie Team). As Pelletier and Mannix point out, the beginning portion of every season for the Maineiacs was grueling as they would have to play on the road due to visa issues. The team looked very strong out the gate, but would take some lumps subsequently. However, they went on the sort of win streak that would make a believer out of anyone. Lewiston ultimately would ride that streak into a Jean Rougeau Trophy win as regular season champions with 106 points. The postseason had some tests in the matchups at times, but the Maineiacs would make short work of all of their opponents. They swept Shawnigan in round one, exacted revenge against Halifax in round two, swept Rouyn-Noranda in the league semifinals, and finally swept the Val d’Or Foreurs to win the Preident’s Cup, seemingly against absurd odds. The Lewiston Maineiacs were the champions of the QMJHL and were headed to Vancouver for the Memorial Cup.

The opening matchup of the Maineiacs’ run in Vancouver saw them face WHL champions the Medicine Hat Tigers (featuring a roster including the likes of Darren Helm, Derek Dorsett, and Tyler Ennis and of course coached brilliantly by Willie Desjardins). Lewiston won 3-1, but lost team captain and key defenseman Marc-Andre Cliché (best known for his two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche to injury). This would be both the high watermark and the backbreaker. They would subsequently lose 2-1 to the host club Vancouver Giants (coached by Don Hay and including the likes of Milan Lucic, Evander Kane, and Michal Repik) in the next round robin game and would be felled 2-1 again, this time in overtime to the OHL champion Plymouth Whalers (the club now known as the Flint Firebirds/whose roster at the time included James Neal, Jared Boll, Tom Sestito, and Michal Neuvirth). Pelletier and Mannix recall this matchup including a goal which should not have been called back having been reversed. One has to wonder what might have been, considering the outcome in the first game against a team that had just defeated eventual champs Vancouver in the WHL championship and would go to the finals. Nevertheless, Lewiston would require a tiebreaker to qualify for the knockout round, but they would lose said tiebreaker game to Plymouth, 5-1. This season, however, was an incredible success for Maine and New England’s sole ever representatives in the CHL.

Jodoin would depart for a job on Rimouski’s staff the ensuing summer. He would be replaced by assistant coach Ed Harding, with Harding also being appointed GM. Harding’s first (and only full) season at the helm saw him guide the team to a record of 36-26-0-5 W-L-OTL-SL and finish 5th in the Eastern Division. Gilitati and D Kevin Marshall (PHI, 41st overall, 2007 NHL Entry Draft) would both be Second Team All-Stars but the club made no impression on the postseason, losing to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in six games in the opening round. The following year, Harding was fired amidst a dismal year which saw Lewiston holding a record of 14-32-0-0 after the season’s halfway point. Replacement Don MacAdam was able to salvage the season just enough to get the club into the playoffs but they would be swept out of the opening round by the Drummondville Voltigeurs. The story would be much the same in 2009-10, with MacAdam being relived of duty in December (alongside assistant coach Jamie Dumont) amidst a 14-game losing streak. Jeff Guay would initially be given the head coaching job on an interim basis before being moved to assistant to permanent replacement Jean-François Houle (son of infamous Montreal Canadiens GM Réjean Houle and most known for his longstanding relationship with his alma mater Clarkson University). Houle would guide the Maineiacs to a last place finish in the Central Division in a season that yet again would conclude with a first round sweep to Drummondville.

The next season would be much better for Lewiston on the ice. With the divisions realigned yet again, the team was placed in the Division Telus East. They finished second behind the Québec Remparts with 84 points and had a terrific season from LW Étienne Brodeur, who registered 83 points in 68 games to finish ninth in the league in scoring. The club would subsequently defeat the Moncton Wildcats 4-1 in the round of 16 and bump off the Montreal Junior Hockey Club in six games in the league quarters before falling to the eventual QMJHL and Memorial Cup champions Saint John Sea Dogs (who had won the Jean Rougeau Trophy with a record 58 wins and were headlined most notably by a 105 point season by that year’s eventual third overall pick Jonathan Huberdeau). Certainly a season to be proud of and the team was anticipated to remain competitive in 2011-12, but the picture was gloomy in off-ice matters. The club was never profitable and had already submitted a notice to leave Maine in early 2009. A relocation never came to fruition, however, despite multiple options being looked at. In summer of 2011, events would see to it that the Lewiston Maineiacs were no more. The club would ultimately be purchased by the QMJHL, had its roster taken apart via a dispersal draft, and was effectively replaced by a new club in Sherbrooke, the same market that they left, known as the Phoenix that began play in 2012–13.

While this story of triumph on the ice (including never missing the playoffs and going on several very memorable runs) complemented by nightmares off of it and its ending are quite sad, it did not mark the ending of high-level hockey in Lewiston. The AHL’s Portland Pirates played one season in the Colisée in 2013–14, but that is not all. Today, the legacy of the Maineiacs can be felt most directly by the Maine Nordiques, a club in the NAHL (appropriately enough, the club is named after a team in the low-level pro version of the NAHL that existed in the 1970’s). The Nordiques and their partner team in the NA3HL of the same name (who were formerly known as the Lewiston/Auburn Nordiques and were dormant for four years before recently returning) call the Colisée home. Within this community, memories of the Maineiacs and their accomplishments, particularly their championship run (which may be nearly as memorable of a moment in Maine’s hockey history as the national championships won by the Maine Black Bears in the 1990’s), still resonate. Hopefully, sharing these stories can help those memories last just a bit longer.