LEWISTON – Round one is complete with few casualties to report.
After the first two days of training camp, the Maineiacs were anticipating cutting the team to around 40 players. Due to a few injuries and a few late arrivals, that meant cutting three players.
“We want to make sure we give everyone an opportunity to show us what they have,” said general manager Normand Gosselin. “We are not going to cut someone because they are injured.”
The first three players to go were goaltender Yann Aubin, forward Maxime Turcotte and forward Frederick Dion. Wednesday night, more players, between six and 10, will be cut to make a traveling roster of between 32 and 34 for the tournament the team will play over the weekend.
“We want to make sure we have enough to play this weekend without getting them all burned out,” said team owner Mark Just. “That makes for a light cut, but we want to be sure.”
Welcome back
It’s been a long couple of days for Richard Stehlik, the Maineiacs’ 6-foot-4, 241-pound defenseman from Slovakia.
“I was in Los Angeles, then I went home for a week,” said Stehlik on Wednesday night after arriving at the arena. “It’s been a long week and I am a little tired.”
Stehlik is regarded as one of the top returning defensemen in the entire league, and was drafted this year by the Nashville Predators in the NHL draft.
Another member of the team, left wing Alex Bourret (5-10, 211 pounds), is expected to arrive on Friday. Neither player is expected to be cut from the team.
Wednesday marked the first full day of participation for Vladislav Balaz of the Czech Republic. Balaz is still waiting for his lost equipment to reach Lewiston, but was able to skate with borrowed equipment for Tuesday night and all of Wednesday.
Fog-be-gone
Three or four times per period on Wednesday night, players had to clear the benches and skate a few laps around the Central Maine Civic Center ice to disperse the fog that had formed just above the surface. With only one-and-a-half compressors working and the temperature outside the building soaring into the 90s, the ice started to form condensation, creating a fog.
Civic Center officials expect to have the compressor in operation by this weekend, as soon as the needed parts arrive.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.