LEWISTON — He wasn’t even on the radar.

Alex Zafiris arrived in Lewiston in August with an invitation in hand. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native stood out only because he was the last name on the tryout list alphabetically, and with little fanfare.

“As coaches, you do go into the season with an idea about your team, you pencil some guys in,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “But it’s pencil for a reason, not in permanent ink.”

An 18-year-old forward, Zafiris performed well on the fitness testing to open camp. he survived a round of cuts. And another. And another.

“We were honestly going to cut him,” Houle said. “Then, he had a great game. he forced us to keep him, and he kept forcing our hand.”

When the Maineiacs announced their final roster, Zafiris was still on the team. When the players gone to NHL camps returned, Zafiris remained on the team.

Last weekend, on the team’s four-game road swing to the Abitibi region of Quebec, he showed everyone why. The fourth-liner earned more minutes, and lifted his season points total to four, all assists. In nine games, he also is a plus-2.

All of our so-called fourth-liners, they’ve done a good job,” Houle said. “The thing about Zafiris is, he can play all the positions, he’s a smart player. He can play center, wing and he can also play defense if we need him to, so it’s a big help.”

Big guns (hopefully) rolling

It took a little bit of time, but, for now, it appears the Maineiacs’ top players are finally settling into the speed of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“Whether you go up or down, it’s always an adjustment,” Houle said. “The speed is big, but the biggest part of it, whether you go up or down, is mental.”

Pierre-Olivier Morin and Michael Chaput, two of the Maineiacs’ top forwards, spent time at NHL training camps this fall, and their acclimation back to the QMJHL has been slow. Chaput finally put points on the board over the weekend in Val d’Or, and Morin found the mark against Rouyn-Noranda.

“We need those guys to be scoring, we need them to be leaders,” Houle said. “They seem like they’re getting there.”