Goaltenders are strange birds.

In a sport driven by testosterone and toughness, hockey goaltenders are the only position players who can get away with crying.

“Ah, he’s a goalie” is an appropriate way to explain away any strange behavior these players may exhibit.

They have to be a bit off to want to play their position anyway.

But I would argue that in many ways, goaltenders’ attitudes can also be barometers of a team’s state of mind.

Take Peter Delmas, the Lewiston Maineiacs’ No. 1 netminder.

One month ago, Delmas was visibly upset after almost every game. Of course, the team was also losing regularly, too.

But Delmas just seemed out of it.

Early in the season, the Colorado Avalanche draft pick went to the NHL team’s training camp, and performed admirably.

Upon his return to the Maineiacs, his play slacked a bit, though that was expected as he tried to readjust to the speed of the QMJHL.

That’s no myth, either. It happened to Jonathan Bernier, and it happened to Jaroslav Halak.

But long after his grace period for readjustment had passed, Delmas just wasn’t playing like himself.

His body language said so.

Perhaps he wasn’t confident in a sub-par effort from his defensemen, or perhaps he felt he wasn’t getting goal support.

Both were true.

And his stats suffered.

Maybe the team got some sort of message, the same one the coaching staff has been trying to send for weeks.

Maybe it took getting shellacked three games in a row by Drummondville.

Maybe they all just started to grow up, all at once.

The forwards’ forecheck gained an edge. The penalty-killers started attacking opponents’ power plays with a purpose. The power play units started moving the puck crisply, and scoring with the extra skater.

The defense buckled down, kept shots to the outside and started to protect the crease.

And Delmas started to look like, well, Delmas.

Friday, the whole team appeared to regress. The forecheck was lackadaisical at best, Rouyn-Noranda outbattled Lewiston in the corners, and all of a sudden, basic hockey skills like chipping the puck out instead of sending blind, 75-foot saucer passes through the middle of the ice looked foreign to the team.

Danick Paquette, the captain, rode the pine in the third period after taking two bad penalties on the power play in the third. Both of them ultimately cost the team a goal.

Some rowdy fans called for Paquette to return to the ice in the third, but harding stood his ground, as he should have.

So infuriated was the coaching staff that the team sat in the locker room, waited for the building to clear, and returned to the ice for practice.

So much for a turning point Wednesday. So much for a magical switch.

The team is young, but that stopped being an excuse a month ago. These players have skated in more than 30 QMJHL games now. They aren’t rookies anymore, and they need to stop acting like it.

Maybe they don’t like the coach.

So what? They’re not going to like every coach going forward, either.

Maybe they want a change of scenery.

What team is going to want a player who’s playing like he doesn’t care?

Maybe they really are lacking hockey sense, or maybe they just aren’t that good.

We know that’s not true. We’ve seen them play some phenomoenal games this season.

This year’s Maineiacs are leaving even die-hard fans frustrated and scratching their heads, wondering just what this team is all about.

It’s mind-blowing to watch, and even more exhausting trying to figure it all out.

Good luck.