LEWISTON — It didn’t take long for everyone at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee to realize just how different the 2010-11 season might be.

Exhibit A: The Maineiacs played with a lead for 59 minutes and 34 seconds.

Exhibit B: Etienne Brodeur, maligned much of last season by an inability to finish in front of the net, scored a pair of goals, including one on a breakaway.

Exhibit C: Team captain Cameron Critchlow, a lead-by-example kind of player who scored eight goals all of last season, recorded his first career hat trick.

There were more — many more — encouraging signs for the Maineiacs, who dismantled Rimouski 8-3 in front of 1,891 hockey fans Friday night in the teams’ season-opener.

“I thought we played hard, we backchecked hard, and for a young ‘D’ corps, I thought we did pretty well,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “It was a fun game for us.”

Brodeur, who was 1-for-27 last season on breakaways at home, buried a puck on the doorstep just 26 seconds into the game, and added another — on a breakaway — 1:26 later to pad Lewiston’s lead, sending the home team well on its way to a win.

“That’s a good way to start a season,” Brodeur said. “It helps the rookies see what it’s like to win, what it takes to win. The regular season is different than training camp, especially for them … I’m a leader on the team, I have to bury my chances, and I started pretty well.”

Critchlow, meanwhile, found out earlier this week he’d be the Maineiacs’ captain this season. He played like it Friday, finishing with three goals and an assist and a plus-4 rating with a good hit and a 13-for-24 mark in the faceoff circle.

“Everyone has their day, right, so I made the most of the opportunities my linemates gave me,” Critchlow said. “Some nights are just your night, and that’s what happened to me. We got up on the score sheet early and I hope we can come back and do the same thing again (Saturday).”

Rimouski, led by former Maineiacs’ bench boss Clem Jodoin, fell victim to a typical problem in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, a numbers game with players gone to professional rookie camps. Eight Oceanic players were missing from the lineup Friday, and the team skated with just three forward lines and fifteen total skaters.

But, Jodoin said, more than being shorthanded, turnovers victimized the visiting team.

“If there were not 40 turnovers there were none,” Jodoin said. “We can’t have that many turnovers against anyone. It was a matter of execution. Lewiston was good in every aspect of the game. Forechecking, backchecking they were good. I have nothing else to say. They are a team with a chance to win the division.”

After Brodeur’s pair of goals gave the Maineiacs a 2-0 advantage, Rimouski got on the board with a power-play marker at 4:27 of the first. Critchlow added his first two before the end of the opening frame to push the Maineiacs’ lead to 4-1.

After a nondescript second period, the teams exploded in the third, trading shots through the first 11 minutes. Jess Tanguy and Stefan Fournier potted their first goals of the season.

Critchlow polished off his hat trick with 2:56 to play, and Cole Hawes netted his first career QMJHL goal to cap the scoring with 22 seconds to play.

Lewiston will host Rimouski again Saturday night at the Colisee at 7 p.m., and will be without another pair of players, as Michael Chaput and Matthew Bissonnette will report to Philadelphia Flyers’ training camp in the morning.