All is quiet on, well, every front right now for the Lewiston Maineiacs, who seem content, at least for now, to wait out the league’s trade period and see what happens.
“We’re still toeing the same line,” said Maineiacs assistant coach and assistant general manager Ed Harding. “There’s nothing big going on right now.”
Harding also hinted that, similar to recent years, the team may not make a blockbuster deal during the midseason, but rather wait for the league’s draft to make a trade.
Last year, the Maineiacs’ big deal sent Alex Bourret to Shawinigan at the draft, a trade that returned Stefano Giliati and a pick used on defenseman Patrick Cusack.
“Someone is really going to have to stun us with a deal at this point, I think,” said Harding. “We kind of like where things are at right now. We think we have a pretty good team.”
Recent additions – Alex Hager and Chris Tutalo – are indicative of what Harding said the team is trying to do – add players without having to give anything up.
“By adding Hager and Tutalo, we didn’t waste any resources,” said Harding. “Obviously we could do something at the draft to steer us in another direction if we needed to. I can also admit that we are also looking at possibly adding more U.S. skaters in the future.”
Across the league
After the initial day of trades last Monday, which saw a flurry of activity, things slowed considerably. Still, a few deals happened that could be considered major.
Josh Tordjman, one of the top goaltenders in the league for the last two years, has a new home in Moncton. The entire deal between the Wildcats and Victoriaville sent Tordjman and the Tigres’ third- and sixth-round picks in the 2006 draft to Moncton for goaltender Jean-Christophe Blanchard, defenseman Jason Demers and the Wildcats’ second and third picks next year.
Quebec sent Max Gratchev to the Rimouski Oceanic for a 2006 first-round pick, and Drummondville sent Vincent Beaulieu to the Val d’Or Foreurs for Nicolas D’Aoust.
On Thursday, Acadie-Bathurst unloaded one of its four 20-year-old players, sending Mathieu Curadeau to the Gatineau Olympiques for a draft pick. The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, meanwhile, sent 16-year-old netminder Nicolas Barriere to the Quebec Remparts for defenseman Pierre-Cedrick Labrie and a fifth-round pick in 2007.
Game(s) on!
Last year, the Maineiacs’ break was one day shorter, but they had an extra week off after two games after Christmas. There will be no such break this year. After road games Dec. 27-28, Lewiston returns home Friday.
Tuesday’s game is in Halifax against the Mooseheads, the team the Maineiacs are chasing for fourth in the Eastern Conference. Lewiston also is enjoying a three-game winning streak, the third-best active streak in the league. The teams have averaged 52 penalty minutes in their two games.
Wednesday, the Maineiacs will stop in Saint John on the way home for a game against the Sea Dogs. Saint John is in the middle of a rough stretch right now, having won just one of its last 10 games.
The two teams play again in Lewiston this weekend.
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