LEWISTON – Faceoff came a bit late Friday night, but you’ll pardon the fans for not being upset.

QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau and Director of Hockey Operations Raymond Bolduc appeared rinkside prior to the start of Friday night’s game, flanked by a pair of white-gloved representatives.

They hauled two brightly-polished trophies from behind the stands onto a table on the ice, and presented the Maineiacs with the two awards.

The first, the Jean Rougeau Trophy, is awarded each year to the league’s regular-season champion. The second, the Robert Lebel Trophy, signifies the team that allowed the fewest goals. Opponents scored 196 goals against the Maineiacs in 70 games, four fewer than Cape Breton.

One more piece of hardware

The league also presented a third award Friday night, an award kept secret until Friday night.

The Guy Carbonneau Award is presented annually to the best defensive forward in the league. League representatives presented that honor to Lewiston captain Marc-Andre Cliche.

In 52 games, Cliche not only scored 54 points, but also had a plus-minus rating of plus-27, and was a critical piece of the Maineiacs’ penalty-kill unit.

He also represented Canada at the 2007 World Junior Championships, and played a defensive role in that team’s gold medal-winning effort.

Voice from above

In yet another tribute to former Lewiston Maineiacs’ anthem singer Moe Morin, who passed away this year, the Maineiacs shone four spotlights on Morin’s familiar position on the carpet by the home bench.

With the crowd hushed, the team played a video of Morin performing the two national anthems, which at the end received a standing ovation. Brotherly love

Triston Manson and his brother, Anton, have played hockey together since either can remember. On Friday, they played against each other in the playoffs for the first time.

In the first period, while two Shawinigan teammates corralled the elder Manson, Anton went after Lewiston’s David Taylor.

That was the only shift that the brothers saw against each other.