LEWISTON – David Taylor claimed it was an anti-Quebec attitude that forced him out.

Lewiston Maineiacs head coach Ed Harding said there were off-ice issues surrounding Taylor.

Lewiston forward Stefan Chaput, himself from Quebec, says any idea that there is a rift in the locker room because of nationality is bunk.

No matter how you look at it, though, Lewiston is short one forward going forward, because Taylor walked away from the team Thursday, one day after collecting four points and being named the game’s first star.

“David Taylor did not conform to team rules,” Harding said. “(He) showed me he did not want to be a team player. That’s basically it in a nutshell. He decided he wanted to go home.”

Tayor fired off Friday in an article published in “La Presse” in Canada, saying he left the team because he was not given an opportunity to play anywhere but the fourth line.

“(Harding) doesn’t like the Quebecois,” Taylor is quoted as saying. “It’s evident. It is causing a divide among the players on the team. If there’s a problem, it’s always the fault of the Quebecois.”

Chaput called what Taylor said a ‘load of bologna.’

“He has nothing against French kids, nothing against Quebecers or Canadians,” Chaput said. “Look at our power play, our PK, there are Quebecers everywhere. If we get punished for something, the Americans or Maritime kids get punished for the same thing. (Taylor) left the team, so now it’s in the past, I guess.”

Harding was adament, too, about his equal treatment of every player in his locker room.

“Consider the source,” Harding said. “I don’t have to defend myself. My guys know what I’m all about. I don’t care where a kid’s from. Ask Chris Tutalo how tough I am on him. Here’s a kid from Roscoe, New York. I may be more tough on those kids than anyone else. I don’t have to defend myself.”

Eleven of the remaining 22 players on the Maineiacs right now are from Quebec, with four from Nova Scotia, one from New Brunswick, two from Europe and four from the United States.