By Patrick King, Sportsnet.ca
The Lewiston MAINEiacs might be the scariest looking underdog team.
Last season’s Québec Major Junior Hockey League champion MAINEiacs haven’t enjoyed the same success as they did in last year’s regular season but if you ask them, that’s no reason to write them off. In fact, they couldn’t care less what label is placed on them when the playoffs begin in two weeks.
“These young kids have short memories,” said Ed Harding, the team’s head coach and general manager. “You could tell them (they are underdogs) and five minutes from now they could forget about it.”
What the returning players didn’t forget was the experience they gained in last year’s post-season run. The MAINEiacs were the most impressive in their league playoffs of the four Memorial Cup teams, going 16-1.
Despite the success they enjoyed in their league playoffs, finishing the season without a Memorial Cup championship left something to be desired this season. Although the road has been bumpier and the team has faced several more hurdles this season, the end goal has never changed.
“I want to go back to the Memorial Cup this year and win it,” defenceman Kevin Marshall said. “I’m sure all the players are going to be ready for the playoffs and want to get to the Memorial Cup this year.”
The nature of junior hockey dictates there will be turnover on each team’s roster from season to season. While the MAINEiacs expected to lose some of their key players such as Marc-André Cliche and Simon Courcelles, the early season losses of Jonathan Bernier and David Perron couldn’t have been foreseen.
Bernier began the season with the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League and spent a few weeks with the team before being sent back to juniors. The MAINEiacs, however, weren’t as fortunate where Perron was concerned.
The 19-year-old sharpshooter, who likely would have contended for the scoring crown this season, has spent the entire season with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL.
“I was so proud of David Perron and what he has done,” Harding said. “It’s our job and we’re here to move people on.”
Another person who moved on was last year’s head coach and general manager Clément Jodoin, who is now the head coach of the Rimouski Océanic. The transition from coaches can be difficult for some players to adapt to but with Harding, the team’s assistant coach the previous four seasons, it was smooth.
“Clem and Ed don’t have the same coaching style but Ed has done a tremendous job with us this year to keep our heads up high and straight up and make us better every day,” Bernier said.
Part of the reason the transition went well was because Harding has led this team before. In each of the last three seasons, Harding took over for Jodoin around Christmas time when Jodoin went on to become an assistant coach on Canada’s world junior team.
“The guys got a little taste of what I was about,” Harding said. “They knew I was a little bit tough anyway.”
As a general manager, however, some thought Harding might be a bigger mover and shaker before the trade deadline. Since the team was strong in goal with Bernier and standout sophomore Peter Delmas, many thought the team might create room for Delmas by trading Bernier, while remaining competitive.
But as Harding and the rest of the league saw in last year’s playoffs, Bernier is an all-world goaltender with the ability to shine when the game is on the line.
“I know how important a goaltender is to an organization and he is a fine young man as well,” Harding said. “We have a better chance with him in net than if we didn’t have him in net at this point.”
“He’s a pretty big key on our team but it’s not all about him because we’re always working as a team,” Marshall added. “I don’t want to feel loose about (him being there) but I mean, I know that Jonathan is behind me and I know if I make a mistake he’s going to be there for me, like I would be there for him.”
With a roster not quite as deep and talented as they were last year, Bernier will be relied on even more in this year’s playoffs. As Bernier explained, that added pressure only helps fuel his desire for a championship.
“It’s fun,” he said. “That’s why we play hockey. I like pressure. I just try to give a chance to my team to win games.”
Although last year’s run went seemingly without much adversity, winning all but one game, the returning players are well aware of how wide-open playoff hockey can be.
“In the playoffs you never know what can happen,” Marshall said. “It’s the first team to win four games so we never know, it could go on either side.”
“We have to be prepared for every game,” Bernier added.
And while this underdog team’s bark might not have been as loud this season, the rest of the league should be wary of its bite.