LEWISTON – The wait will be over on Wednesday for Maineiacs’ fans itching to learn who will lead the team next season.

Last week, the team announced that it was reorganizing its hockey operations department, and did not offer contract extensions to head coach Mario Durocher and general manager Normand Gosselin. The following day, team owner Mark Just said that he had reached an agreement with the next person to fill both roles, and it was only a matter of time before he announced that choice to the public.

“The biggest thing for us in town is to put a face with the hockey operation side of things,” Maineiacs Vice President and Governor Matt McKnight said on Monday. “To have a community-based team, you need a community-oriented person, and that’s what we have coming in.”

Rumors have been circulating through Canadian media and on message boards across the Internet that the new coach and general manager will be Clement Jodoin, a former assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League and the former coach of the Halifax Mooseheads. Jodoin was with the Mooseheads when Just was a minority shareholder in that organization, and when McKnight held his current position with that club.

The team would not say whether or not the rumors are true.

“All we can say is that our selection is the perfect choice for what we are trying to do here in Lewiston,” McKnight said. “I would almost say that within two months of him being here in town, most people in town will know him personally. He’s that kind of a person.”

The announcement is scheduled for noon on Wednesday in the Council Chambers of Lewiston City Hall. Just is expected to attend the press conference.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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