AUBURN – As part of a tour of all 16 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League cities, league commissioner Gilles Courteau arrived in L/A Tuesday to meet with team officials, front office staff, off-ice officials and players.

The Sun Journal had a chance to chat with the league commissioner, and the following are the questions and Courteau’s answers.

SJ: So far, what have your impressions been of the team in Lewiston and its impact on the league?

GC: The league has been very pleased with the situation from the beginning. From the start, we have been very happy with the way things were structured, and we think the team is a good fit for the area. It shouldn’t take long for more people here and even in the Portland area to know more about the team and the league as well.

SJ: So the goal, then, is to increase the league’s visibility around the state?

GC: The conversation with the administrative staff included talking about support in the media, both in Lewiston and in other communities like Portland. The idea is to establish a kind of plan to better communicate the team and the league to more people, and that includes introducing the game, the team and the league to Portland.

SJ: Looking at the goals of the league a few years back, the idea was to expand two teams into the United States. With the Maineiacs here, is there talk yet of a second franchise?

GC: The first priority is to establish the Maineiacs here. We have to make sure that Lewiston is solid base for the league before we look anywhere else.

SJ: There has been a lot of talk about Ray Bourque being interested in having a team in the QMJHL and basing it in the Boston area. Is there any truth to that, or have you spoken with him about that possibility?

GC: He made some comments last week (to a newspaper) about being interested. The comments were very positive, and he has expressed interest in having a team in the league, but there are no guarantees of anything at this point.

SJ: Let’s switch gears for a minute. One of the bigger attractions at the games here in town is the occasional fight. What is the league’s stance on fighting, and is it necessary in a league like this?

GC: First, there is no necessity in fighting in this league. The league has penalties for fighting, and if you fight twice in a game you get a game misconduct. They are very strict. The league is not about encouraging the fighting, but about developing players with skills they need to make it to the NHL.

Our reputation is that we have strong power forwards and good goaltending. Yes, the league can be physical. As far as any inconsistency in the refereeing, next summer all the referees and the linesmen from the United States will be able to take part in our training program, and they will all be aware of the same standards as everyone else from Canada.

SJ: You mentioned this is part of a tour to all 16 teams and their officials. Why are you taking the tour, and what do you hope to gain?

GC: We want to be able to talk to the front office, to the ownership, to the team players and everyone involved. It’s a simple question-and-answer session, and it gives us an idea of what everyone around the league is thinking about.

At the end of the tour, we hope to put together a resume of all of the teams’ concerns and questions, and we can sit down as a league and make changes and make new rules and objectives based on the feedback we get from everyone.

SJ: Finally, how do you think the franchise in Lewiston has done so far?

GC: With such short notice, the city and the organization has done a great job to get everything done. The arena looks very good. It looks like a really good junior hockey rink. Because of how fast they were able to get this done, there is a lot of faith from the league in the organization, from Mark Just, the owner, down to Matt McKnight and Mario Durocher. They have all done a good job so far.

-Justin Pelletier

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