It’s enough of an honor for a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team to have a player selected to represent a country or province at an international tournament.

The Lewiston Maineiacs this week have three.

Dillon Fournier and Christophe Lalonde, both 16-year-old rookies, are playing for Team Quebec at this week’s World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Defenseman Brayden Wood, also a Maineiacs draft pick, has also been selected to play in the tournament, he for Team Atlantic.

“It’s a great honor for those guys to play in the tournament, and it’s great for our organization to have so many good, young players,” Maineiacs’ coach J.F. Houle said.

The World Under-17 Challenge runs from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4 in Winnipeg and Portage, Manitoba. In addition to teams from five Canadian regions, squads from the United States, Germany, Finland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will also participate.

The big(ger) boys

On a larger stage, four QMJHL players — Olivier Roy of Acadie-Bathurst, Sean Couturier of Drummondville, Simon Despres of Saint John and Louis Leblanc of Montreal — are also representing Team Canada at the World Junior Championships in Buffalo this week. In addition, Ryan Bourque of the Quebec Remparts is skating for the United States.

That tournament opened Sunday. Canada won its first game, a 6-3 victory over Russia, while the U.S. needed overtime to defeat Finland, 3-2.

Leblanc and Couturier each had an assist for Canada, while Roy earned the win in net. Bourque, an assistant captain, had three shots on goal for the American squad.

Canada’s next game is Tuesday at 4 p.m., and the U.S. follows the Canadians at 8 p.m.

Tossing teddys

The Lewiston Maineiacs are once again partnering with area non-profit organizations and with State Farm insurance for the annual teddy toss.

All attendees of Thursday night’s home game against the Victoriaville Tigres are encouraged to bring as many stuffed animals as possible.

The custom is for fans to toss their teddies after the Maineiacs score their first goal of the game, with the bears then being collected as a way to help brighten the lives of area children. Students from the Geiger school will be present in the lobby offering bears in return for a small donation for those fans who cannot otherwise bring an animal of their own.

Stuffed animals to be donated to The Root Cellar, and other local youth area drop-in centers.

Road warrior partnership

Beginning Tuesday for the Maineiacs’ first game of the second half of the season, the team will begin a new partnership with Gippers Sports Grill of Auburn.

Team representatives will be on hand at Gippers for the team’s road games, and the games will be shown on the big screen. The restaurant will offer food and drink specials, and the staff will present prizes to some lucky fans in attendance.