LEWISTON – All over the tri-county area, the leaves are beginning to turn. The air has a lighter, crisper feel to it, and schools are filled with children and young adults.

In Lewiston, the Androscoggin Bank Colisee is decidedly colder.

And like Santa Claus at Christmas, the Easter Bunny in the spring and fireworks on the Fourth of July, Lewiston Maineiacs’ Head Coach and GM Ed Harding is keeping with tradition: Visions of a President’s Cup title and a Memorial Cup victory dance in his head.

“If I had fewer expectations than that, I wouldn’t be here coaching right now,” Harding said. “We go into this thing to win the grand prize every year.”

To be fair, the Maineiacs had a legitimate chance to back their coach up last season – until snipers David Perron and Eric Castonguay unexpectedly signed professional contracts early in the season.

Despite the setback, the Maineiacs finished last season with 37 wins – the second most in five seasons.

This year, the team starts with many more questions marks, with a younger pool of players and with a new divisional alignment and playoff structure.

The one assured constant? Harding’s prediction.

Strength in numbers

If there is one piece of the team this season that should be rock solid, it’s the corps of blueliners.

Patrick Cusack and Michael Ward, the team’s two assistant captains, anchor a group that includes fellow 19-year-olds Denis Reul and Sean Stagles, 17-year-old future-NHL-draft-pick Eric Gelinas, 16-year-old rookie Garrett Clarke, 17-year-old rookie Dany Coulombe and veteran 20-year-old Tom Michalik.

“You can never have enough good defensemen,” Harding said. “Have we stockpiled defensemen in the past? Yes we did, starting probably three or four years ago. You’ve got to have defense if you’re going to be successful.”

By the time Cusack, Ward and Reul return from their stints in professional camps in the early part of the season, the team may be forced to let one more defenseman go, but the luxury Harding has is not knowing yet which one that might be.

Burying the biscuit

Last year’s loss of Perron and Castonguay showed its most significant impact in the goal-scoring department, and this year, the Maineiacs do not return anyone who has scored 30 goals in a season.

The addition of sniper Maxime Gratchev from Rimouski will help, Harding said, but he is also counting on contributions from some players who got more ice time last year than they normally night have.

“I hold Alex Beaton accountable, he’s going to have to give us more production,” Harding said. “Billy Lacasse is going to have to give us more production, Matt Bourdeau is going to have to give us more production. We have some younger guys who can fill in there. Pier-Olivier Morin looks fantastic right now. Marc Bourgeois is going to take on more of a role. You can go right down the list.”

Danick Paquette, the team’s 18-year-old captain, approached 30 goals last season, and will be counted on for that number this year. Burgeoning snipers Lacasse and Morin should see significant ice time in key situations, and even bangers like Bourdeau and Bourgeois fit into Harding’s offensive scheme.

Between the pipes

In each of the Maineiacs’ first five seasons in Lewiston, the team has relied on an NHL-drafted goaltender to lead the way.

Peter Delmas, drafted this past June by the Colorado Avalanche, will make it 6-for-6.

Perhaps the team’s most glaring depth deficiency, at least on paper, is at this same position, though. If Delmas is injured or otherwise unable to play for Lewiston during the season, the Maineiacs lack a proven backup.

Then again, that sounds about normal.

“It’s happened before,” Harding said. “Jonathan Bernier got thrown right into the fire early on and did well, but it still took him some time, he was young. Peter Delmas at 16 years old got thrown into the fire. That was a huge unknown. We had a fifth-round draft pick starting at 16 years old. In Jonathan Connely, we have a fifth-round draft pick at 17 years old. Maybe that’s a little bit better.

Delmas was solid as a 16-year-old rookie, stepping in to maintain the team’s run to a league title in 2006-07. Again the backup last season, Delmas saw plenty of action as Bernier attended camps, NHL games and the World Junior Championships.

Divisional shift

The three teams in the Maineiacs’ division are three that have never been considered powerful during Lewiston’s tenure in the league.

Shawinigan has been a middler at best, peaking at No. 6 in the Maineiacs’ inaugural season of 2003-04. The Cataractes’ average finish in the previous five years is 10th overall.

It only gets worse from there.

Drummondville peaked at seventh in 2006-07, and the Voltigeurs average finish is 11.2, while Victoriaville managed a fifth-place finish in 2006-07, but has averaged worse than a 12th-place finish over five seasons.

Lewiston, meanwhile, has never placed worse than 10th, and has an average finish just shy of seventh.

Things have shifted a bit this season, at least at the outset. The Cataractes are celebrating their 40th anniversary season, and had placed a bid to host the Memorial Cup. Their roster is solid.

The Voltigeurs, decimated a few years ago by the departures of Guillaume Latendresse (to the Montreal Canadiens) and Derrick Brassard (injury), haven’t quite been the same since. But a few moves this year have put the Volts smack in the thick of things, too.

And the Tigres, regarded by some as the weak link this season, will get some point production from their top-end forwards, and have one of the best goaltenders in the league in Kevin Poulin.

“All three teams play hard,” Harding said. “Since I’ve been here we’ve never had an easy game against any of them. It could be a bottleneck at the end.”