LEWISTON – While it seems to have dropped from public view, at least in recent months, the issue of drugs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has not entirely disappeared.

Last year, a report rocked the league by suggesting that between 50 and 60 percent of all players in the league used some form of performance-enhancing drugs.

At the time, league president Gilles Courteau announced the league’s intentions to study the issue and fix whatever problem there may be, while denouncing the severity of the problem itself.

At a recent league governor’s meeting, the issue resurfaced, with the discussion focused on the best way to implement such a procedure.

“The league did not determine there was a problem, but felt that it would be prudent to be proactive in addressing the issue,” said Maineiacs’ vice president and governor Matt McKnight.

“Over the past year the league has been working on a policy that is essentially done. Now we have to work out some of the more intricate issues.”

According to McKnight, the policy is based largely on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s guidelines.

“The issues we have left to address have more to do with implementing it,” said McKnight. “The policy itself is pretty cut and dry.”

McKnight and the other governors are concerned with ruining a player’s career by announcing publicly – and they would be required to – the name of a player that tested positive.

“Two years down the road, people won’t remember that a player tested positive for Sudafed or Creatine or something worse,” said McKnight. “All people will remember is the positive test. It could ruin a kid’s chances for the future, and that’s not what we’re about.”

New teams?

The possibility that the QMJHL will expand is, according to McKnight, very real.

At the governor’s meetings recently, there was an item on the agenda that included interest by two markets to create and operate new teams within the league. St. John, New Brunswick and St. John’s, Newfoundland both have groups that have submitted proposals to begin a franchise in those cities.

“At the meetings, (Courteau) suggested a separate owner’s meeting to discuss this at greater length,” said McKnight. “The discussion would have been to in depth for our short meetings in August. They are looking at meeting potentially in October to discuss that issue by itself.”

In St. John, there are apparently two groups looking to begin a team, while in Newfoundland, the American Hockey League team affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs is leaving, and the ownership group there is trying to immediately fill the void with a Q team.

The case in Newfoundland is particularly interesting because the team would have to subsidize travel to the rest of the league because the only way to effectively get to St. John’s is by plane.

Staying put

Going to a game in Halifax may require a different road map this season. Or maybe not.

According to previously published reports, the Halifax Mooseheads and officials from the Metro Centre, where they have played since the building opened, could not reach an agreement on a new lease, and the Mooseheads opted to play at the Halifax Forum, an 85-year-old facility that seats just 5,500 people for hockey.

On Thursday, more reports surfaced saying that the team and the Metro Centre did in fact come to terms late Wednesday, and the team will remain as the arena’s primary tenant. The dispute arose because the arena was taking a larger percentage of the team’s profits than the team was willing to give under the old lease.

The Metro Centre seats nearly 10,000 fans, and the Mooseheads had been averaging more than 7,600 fans at every home game last season.

The Mooseheads also have a season-ticket base of nearly 5,000 fans.

Get em now

According to the Maineiacs’ front office, more than a quarter of this year’s group of flex pack holders has already been in to exchange their coupons for seats to games this season. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week were flex pack-exclusive days for purchasing tickets.

Starting on Tuesday (The office will be closed for Labor Day), the Maineiacs will begin selling tickets to the general public for all home games, including the team’s home opener on Oct. 1.