The Lewiston Maineiacs will likely have new division rivals next season.

They’ll likely be in a new division altogether.

This, thanks to news this week on French-language Web site RDS.com that Montreal-based investor Farrel Miller has purchased the St. John’s Fog Devils, just three years into their existence, and plans to move the franchise to Verdun, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal.

“I’m surprised, to be honest,” Maineiacs’ owner Mark Just said. “Surprised, because there has been some trouble for teams trying to survive in the Montreal area before. I’d heard that they were talking about it.”

Just said he was under the impression that the league wanted to ensure any new team in the Montreal area would play in a new – or at least updated – arena.

According to reports, the team will play in the old Auditorium de Verdun next season.

Miller, 46, a Montreal native and a graduate of McGill University, is the founder of SportTV.com, an Internet company specializing in live sporting events on the Web. He also started JumpTV, the largest Canadian distributor of international Web channels.

“I hope that they can be successful,” Just said. “I wish them the best of luck.”

According to reports, the league offered the team to the city of St. John’s, and the mayor there told the QMJHL no. Miller bought the struggling franchise from the Dobbin Family.

The move marks a quick end to the Fog Devils, who entered the league for the 2005-06 season as part of a two-team expansion that also included the Saint John (New Brunswick) Sea Dogs.

In three seasons playing out of Mile One Stadium in the Newfoundland capitol, attendance numbers have declined slightly each season. The Fog Devils averaged 3,928 spectators in their first season, a number that fell to 3,666 last season. This year, the team is bringing in 3,331 per game.

A big reason the team is losing money – according to estimates, about $750,000 per season – is the team’s lease agreement with Mile One. Another reason is travel costs. A condition of the team’s acceptance into the league said that St. John’s would be responsible for part of transportation costs for each team that had to fly to the island to play its games.

Official approval of the sale is still needed, and could come as soon as Friday, when the league has scheduled a conference call with the league’s other owners.

There has been no discussion yet about whether the league will maintain territorial rights to Newfoundland-born players, nor has there been any discussion about a possible new name for the team, nor whether head coach and general manager Real Paiement – the league’s winningest head coach – will move with the team.

The Verdun College-Francais was the last team to call this suburb home, but not the first.

The Verdun Maple Leafs were an original QMJHL franchise operating for three seasons. In 1977, for three seasons, the the Eperviers called Verdun home, and from 1982 to 1989, Verdun had the Junior Canadiens of the QMJHL. The Eperviers are now the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and the Junior Canadiens are now the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

From 1991 to 1994, the old Quebec Remparts called Verdun home as the Verdun College-Francais. That franchise dissolved after the 93-94 season.