LEWISTON – All Clement Jodoin and the Lewiston Maineiacs want for Christmas is a pair of wins.

With two more games before the holiday break and with two consecutive wins under its belt for the first time in nearly a month, Lewiston is hoping that the rest of this mini-homestand is a carefully wrapped win package from the jolly old elf of the North.

“That’s all I want for Christmas,” said Jodoin with a smirk. “I don’t want anything else for this team.”

Asking Santa for a present and then and getting exactly what you want is often difficult, since there are so many wishes to fulfill every year, but Jodoin doesn’t see his request as unreasonable.

“We have to start well,” said Jodoin. “We need a good start to the game. We need to have that intensity that you have after part of the game, we need that right away, not after two minutes or three minutes.”

So in a way, the Maineiacs will control what they find in their stockings.

“If we play and are ready to compete right away, we can win these games,” said Jodoin.

Recent numbers beg to differ. In the six games Lewiston has played in December, opponents have scored first in five of those games. Still, the Maineiacs have managed a 3-3 record this month.

Rouyn-Noranda, meanwhile, has become the master of close games and overtime in the QMJHL. The Huskies, who visit the Colisee on Friday, have 18 of their 34 total points by way of a tie, overtime loss or overtime win and sit tied with the Maineiacs in the overall standings. Rouyn-Noranda does have four games in hand on the 10th-place Maineiacs, though.

“I like that this is a rivalry,” said Jodoin. “The teams met in the playoffs last year and there are some players here that still remember that. I like that matchup. It will help the intensity.”

As to which players the familiarity will help, Jodoin said that all four players that missed the last few games with injuries – Brandon Roach, Nick Cowan, Marc-Andre Cliche and Mathieu Aubin – will again sit this weekend against the huskies and the Gatineau Olympiques on Sunday.

“We are hoping maybe to have Roach back by Sunday,” said Jodoin. “We hope. And Cliche we are hoping for the two games after Christmas, the 27th and 28th.”

Aubin and Cowan are still weeks away, however.

Also missing for the next three weeks is goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who will play for Team Slovakia at the World Junior Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Travis Fullerton has joined the team for this weekend’s games, and will likely see some time in the games after Christmas, when Jonathan Bernier also leaves the team for international competition.

Friday and Sunday’s games will also mark the last before the league’s trading period opens up for three weeks. While rumors are widespread that some Maineiacs may be moving soon, Jodoin insists that nothing is yet in the works.

“I am listening right now,” said Jodoin. “I am not calling people, people are calling me. I can’t say I am looking, just listening to see if I like what I hear out there.”

BREAKOUT INFO

Who: Lewiston Maineiacs

Where: The Colisee

When: Friday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.

Tickets: Available. Call 783-2009 or go to the ticket office/trailer.