The Lewiston Maineiacs, knowing full well Mother Nature was going to be less-than-kind to Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada Friday, loaded up and tried to beat the storm out of town Friday morning.

It almost worked.

The team found smooth sailing to Fredericton, New Brunswick. There, the team stopped for a practice at the Aitken Centre on the campus of the University of New Brunswick, and for a meal, courtesy of team general manager Roger Shannon’s family.

The team’s radio voice, D.J. Abisalih, sent out another update in an occasional series of ‘road report s,’ detailing the team’s post-holiday Thanksgiving-like feast.

“We were treated to a meal that was reminiscent of one that you would see on your dinner table at Thanksgiving,” Abisalih wrote. “The meal consisted of chicken breast fresh off of the bone, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, salad, rolls, and some delicious treats for dessert. Lois Shannon (Roger’s mom and Zach’s grandmother) was the woman responsible for the fine cuisine.”

As a token of thanks, the team presented Mrs. Shannon with a team-autographed jersey.

The rest of the trip wasn’t so friendly, thanks again to old friend Mother Nature. A trip that should have taken the team about two-and-a-half hours took the better part of four as the bus encountered snow-covered highways. According to Abisalih, some of the team’s staff had to exit the bus intermittently to clean the windshield and bang out the wipers.

The team finally arrived in Bathurst, site of Saturday’s contest against the Titan, later at night. The Maineiacs were able to wake up Saturday for a morning skate, as scheduled.

Checking the stats

It’s been a couple of years since anyone following the Lewiston Maineiacs has had to keep up with the statistics at the top of most of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League statistical categories. The team’s success this season has made stat-watching a bit more fun for the Maineiacs’ faithful.

The easy one to find for Lewiston is in the goal-scoring column. Etienne Brodeur has scored 38 goals this season, six better than second-place Philip-Michael Devos, now of Gatineau. Brodeur also ranks eighth in points league-wide with 62, three shy of Pierre-Olivier Morin’s team-leading total of 65 points from a year ago.

Goaltender Nicholas Champion ranks sixth overall in the league in goaltending among goalies with more than 20 games played, and he’s second overall in total wins with 22.

Cole Hawes tops all rookies in shooting percentage, scoring six times on 25 shots this season (24 percent), and Olivier Dame-Malka is second in goal-scoring by defensemen with 13, and fourth in points by a defenseman with 36.

Sam Finn is second among defensemen and fourth overall in plus-minus at a plus-31.