It’s a tough pill to swallow, rebuilding.

Of course, Maineiacs’ coach Ed Harding will tell you until you’re bored that this team doesn’t rebuild, that it only reloads.

For five years, that’s been the case, with mixed results. Face it, this team and its fan base has been spoiled. In no year since the Maineiacs moved to Lewiston from Sherbrooke have they finished worse than 10th in the league, and that included a league title in 2006-07. That’s not normal.

Since the 2003-04 season, the Maineiacs’ first in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, 12 different teams have finished in the league’s bottom four. Victoriaville has been there three times.

This year’s group of top teams – Drummondville, Moncton and Shawinigan – finished 18th, 17th and 12th, respectively in last year’s general standings.

Lewiston, quite frankly, was due.

That said, teams like Gatineau, Cape Breton and Rouyn-Noranda have all avoided bottom-four finishes over the last five years by preaching the same “re-load” message as Harding. Gatineau rode that theory to a President’s Cup championship last season, much like Lewiston did the previous year, and this year, after a rough go of it in the early going, the Olympiques are back on the winning side of things – again.

Part of the fun of being associated with a league like the QMJHL is watching the ebbs and flows of each team, year after year.

Some teams take it to an extreme.

The year before Lewiston existed, Rimouski was the worst team in the league, some say on purpose. The Oceanic’s reward was Sidney Crosby for two years, and a President’s Cup title.

After Crosby left, it is rumored that the team sent a letter to its season ticket holders, asking if they would mind a sub-par team again, if it meant another crack at a championship.

For two consecutive years, Rimouski finished in the bottom two and missed the playoffs. This year, they won the bid to host the Memorial Cup.

Lewiston hasn’t gone to that extreme, and certainly it can’t afford to. Fickle fans won’t spend their hard-earned money to see a team that is obviously destined for last place.

This year’s team isn’t obviously destined for last place.

The team this staff has assembled should be in contention to keep the Maineiacs’ streak of 10th-or-better alive, even now, while the team sits in 15th place, 15 points out of 10th.

The excuses are many, and the blame can be assigned almost anywhere you like.

There are several factors that have contributed to the team’s current situation. From sub-par goaltending, to leaders unable to lead properly, to bad penalties and a breakdown in communication between coaches and players.

You could even make the case that last year, the Maineiacs should have traded players like Jonathan Bernier Stefano Giliati and Stefan Chaput to get younger then.

But that’s not the direction the team chose. It has decided again to build from within, and the building blocks are starting to once again fall into place.

Let’s take a quick peek at a possible, projected roster for next year’s squad, by position and age:

Forward – 20 – Matt Bourdeau; 19 – Danick Paquette, Alex Beaton, Billy Lacasse, Marc Bourgeois, Dominic Savoie; 18 – Nick Huard, Filip Janosik, Pier-Olivier Morin, Tomy Dery, Steeven Jacques, Etienne Brodeur; 17 – Zach Phillips, Michael Chaput.

Defense – 20 – Sean Stagles; Patrick Cusack; 18 – Eric Gelinas, Sam Finn, Dany Coulombe; 17 – Garrett Clarke, Zack Shannon.

Goalie – 19 – Peter Delmas, Philip Wright; 18 – Jonathan Connely.

Let’s assume that the Maineiacs can get Peter Delmas back on track, and that they draft a heir apparent early in the next draft, and that the team makes a couple of moves to solidify its 20-year-old positions.

This makes for a very bright future, next season and certainly for 2010-2011.

Guns ‘n’ Roses said it best:

All we need is just a little patience.