LEWISTON – With cuts looming less than 48 hours away, the players remaining on the Lewiston Maineiacs’ active roster will have two more chances to prove why they should stay with the team past Friday night.
The Maineiacs open up a two-game set at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tonight at 7, and the team expects to cut to 25 players following the second game Friday night.
“We want to be able to look at the rookies,” said Maineiacs’ head coach and general manager Clem Jodoin. “We want the fans to see the players who have to battle for positions on the team, give them a chance to see for themselves who should and should not make the team this year. We have two more games to make our final analysis.”
Bathurst, meanwhile, will likely bring a much better lineup than it displayed to its home fans in a pair of losses to Lewiston last week. In both games, the Maineiacs bested the Titan 5-2.
“They will have a different roster this time,” said Jodoin. “But still, we want to take a look at the rookies.”
Another adjustment Jodoin is hoping to see is in the way of penalties – both from his players and from the league’s officials. Though not critical, pre se, of the officiating in Tuesday’s night’s win over Shawinigan, Jodoin conceded that the referees will have to take time to adjust to the new, two-referee system.
“It’s an adjustment for the referees and for the players, too,” said Jodoin. “We have to know that the sticks have to stay on the ice. We can’t get the sticks up in the air.”
The league decided earlier this week that half of the regular-season games this year, and all of the playoffs, will employ a two-referee system, similar to that in place at the National Hockey League level. Each team is guaranteed that at least 30 of their 70 games will be officiated by two referees.
For now, though, the Maineiacs and Jodoin insist that this is still preseason, and that the games’ outcomes will matter less than the performance of the players.
“They are still fighting to be on this team,” said Jodoin. “Their performance on the ice, that is what matters.”
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