The UMaine Black Bears hockey team is pretty good, but not as good as the Lewiston Maineiacs.

The Maineiacs are younger, and stronger, than the local American Hockey League affiliate in Portland, too.

And forget the Boston Bruins. To paraphrase an underwhelming former Boston basketball coach, Ray Bourque isn’t walking through that door. Bobby Orr and Cam Neely aren’t coming either. Things are so bad on Causeway Street that coach Dave Lewis recently described his team as “slow, weak, and intimidated.”

Ouch. Those words won’t warm the heart of any hockey fan.

But it should quicken pulses of Maineiacs faithful, who can now rightfully boast of having the finest hockey team in Maine, and one of the best in New England. The Maineiacs are coming off a regular-season domination of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and have rolled through their last 10 opponents on the way to the playoffs.

We’re proud of the boys – for their play on the ice, and high marks in the classroom – and we’re proud of how Lewiston has rallied to support its team. Around L-A, voices talking about the Maineiacs are rising, saying thing like: “How about them Maineiacs? They won in Moncton last night, you know,” or talking about going on the road for the playoffs.

But just being proud of the team isn’t enough. The Maineiacs have given its fans, and its region, more than any other hockey team in Maine: a realistic chance for a championship. The Maineiacs march for the Memorial Cup now starts Friday with an opening series against the Shawinigan Cataractes.

If there’s ever a time to jump on a bandwagon, it’s today. The Twin Cities need to give the Androscoggin Bank Colisee a true “home ice advantage,” and intimidate Maineiacs opponents the same way Boston crazies would shake the Boston Garden during the Bruins glory days in the 1970s.

Who knows if this will come around again? Clement Jodoin, the Maineiacs coach, wistfully described his career as being “hired to be fired,” in an expansive two-part interview with beat writer Justin Pelletier, which was published Sunday. “Enjoy the ride,” Jodoin said.

We certainly are, and Lewiston-Auburn should as well.

Go Maineiacs.