Cut day, and the final official day for trading players under 20 years old, was uneventful in Maineiacs camp.

The team released five players this morning, far fewer than expected as the team continues to deal with a bout of sickness and a few minor injuries.

Still on the shelf are defenseman Olivier Dame-Malka and forward Jonah Coonishish-Coon, who collided in an intrasquad game and are both still feeling it.

Michael Chaput was back on the ice this morning to practice, but it’s too early to say if his injury, all be it a minor one, will keep him out of any more preseason contests.

Also added to the injury/illness shelf today were Francis Beauvillier and Etienne Brodeur, who are both away from the rink and undergoing testing to figure out what might be wrong. For both, it is said to be illness, not structural injury.

Now, to the cuts. The five players leaving camp today are Christopher Caissey of Campbellton, NB (93), Maxime Godin of Miramichi, NB (93), Nick Jordan of Ripples, NB (93), Colton Stairs of Mapledale, NB (92) and Marc-Antoine Rousseau of Beauce, QC (92).

Of the names, the only true shocker to me is Rousseau, but reportedly the reason had far less to do with his on-ice performance, and more to do with school. Any player who is enrolled in the Quebec CEGEP program for school needed to learn his fate by noon today, and where Rousseau was battling for a spot and without a guarantee, it was easiest for the team to send him along today. GM Roger Shannon left open the possibility that Rousseau may join the team for a game or two here and there, depending on need and availability.

The other thing that stood out this morning was that all six goalies in camp are still here. The team is anticipating a lot of puck time during the next few practices, and didn’t want to wear down just a few goalies. That, Shannon said, and the goalies are making it a really tough decision.

Shannon said Monday to expect a small handful of cuts at the end of the week this week, and then a trickle of them as the team moves toward the third weekend of camp and the trip to Moncton and Fredericton.

Around the league, Dwayne Rodrigue, traded from Lewiston to Victoriaville a couple weeks back, has been traded again, this time to Shawinigan, and in Halifax, the Mooseheads have not made any moves, so it looks as though Peter Delmas, as a 20-year-old goalie, will be on the move again. The Mooseheads have Corbeil and a 17-year-old in the pipeline, too, and conventional wisdom there would say that Delmas is the odd man out. Someone in the league is about to get the chance to have a top-notch goalie and a top-notch person on their roster.