Patrick King

The Lewiston MAINEiacs may soon be relocating, just don’t expect it to be to Montreal.

The Québec Major Junior Hockey League’s only American-based franchise is on life support and reports have surfaced that majority team owner, Mark Just, is looking at other viable markets for his team.

The popular destination in some reports is Boisbriand, a northern part of Montreal, Que.

While another junior team could certainly survive in the Montreal area, which has more than 3.5 million habitants, such a move would need to be approved by Montreal’s current team, the Juniors.

Montreal Juniors owner Farrel Miller and MAINEiacs owner Just weren’t available to comment on the reports as the QMJHL’s relocation deadline for next season is this Saturday.

Chances of another team landing Montreal are slim to none.

The Juniors are playing their first season in Montreal after Miller bought and relocated the former St. John’s Fog Devils last season. Approving the relocation of another team into the same market would simply be bad business on the part of the Juniors, who in just one season are still in the process of identifying with fans in the city.

Through 23 games, the Juniors have averaged 3,101 fans per game, which ranks them behind smaller markets such as Cape Breton, Rimouski and Chicoutimi to name a few. And since the 3,101 is more than 1,000 under their capacity, it’s obvious there are still in-roads to be made for the team in the city, not to mention the intense competition that would arise over marketing and sponsorship.

For these reasons allowing another team in their territory makes little to no sense for a team still in its infancy and working towards building their support in the community.

If the MAINEiacs won’t be playing in Lewiston next season, some of the other more attractive destinations could be Fredericton, N.B. or St. John’s, NF.

Although Fredericton has never been home to a team from the QMJHL, it has housed the American Hockey League as recently as 1999 when they were the Montreal Canadiens’ farm team.

The city is also home to a booming post-secondary student population exceeding 50,000.

A new rink would help the cause in Fredericton but the fan support could be there quickly. Provincial rivalries with Saint John, Moncton and Bathurst would make this appealing, particularly given that Saint John and Moncton are both within a two-hour drive.

Then there’s St. John’s, the former home of the Montreal Juniors.

The market can certainly support a team. In their three years in St. John’s, the Fog Devils home attendance averages were 3,928 in Year One, 3,666 in Year Two and 3,533 in their final year, seventh highest in the league in each season.

Mile One Stadium in St. John’s would immediately qualify as one of the newer and better arenas in the league with a capacity exceeding 6,000.

It’s also possible that a different ownership group in St. John’s could have a better result.

If the Lewiston MAINEiacs’ number is up, it will be the end of another American experiment in the QMJHL.

Previously, Plattsburgh, N.Y. became home to the first American-based franchise with the coincidental name, the Pioneers. The team survived just 17 games in the 1984-1985 season, folding after a combination of poor on-ice results and lackluster attendance.

The Pioneers lost each game, earning one point by virtue of an overtime loss.

Lewiston appeared like a destination that could be successful. The team has been in operation for six seasons since relocating from Sherbrooke, Que. in 2003.

The MAINEiacs’ program had been successful in the first few years of its existence, ultimately winning the league title in 2007.

In fact, they were just over a minute away from the Memorial Cup final in Vancouver until the Ontario Hockey League champion Plymouth Whalers tied their final round robin game and won it in overtime.

Lewiston then lost to those same Whalers in the tie-breaker game as their season came to an end.

Lewiston has produced several highly-touted prospects over the years. The team had one of their players taken in the first round of the National Hockey League draft following each season, with the exception of last year.

Some of those first round picks were players such as Alexandre Picard, Jonathan Bernier and David Perron.

Their highest pick in last year’s draft, goalie Peter Delmas, was a second-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche. He also became on Dec. 6 one of only three goalies to score a goal in the QMJHL.

Like St. John’s, the travel from Lewiston has been difficult. The team’s closest road game is Drummondville, more than five hours away by bus, including a stop through customs at the border.

The league hoped that planting a team in Lewiston would help make in-roads with American talent in the North East of the United States. Unfortunately, the league wasn’t able to draw high-profile players to the same extent that the Western Hockey League and Ontario League have.

So while it appears the league’s only American-based franchise is possibly playing its final season in Lewiston, a move to Montreal is not a likely outcome.