The Lewiston Maineiacs’ detour to Summerside this weekend following a pair of games against the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown is more of a mission of good will than it is a signal that the team is moving there, Maineiacs’ president and governor Bill Schurman said Thursday.

Word leaked out this week that the United States’ lone entry in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team had planned a trip to Summerside, PEI, one of the cities actively seeking to acquire a QMJHL franchise. The Maineiacs have been the subject of relocation rumors for several years now, and though the league’s imposed deadline to submit a request for relocation has passed this year, there is speculation that the team is still looking for a way out. This week’s news did nothing to squelch those talks.

Officials in Summerside confirmed Thursday that the team will, indeed, be visiting.

“On Saturday they’re in Charlottetown and will play the game down there and on Saturday they’re going to come up and stay here,” Summerside Chief Administrative Officer Terry Murphy told the Journal Pioneer newspaper. “This is a chance to get to expose the area and a chance to show them around and the rest of the people that are in the Q the good things we have here.”

In an e-mail reply to the Sun Journal on Thursday, Schurman explained that the visit, while an odd coincidence, is nothing more than a goodwill mission.

“As a result of my connections to the tourism industry (in PEI), I can house and feed the team in Summerside for at rates where we can afford, thus giving us a good sleep, a good breakfast a chance to show our team where four of us were born,” Schurman wrote. “And to drive over the confederation bridge in daylight so players can see one of the wonders of the world … Also I had a close friend who was active in all levels of hockey, died recently at a young age. In Borden, PEI, there is a tournament in his honor and we’ll stop there as a team to pay respects to his family.

“We will also meet some former NHLers for a meal with the team, which is something I arrange every chance I get,” he added.

Lewiston is playing three games in three nights on Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning in Halifax and ending with a pair against the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown.

Instead of returning directly to Lewiston after Saturday’s contest, the team is scheduled to stay in a Summerside hotel, meet with the mayor of Summerside and tour Credit Union Place, the city’s recently-built state-of-the-art arena, which Maineiacs’ president and governor Bill Schurman used to manage.

There has been plenty of speculation this season that the Maineiacs — and other teams in the QMJHL — have been exploring a move. The PEI Rocket and Acadie-Bathurst Titan have also been rumored to be for sale, or looking to relocate. Popular rumors had the Rocket relocating to Sherbrooke, with the Maineiacs sliding into Summerside behind them.

“Obviously we’ve been trying to court a Quebec league team and they (the Maineiacs) are one of the teams that were considering moving at one time,” Murphy told CBC news. “Someday we will have a Q team here. You put out the bait and you hope someone catches the fish.”

According to the QMJHL, the deadline has passed for any team movement this year, but many people in the sport believe the deadline of Jan. 31 was a “soft date,” and that a move could still occur.

Murphy told the Journal Pioneer that he has heard of no movement by any teams and hasn’t been in discussion with any of them since the deadline passed.

“The Island is 140 miles long,” Schurman wrote. “If we did not visit, it would be less than polite. We will be very proud to show our team where we come from and if we can help in anyway to promote the community while there, we will not hesitate.

As the only U.S. based team in the Q, we are also visiting Province house, Charlottetown City hall, the Premier’s office and hospitals in both Charlottetown and Summerside promoting our state, the sport and adding character to our players.

“(We) can’t stop people from thinking what they want to think, however this is what we normally do when I am on the road. Our next home games are March 11 and 13, and our playoff packages are now on sale.”