LEWISTON – The kids are going to get a shot at proving themselves tonight.
The Lewiston Maineiacs will open up their preseason schedule at the Colisee at 7 p.m. against the expansion Saint John Sea Dogs, but just four players who saw action in a game last season are going to be in the lineup.
“We want to see the kids play,” said Maineiacs head coach and general manager Clem Jodoin. “The veterans will get their chance after Labor Day, but now there are still players trying to make this team.”
Pierre-Luc Champagne, Michal Korenko, Olivier Legault and Maxime Mathieu will skate for the Maineiacs tonight, with the rest of the roster spots taken up by skaters hoping to crack the regular-season lineup.
“We need to see the Taylor’s, the McCarthy’s play,” said Jodoin. “It’s a different game now, for them. The pace will be much different. It will be a faster game than in training camp.”
Champagne will center a line with Mathieu and Karl Prefontaine, while Legault will be a wing with 16-year-olds David Taylor and Rob McCarthy.
Two all-rookie lines will include Hugo Chevanelle, Josh Smith, Manuel Brunet, Jonathan Paquet, Daniel Basque and Francis Gagnon, who played minimally for Gatineau last season.
On defense, Korenko will pair with 6-foot-7 Shane Peterson, while top pick Kevin Marshall lines up with Mathieu Ricard, and Matt Carroll pairs off with Scott Corrigan.
Travis Fullerton and Claude Garland will tend the goal for the Maineiacs, with expected starter Jonathan Bernier getting the night off.
Wednesday’s game also marks the first trip back to Lewiston for 20-year-old Ryan Murphy, who was selected by the Sea Dogs in this year’s expansion draft. The Fredericton, New Brunswick native played in 62 games last season and recorded 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points. Because the expansion teams are allowed to keep five 20-year-old players (the rest of the teams are allowed three), Murphy is almost a lock to make the team this season.
Playing by the rules
The Maineiacs’ first exhibition game will give their fans a first look at the new rules adopted by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for this season. The league’s new standards are based on the changes adopted by the National Hockey League.
Some of the rule changes are actually a re-emphasis of rules already in place, such as a crackdown on holding, interference and hooking, while others will drastically change the game, such as holding shootouts to determine a winner if no goals are scored in overtime. Here are the eight new measures adopted this season.
1. Reinforce standards on interference, hooking and holding/obstruction: Self-explanatory, although some coaches are already worried about a consistency among referees and league officials as the season wears on.
2. Goaltenders will be limited to an area behind their net where they are allowed to play the puck. Also, the league will re-emphasize the rule requiring minor penalties for goaltenders who freeze the puck outside of their crease: Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin called this rule ridiculous. “You are taking away a great skill by not allowing goalies to do that,” Jodoin said.
3. Overtime will consist of one 4-on-4 overtime period which will last up to five minutes. If the game remains tied, the teams will participate in a three-man shootout. The team with the most goals will win. Teams will still get two points for a regulation win and one for a tie. The team that wins either in overtime or in the shootout will receive an additional point: This will be good for fans that like an end result, but some hockey purists are crying foul.
4. Players will now be allowed to tag up when they are deemed offsides. Last year, the whistle was automatic: This will create far fewer whistles and speed the game along.
5. The red line will be removed to allow passes that otherwise would have been deemed to cross two lines: The red lines will actually still be on the ice in most cases, but this allows longer passes to remain legal, which by design will open the game up more.
6. Players will now be assessed a two-minute penalty if, when in their defensive zone, they shoot the puck into the stands: Previously, this rule applied only to goaltenders.
7. Teams that intentionally ice the puck will not be allowed to change their personnel on the ice: A memo circulated later defined what the league considered unintentional. If a player attempts a pass and the target misses, the icing is not considered intentional. If a player attempts to direct the puck toward the center red line and his attempt does not reach it, icing is not considered intentional, nor is icing considered intentional if a player receives a body check at the last moment before crossing the red line. This is known as a soft dump.
8. Any carry-over of penalties from regulation time to overtime and shootout will now be served on the same basis as in regulation time: This allows the league to conform to the NHL’s policy on penalties and overtime.
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