By DJ Abisalih

The Lewiston MAINEiacs play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), which is a piece of an even bigger pie, known as the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The CHL has 59 teams, which are broken into three different leagues – the QMJHL, Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL). Each team consists of players ranging from 16-20 years old, with each squad being limited to two 20-year olds and two European players.

When the three leagues complete their regular seasons, they each begin a postseason tournament like the one you would see in leagues such as the NHL and NBA. In the QMJHL, the league champion receives the President’s Cup. However, the road doesn’t end there. The three league champions join a host city, where they compete to be Canada’s national champion. The winner of that tournament takes home the Memorial Cup – the most prestigious trophy in junior hockey.

Approximately one month after the Memorial Cup, the NHL Draft takes place, where players from the CHL join others from around the globe, hoping to hear their names called by an NHL franchise. This past summer, 107 of the 210 picks came from the CHL, including the first eight selections of the draft. The CHL has produced the first overall pick in four consecutive years, and that selection has come out of the QMJHL twice in the last decade – Marc-Andre Fleury in 2003 and Sidney Crosby in 2005. Fleury and Crosby both laced up their skates at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, with Fleury playing for Cape Breton, and Crosby playing for Rimouski.

In 2009, Fleury and Crosby played together for the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins – a team loaded with former members of the CHL. Defenseman Kristopher Letang was a member of the Val-d’Or Foreurs, who lost in the 2007 President’s Cup Final to the Lewiston MAINEiacs. Forward Maxime Talbot played his junior hockey with the Gatineau Olympiques, winning the scoring title in Lewiston’s inaugural season of 2003-04. Talbot scored both goals for Pittsburgh in the seventh and deciding game of that Stanley Cup Final.

But what about the hometown Lewiston MAINEiacs? The MAINEiacs have certainly made noise at the NHL Draft, producing at least one selection in each of their first seven years in Lewiston. However, the QMJHL’s lone American franchise took it one step further, producing a first round pick in four straight years from 2004-07. Lewiston’s highest selection was Alexandre Picard, who was taken eighth overall by Columbus in 2004. He was followed by Alex Bourret, who was picked 16th overall by Atlanta in 2005, Jonathan Bernier, who was selected 11th overall by Los Angeles in 2006, and David Perron, who heard his name called 26th by St. Louis in 2007. Last season, was Bernier named the top goaltender in the American Hockey League. Meanwhile, Perron has 48 goals, 76 assists, and 124 points in 225 career NHL games.

This season, the MAINEiacs have two NHL draft picks on their roster. Forward Michael Chaput was picked 89th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers, and defenseman Samuel Carrier was selected by the Washington Capitals with the 176th overall pick. Moncton’s Brandon Gormley was the highest pick out of the QMJHL, going 13th overall to the Phoenix Coyotes. You can catch him and 21 other picks from the 2010 NHL Draft in action at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee this winter!