The trade deadline passed with no last-minute deal. The move the Lewiston Maineiacs made to send Olivier Legault to Drummondville just after Christmas will stand as the only deal for the team.
“Everything is the same,” said Maineiacs head coach and general manager Clem Jodoin, who met the team in Val d’Or this weekend after helping guide the Canadian National Junior Team to its second consecutive gold medal. “We haven’t done anything as far as trades.”
There are typically two basic schools of thought in team building, one of which is to dump older players for picks and prospects in every year, except the one or two seasons that a team decides to “go for it.”
The other is a more patient but consistent approach, the plan the Maineiacs have adopted.
“My philosophy, in my mind, we want to raise our players,” said Jodoin. “If they don’t want to stay, we’ll trade them. If they want to stay, we have our way of doing things.
“The key to this plan is the scouting,” Jodoin continued. “We have good scouting, and when we get good players, we have to develop them. I am not perfect, but I believe in what I am doing.”
The Legault trade was one of those circumstances, according to Jodoin.
“It’s nice to say we made a trade, but there always has to be a plan,” said Jodoin, “and we think we have a good plan in place. When I was out West, I talked with the owner of Kelowna. They made three trips to the Memorial Cup in three years and they might go back again this year. In those three years they made a total of three trades. It’s about teaching the kids you have, raising them in the system.”
Around the league, though, several teams seem to disagree with Jodoin. In particular, Victoriaville was extremely active Sunday, making six separate deals, including the acquisition of 20-year-old goaltender Julien Walsh from Val d’Or.
The Foreurs also made a few key deals in addition to sending Walsh away, including sending 19-year-old defenseman Jean-Sebastien Adam to Chicoutimi for 16-year-old Gabriel Carle. The Sags made their final tune-ups for a run at the league title Sunday, trading Stephane Cesar and a draft pick to Rouyn-Noranda for Nicolas Lafontaine.
Quebec acquired the rights to 20-year-old forward Dany Roussin, who played last year with Sidney Crosby in Rimouski. Roussin is currently playing in the East Coast Hockey League.
Ryan Jenner found his way from Victoriaville to St. John’s, while Antonin Manavian is now with the Gatineau Olympiques.
The complete list is available at the league’s Web site, www.lhjmq.qc.ca.
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