LEWISTON – Cars pulling into the Androscoggin Bank Colisee Saturday night carried some puzzled people through a barren parking lot. Families walking up to the locked doors stared at the white printed signs taped there for patrons to read.

“I thought this parking lot looked a little more empty than usual,” one fan said.

The signs on the door stated what had become obvious: There would be no Lewiston Maineiacs’ game on this night.

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, the Maineiacs’ scheduled opponents Saturday, were stranded on Route 2 just outside of Jefferson, N.H., when their bus broke down.

“We broke down one time, got it going, and then stopped a second time,” Rouyn-Noranda coach Andre Tourigny said in a telephone interview.

The Huskies’ coach informed the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, which then turned around and called the Maineiacs’ staff.

Originally, the game was considered delayed. A passing truck driver stopped and helped fix the beleaguered bus, and sent the team on its way. The original plan, Harding said, was to delay the start of the game until 8:30 or 9 p.m.

But the bus still wouldn’t cooperate, and it broke down again.

The Maineiacs, league and Colisee officials agreed to postpone the game until 1 p.m. today.

“At that point, there was no way to get anybody there to pick them up and get them here in time to have the game start at any reasonable hour,” Maineiacs’ president Matt McKnight said. “We rescheduled it for (this) afternoon at one o’clock, because we certainly didn’t want to go up against the Patriots’ game at four.”

Colisee and Maineiacs’ officials said Saturday that any tickets for Saturday’s game will be honored today, and that anyone with a ticket who cannot make today’s game can exchange the ticket for a flex ticket, good for any other regular-season Maineiacs game.

By 7 p.m., Tourigny said his team was back on the road, but for how long, he didn’t know.

“We are about 80 kilometers (48 miles) away from the rink,” Tourigny said. “Our hope is to get to the hotel and get some rest.”

The Maineiacs’ players, meanwhile, didn’t get the night off. In lieu of the game, they suited up for an hour-long practice.

“It’s a chance to do something,” Harding said. “We have a chance to work on a few things. It’s not going to be hard, but it’s a chance to work on things.”

Harding wasn’t bitter or disappointed about the whole situation either, concerning himself more with making sure the Huskies were safe for the night.

“We’ve had some interesting situation in travel ourselves,” Harding said. “We were just trying to guide Rouyn-Noranda in. Our guys are going to be ready to play, too.”

And on the bright side, Harding had very little with which to find fault among his own players.

“I can honestly say, none of our players made any mistakes tonight,” Harding said. “That’s pretty good, right?”

Colisee and Maineiacs’ officials said Saturday that any tickets for Saturday’s game will be honored today, and that anyone with a ticket who cannot make today’s game can exchange the ticket for a flex ticket, good for any other regular-season Maineiacs game.