LEWISTON — For the second time in as many years, it appears that the Lewiston Maineiacs and assistant coach Jeff Guay have parted ways.

This time, the split is apparently permanent, adding to the list of hires the Maineiacs still need to make before the new season begins.

“One thing we don’t want to discuss is specific financial matters,” Lewiston general manager Roger Shannon said Monday. “But at this stage of the game, we’ve been unable to come to an agreement on a contract with Jeff.”

Guay, in a phone call to the Sun Journal late last week, said he was “done with the team.” On Monday, however, the only thing Guay said was that he was “in contract issues” with the organization.

“That’s really all I can say at this point,” Guay said.

Shannon said the team and Guay are parting amicably.

“We wish Jeff, who has given great years of service to this organization, we wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Guay left the Maineiacs on personal leave last summer. When the team fired head coach and president Don MacAdam in December, Guay came back into the fold as an interim coach, and stayed on as Houle’s assistant for the remainder of last season. In all, Guay has been with the team for all or parts of seven seasons.

Head coach J.F. Houle echoed Shannon’s thoughts, also taking the opportunity to wish Guay well in the future. Otherwise, Houle said, his focus is on hockey.

“Our focus is on the upcoming training camp,” Houle said. “My job is to work with the kids, and to work with the coaches around me. Our camp starts on August 17th, and my focus right now is on the start of our season.”

Guay’s apparent departure is the second hit the hockey operations staff has taken in recent days. Also leaving is athletic therapist, equipment manager and jack-of-all-trades Tom Bourdon, who accepted a position over the weekend with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bourdon will be the athletic therapist for the Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield (Mass.) Falcons.

“He’s been a real asset to the organization, and he’s someone we hate to lose,” Shannon said of Bourdon. “But in the game of hockey, you have to accept that guys who are good at what they do will get offers to go to higher levels. Tom got a good offer with Columbus. We hate to see him go, but we understand.

“Tom wore a lot of hats for us, that was his nature,” Shannon continued. “We’re going to have to pass some of what he did around to the rest of the staff, and we’re going to be looking at (assistant equipment manager) Matt Flaherty to take on a bigger role on the equipment side.”

Shannon said the next step in the process will be to find a replacement for both Bourdon and Guay as soon as possible. He also hinted that in the coming week — perhaps by the weekend — the team would also be able to announce some front office moves.

“We’re all looking forward to training camp, and we’re looking at some really exciting announcements coming up pretty soon,” Shannon said. “Behind the scenes, there is a lot of planning going into this, and we’re hoping that by the first of August, we’re going to be able to ramp up to full speed.”