LEWISTON — Back on home ice for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Lewiston Maineiacs will put their perfect record at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on the line against a pair of tough divisional opponents as Victoriaville and Drummondville skate into town Friday and Saturday.

But the team will be helping to fight an even bigger battle this weekend, too, as it joins forces with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and area sponsors to raise money in the fight against Breast Cancer.

“My undertsanding is that there’s a very good positive buzz about the team going around,” Lewiston coach Don MacAdam said. “That’s exactly what we’d hope with the way the team’s played at home. Our guys are working very hard, and we’ve played nothing but great games here in the building to this point. It’s been exciting, the style of hockey we play is exciting hockey, high energy, up-tempo hockey, and it’s an easy style for the crowd to get into. And we’ve played physical as well. Our game has not been soft, we’ve got our nose in the action all the time. We’re hoping to see a big turnout this weekend.”

Saturday night, the team will transform itself into a fundraising machine. The players will wear pink jerseys, some will use pink sticks, and goaltender Adrien Lemay will don a custom designed helmet, all while skating on pink ice at the Colisee.

As for the Maineiacs’ on-ice opponents this weekend, well, they’re going to provide a pretty tough battle, too.

First up is Victoriaville. The Tigres are poised to make a run this season behind 19-year-old keeper Kevin Poulin. It’s one of the stronger teams Victoriaville has had in seven years.

“They’re obviously playing very well, and they’re an improved team over last year,” MacAdam said. “One thing we’ve noticed so far this season is that there is parity in this league, and for the most part all of the teams are very close, especially in our division. We feel we can play with anybody.”

Divisional play, MacAdam said, can make a big difference come March.

“Every team focuses a bit more on divisional play,” MacAdam said. “The played get a bit more keyed up for division rivals, too. Overall, you can finish 16th, like this team did last year, and play the best team in the playoffs. Why make it so difficult on yourself in the first round of theplayoffs if you can possibly avoid it? You want to do better in your division so when you start the playoffs, you’ve given yourself the best possible opportunity going forward.”

Also on tap for Lewiston this weekend is a rematch with Drummondville. The Maineiacs upended the defending league champs in a shootout earlier this season, one of only two blemishes on the Voltigeurs’ record.

“That team plays the same as the team last year,” MacAdam said. “They have a great team culture there. Their power play still has the ability to control the game. We have to make sure we stay out of the box and control our own game and the way we play.”

The Maineiacs hung with the Volts last time, mainly thanks to their speed.

“We know where our strengths lie, and speed is certainly a big part of that,” MacAdam said. “They might be ready for speed, but wide speed is very tough to contain, and when we play with speed, we’re difficult to play against.”

Lewiston will still likely be without defenseman Sam Finn this weekend. The 18-year-old blueliner is still suffering from symptoms of a concussion, and is officially day-to-day, though the team is being cautious with its assistant captain.

“At this point, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be ready,” MacAdam said. “We treat all injuries to all of the players the same, and a player’s not going to be in the lineup until that player’s healthy. There’s no in between on that.”

Game time for both of this weekend’s contests is 7 p.m.