The Lewiston Maineiacs are going to be in the playoffs in fewer than two weeks.

You hadn't heard?

You're not alone.

Apparently, some of the players on the team haven't received the memo yet, either.

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but if the Maineiacs can't find a consistent effort, and find a way to score a few more goals than they have been, this playoff year is going to be much shorter than the last.

Much shorter.

"I saw some things (Friday night) that I hadn't seen them do all year," coach Ed Harding said after a 2-1 loss to St. John's.

All year?

This is the kind of play, the kind of behavior and the kind of play that teams generally work through in, oh, October and November.

That calendar, despite what the weather has you thinking, hit March more than a week ago.

Five months ago, a statement like that wouldn't be an issue. Right now, it most certainly is.

Also following Friday's game, I got a chance to speak to goaltender Jonathan Bernier.

He emerged from the locker room, and asked if I could wait a minute before I talked to him. He walked slowly to the rack of barbells, grabbed a pair and balanced them on the front of an exercise bike.

He strapped his feet into the bike's pedals, and started talking.

"We have to start right off from the bat, from the first faceoff," Bernier said. "We were a little bit sloppy until the second half of the second (period). In the playoffs, we have to start when the faceoff drops. That's what we have to do."

Sounds simple enough, right?

When the puck drops, play.

Bernier would know. He was part of a deceiving start to the season for the Los Angeles Kings, who sit at the bottom of the NHL's Western Conference standings.

But, with Bernier in net, the Kings won the season-opener in London back in October, 4-1. In that game, he made 26 saves and was the second star.

In the post-game press conference, the Ducks, to a man, said that they didn't play a full 60 minutes, that they started slowly.

On this night, Bernier was on the winning end of a game in which one of the teams didn't show up. He's seen, at the highest level, what an underdog team, an inferior team, can do to a favorite that doesn't show up.

And I am willing to bet he's said that in the locker room once or twice since returning to the Maineiacs.

He doesn't officially wear a letter on his chest. Goalies rarely do.

But he does sport a pretty nice President's Cup ring on his finger, as do several of this year's Maineiacs. In part, they have Bernier to thank. He was spectacular in the playoffs, going 16-1 with a 2.34 GAA and a .919 save percentage.

News flash for anyone who hasn't noticed: Bernier's numbers in his most recent six games blow those away. Despite having two losses in his last six games, he has a GAA of 1.65 and a save percentage of .942. In no game during this stretch has he allowed more than two goals, and in no game has his save percentage been below .917.

That's sick.

Bernier is more than ready for the playoffs. It appears as though, if the team in front of him can reach the three-goal mark each game, it will win.

The onus is now on the rest of the team.

They've proven this season an ability to run with the big boys.

Lewiston has taken at least one point from 16 of the other 17 teams in this league, and has proven it can win both at home and on the road against the teams currently at the top of their respective divisions.

They can, but do they want to?

Only the 23 players currently sitting in that locker room can make that choice.