LEWISTON – They came, they chose their seats, they listened.

And asked questions. Lots of them.

With topics ranging from the just-released schedule, to recent trade rumors, to poor officiating, the Lewiston Maineiacs capped their first select-a-seat event Thursday with a town hall meeting with the front office staff.

“This is easily the best-attended and most successful select-a-seat event I”ve been a part of,” Lewiston president and coach Don MacAdam said, addressing the assembled crowd of about 75 in the Shipyard Lounge at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. “We were coming in here with a modest goal, and we ended up selling 18 packages tonight.”

The informal meeting – more like a question-and-answer session – began tentatively. People in the crowd wanted to know how MacAdam and GM Roger Shannon intended to build a winning team.

“The most important thing is character,” MacAdam said. “It’s all about balance, but if a player isn’t a character player, there’s no place for him on the team.”

MacAdam danced around a few questions concerning recently-reported (but officially unconfirmed) trades involving five Lewiston players, but did confirm that in the annual Canadian Hockey Import Draft, during which teams from all three leagues in the CHL select European skaters, the Maineiacs would again be making a trade.

“As you know, it’s very difficult, and very costly, to bring in the top European players,” MacAdam said. “Telling you more than you need to know, we’ve reached an agreement with another team to trade our Euro-draft pick (No. 7 overall) for three regular draft picks, and the we plan on sending some of those picks somewhere else for another good player.”

MacAdam also hinted that the team was looking at a 6-foot, 6-inch player as a free agent, though he stopped short of any more details.

Team officials also announced Thursday a three-year partnership with Jamey Bourgoin and Blue Line Sporting Goods to manage the team’s merchandise sales at the Colisee. Also, with the announcement of the schedule, the team also unveiled a few of the specialty nights the team is planning for next season, including a “Pink in the Rink” night to support Breast Cancer Awareness and a veterans’ night.

The Maineiacs will select third in next week’s QMJHL entry draft, and, pending trades being made official, will also select 11th overall in the first round.