LEWISTON – Less than half of the Lewiston Maineiacs on the bus to Rimouski on Thursday know exactly what to expect when the puck drops at the Colisee de Rimouski tonight for a game between the Maineiacs and the home-standing Oceanic.

But the veterans and coaches do.

“The fans are first-class, and it’s a great place to go play,” Maineiacs’ head coach Ed Harding said. “It’ll be a great experience, especially for our young guys.”

The building is raucous. The fans are passionate beyond most rinks in the league, and there is little separation between spectators and the players, especially on the benches, where fans sit adjacent to the players without a divider.

People cram three and four deep along the walls during warm-ups, and rush to the rails when the gates open to get the best standing room available.

And that’s during what is expected to be a third consecutive losing season, a span in which the team has fewer than 30 total wins.

“They’re passionate about their team and about their sport of hockey,” Harding said.

The home fans are also hoping for a different result from their home team than that of Tuesday’s game.

This week, Rimouski suffered a 5-2 loss to the Maineiacs in Lewiston.

In that game, Lewiston dominated the Oceanic with speed in the attacking zone, and managed three goals on six power-play chances.

The next morning, Rimouski announced the acquisition of goalie Jean-Christophe Blanchard from Victoriaville for defenseman Louis-Etienne Leblanc.

Blanchard, formerly with Moncton, has played well in his games against Lewiston.

“You have to get shots on net, that’s the bottom line,” Harding said.

Aside from that switch, both teams will be missing some key elements from the lineup. Jonathan Bernier has made Team Canada, and will be gone until at least Jan. 5.

Kevin Marshall will be in transit, and may or may not make the game in Rimouski, and Stefan Chaput, banged up in the first period against Rimouski on Tuesday, will be a game-time decision.

On the other side, Rimouski is missing several key players to a combination of world junior teams and injury.

“We didn’t know them very well,” Harding admitted. “We’ll see who’s in their lineup, too. We’ve got some guys banged up, and they’ve got some guys banged up, so that’ll be interesting.”

Faceoff for tonight’s game is at 7, and the team’s final game before the league’s holiday break – and the trade period – is Sunday at 4 p.m. in Victoriaville.