LEWISTON – The colors are plentiful at Maineiacs’ practice, with several different line combinations dressed in yellow, orange, gray, blue, green, white and black jerseys, and some of the line combinations are starting to take shape.

“We are evaluating them now,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “They will be different again next week, of course, but we are starting to see what works and what doesn’t work.”

This week, some of the lines included Alex Bourret with Mathieu Aubin and Maxime Mathieu (they were wearing the orange jerseys), Ryan Murphy with Sheldon Wenzel and Nicolas Cowan (yellow), Marc-Andre Cliche with Derek Bailey and Colby Gilbert (blue), and Pierre-Luc Champagne with Eric Castonguay and Marc-Andre Daneau (gray).

Gilbert’s spot on the line with Cliche and Bailey was widely believed to be Picard’s under normal circumstances, while Olivier Legault and Guy Belisle wore green as the extra skaters.

“We are looking at everyone, and how they play with other players,” said Jodoin. “We are not ready yet, and it is a good thing to have the extra five days to get ready. We are getting there.”

Bonding in the Big Apple

Call it a warm-up road trip if you want. Or, call it a team building exercise. Just don’t call it a “fun trip.”

“This is not just for the fun of it,” said Jodoin. “This is for team building, for getting the players to work together.”

On Saturday morning at 1 a.m, the Lewiston Maineiacs will board a bus and travel to New York City, returning at 11 p.m. that night, and while in the Big Apple, the players will be divided into groups of three and set loose in Manhattan with specific goals in mind, like a scavenger hunt.

According to Jodoin, the team will first attend (not as guests, but as observers) the outdoors taping of the “Today Show” on NBC at Rockefeller Center, and then will scatter from there.

“We are leaving at night and coming back at night,” said Jodoin. “This is important for us as a team.”

C’s and A’s

With just one week until the Maineiacs begin their second season, there is still no official word on who will be named the team’s second captain, replacing Francis Trudel in that role.

According to Jodoin, the team will have a voice in who is selected, but the coaching staff will ultimately have the final say.

“Part of what we want to see is leadership all around,” said Jodoin. “We will see some of that this weekend, too, on our trip.”

Of those that wore a letter on their jersey last year, only Sheldon Wenzel returns to the team this year. Last year, Gabriel Balasescu, Maxime Robert and Wenzel all wore A’s.

Golf, anyone?

The Maineiacs final public function before the start of the season will be on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at Martindale Country Club, when team members and coaches will participate in the first Maineiacs Education Foundation Golf Tournament.

Some of the players will be on hand to hit golf balls for people off of certain tees, while others will take golfers’ places on putting greens.

All of the proceeds of the tournament benefit the Education Foundation, which is looking to provide quality education for all of the Maineiacs’ players that choose to play in Lewiston.