Brandon Verge has to be worried.

The not-so-hidden message Saturday in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft may be the writing on the wall for the young netminder from Halifax that, in some opinions, was the better of the two goaltenders last season for the Lewiston Maineiacs.

It might be curtains, or it might be all the motivation the young netminder needs.

There was little doubt in the locker room that the coaching staff was less than thrilled with the team’s performance between the pipes. In fact, after almost every game during which the Maineiacs allowed four or more goals (which for the record was 31 games in the regular season and four more in the playoffs), coach Mario Durocher had a quote about the goaltending ready, saying several times that “quality goaltending is necessary in this league.”

The inference was that the goaltending was important, and that Lewiston didn’t have the goaltending necessary to be a contending team. There was no reading between the lines necessary to pick that up.

Still, down the stretch and in the playoffs, the team seemed to respond to Verge, who had to battle hard just to make the team out of training camp. With Matt Davis in net, Lewiston did not win a single playoff game. With Verge, the Maineiacs won three games and suffered an overtime loss in Game 3.

In the offseason, the Maineiacs made the first administrative move by letting both general manager Normand Gosselin and coach Mario Durocher go. Neither seemed bitter.

Enter Clement Jodoin. (Thank you, Hockey Gods.)

With a resume that rivals the best coaches in league, Jodoin now inherits a team in transition. As Jodoin himself put it in the week preceding the draft, he had “options,” one of which, of course, is the goaltending issue that had so many fans talking over the last half of the season.

Several rumors flew as the trading period came to a close in January that Lewiston was going to pull off a trade. Some speculated European defenseman Richard Stehlik would get traded to Cape Breton for one of their three top goaltenders, perhaps even Marc-Andre Fleury, the phenom that had seen action with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

None of that came to pass. Instead, Lewiston acquired a third 20-year-old in exchange for a 20-year-old on the protected roster that refused to play for the team in Lewiston.

Things looked mighty bleak in L-Town until Saturday.

The light seemed to shine forth from the heavens, announcing either the end (finally) to the ridiculously long rainy weather pattern, or the coming of a new on-ice savior.

Perhaps the latter has a better ring to it, and it may well be the truth.

With the eighth overall pick, Lewiston selected Jonathan Bernier, a 16-year-old netminder that played last year with the Laval-Laurentides-Lanaudiere Regents of Major AAA. Last season, he had a 16-6 record in 22 games with a 2.98 GAA, and in the playoffs, despite two losses, had a miniscule 1.70 GAA.

Thank you, Hockey Gods.

Not only did the Maineiacs draft Bernier in Round 1, but took goaltenders in Rounds 10 (Marc-Andre Perron) and 14 (Travis Fullerton).

Last year, the Maineiacs took Michael Chiasson (Round 11) and Laurier Laforce (Round 15), and still have Maxime Joyal, D.J. DelBuono, Verge and Davis on the roster. That is nine, assuming Davis comes back to camp, which he could do as a 20-year-old.

Maybe Davis will figure out what was wrong last season. Maybe Verge will develop into the goaltender Gosselin and Durocher thought he would be when they took him to back up Drew MacIntyre. Maybe Chiasson will surprise everyone, or maybe Joyal will grow into a solid backup.

Lots of maybes, but there is at least one certainty: Jodoin is not resting on last year’s results, and will force everyone at training camp to be in shape or be shipped out for a hungry replacement. Competition breeds success, and it seems like the Maineiacs will have plenty of that in training camp this August.

Thank you Hockey Gods.

Justin Pelletier is a staff sports writer. He can be reached at [email protected].