“It was sort of awkward and surprising, I didn’t know what to expect,” said Michael Chaput. “Columbus called me yesterday and it was pretty exciting actually.”

“Columbus saw something in me, so that’s a positive for sure.”

Chaput didn’t find out about the trade from his agent, the Blue Jackets, the Philadelphia Flyers, or the Maineiacs, but rather a family member.

“I found out after practice, my cousin texted me and he said, “I heard you got traded to Columbus,” said Chaput. “I thought it was a joke at first, but I actually went to look on the internet and it was true.”

Chaput has heard from the Columbus Blue Jackets management.

“The GM (Scott Howson), the assistant GM (Chris MacFarland), and the Director of Player Development (Don Boyd) all spoke to me and they are all happy with the trade that they made,” Chaput said.

“I am looking forward to go there this summer.”

He understands why the Flyers traded his rights.

“It’s hockey, it’s business, they do what they have to do to get players and I am not mad or anything,” Chaput said. “I am going to get the chance some where else and I will take the opportunity.”

At the end of the day, he got the chance to speak to his brother Stefan who was traded late Sunday night from the Anaheim organization to the Boston Bruins.

“We spoke to each other and we were laughing about it,” Chaput said. “It’s rare something like that happens.”

If the Maineiacs don’t make out of the first round of the playoffs and Michael Chaput gets the call to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, the Falcons play their second to last game against the Providence Bruins on April 9th.

“Being away from home in Michigan, I made the decision on my family.”

McNeely said the he only talked to Maine when he originally made the commitment to Maine. He made his commitment to the Bulldogs last January

“At the time, I wasn’t talking to any other team, it was just Maine,” he added. “I didn’t talk to any other schools before I de-committed.”

McNeely said joining the National Team Development Program, has helped him on and off the ice.

“Joining the program, I’ve gotten better multiple ways, I’ve gotten stronger, I’ve grown as a better person as well,” McNeely said.

Tim Whitehead was impressed what he saw from McNeely who was in net on the wrong side of a 5-1 game.

“He played really well,” said Tim Whitehead. “Matt kept them in the game, (especially) in the second period when were peppering him with shots and again in the third. I thought he made some great saves.”

“I think it’s a good test for us to play Montreal again in Montreal,” said Lewiston Maineiacs head coach J.F. Houle. “We’ve beat Quebec, we beat Saint John, now we got to show Montreal that we can beat (them).”

Dillon Fournier learned a lot about Montreal in the 4-3 loss on December 5th.

“Everyone said they are one of the most skilled teams in league, if not the most skilled,” Fournier added. “Knowing that we can skate with them, knowing we can do plays like they can, it helps all the boys out.”

The Maineiacs are on a two game winning streak heading into the final games against Montreal on Friday and Shawinigan on Saturday before the QMJHL shuts down for the Holiday break.

“Shawinigan always plays us tough,” Houle mentioned. “They beat us 6-0 here (in Lewiston), we still remember that one. They are a good defensive club, so we got to make sure we get pucks behind their goalie.”

Rookie forward Christophe Lalonde feels confident heading into the weekend.

“We played very well against these two teams,” said Christophe Lalonde. “They both have big guys on their teams, but we have to focus on our team. We have to play as hard as we can.”

It’s a pretty simple equation. If Drew Stafford is cleared to return for Friday’s game against Toronto than he’ll take the Rob Niedermayer’s spot in the lineup as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery, and either Stuart or Adam will return to Portland. Tim Connolly and Jochen Hecht are more day-to-day, but again, if either one is able to go on Friday than the Pirates won’t need to bring anybody in from ECHL.

It could make for interesting situation for Portland with Thanksgiving on Thursday and the Pirates getting ready for a busy weekend where they’ll be playing three games in three days for only the second time this season.

“I don’t necessarily go after people I think I can win against, it’s more of heat of the moment stuff,” said Stefan Fournier. “I play a role that requires me to be on the ice more then me being in the penalty box. When something happens or something is bothering me I like to change the momentum.”

Saturday night against Val d’Or, he had to get something off his chest. He wasn’t pleased when Adam Jones challenged and fought with the Maineiacs’ first round pick in Val d’Or. The first round pick happens to be Stefan’s younger brother, Dillon Fournier. The older Fournier changed the momentum by dropping the gloves with Jones and when it was all said and done, he had the fans on their feet.

“I had too, my brother is 16, I was kind of made at what Jones did,” the elder Fournier said. “(Saturday) , I let the coaches know that I would go with (Jones).”

Dillon knew his older brother would come to his defense.

“It’s something he told me before we came to (training) camp, if anyone touches you, I will take care of it for you,” said Dillon Fournier.

The younger Fournier also made his mark in Saturday night’s game as he potted his second goal of the season.

“We’ve been talking about that for a longtime, having one game where we did both did really well,” said Dillon. “We connected on a couple of passes and a couple of plays.”

“It was something we really wanted to do.”

Head Coach J.F. Houle is pleased on how the Fournier brother are developing.

“It’s great to see both of them playing well,” Houle said. “You can feel its a team right now in the locker room. Dillon, for a 16-year old, is a pretty special player.”

Team QMJHL drops Game One

The annual Subway Super Series got underway in Saint John, New Brunswick. Russia defeated QMJHL 5-4 in front of 6.488 fans at Harbour Station. QMJHL goal scorers were Nathan Beaulieu (Saint John), Nicholas Deslauriers (Rouyn-Noranda), Michael Bournival (Shawinigan), and Alex Saulnier (Moncton).

The series moves to Drummondville on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and can be seen on sportsnet.ca.

Russia plays two games against each of the three major junior leagues twice. The event is designed to help Hockey Canada identify players for the World Junior Championships in December and the World Under-18 Championships in Aprils.

Garrett Clarke heading to Shawingan?

L’Hebdo du St-Maurice, a Quebec newspaper is reporting the Halifax Mooseheads and the Shawinigan Cataractes are talking about a trade that would send the former Lewiston Maineiac to Shawinigan.

Clarke, 18, was one of three players Lewiston picked in the first round in 2008. The other two were Michael Chaput and Etienne Brodeur.

The report also said Clarke will join the Loups de la Tuque in the Quebec Junior AAA while he waits for a trade to go through during the Christmas trade period. It wasn’t to long ago that the Mooseheads removed Clarke from their active roster.

“It felt good,” said Etienne Brodeur after practice Monday. “My line(mates) Pierre-Olivier Morin and (Michael) Chaput were good, they got a lot of points.”

Besides leading the QMJHL in goal-scoring, he leads the “Q” in shorthanded goals (4) and is ranked in the top-10 in points in the “Q”.

“He keeps on scoring and he’s on the scoresheet all the time,” Maineiacs Head Coach J.F. Houle said. “It’s nice to see we are getting noticed by the league.”

Tyler Piercy sent back to Woodstock

The Maineiacs made a roster move Monday as the team sent 18-year old goalie Tyler Piercy back to the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime Hockey League. He was Lewiston’s back-up last week as Andrey Makarov recovered from an injury.

J.F. Houle expects Makarov to return this weekend.

Bissonnette sets his eyes for his return this weekend

J.F. Houle also confirmed Bissonnette will make his return to the ice this weekend for the two games against the Baie-Comeau.

He left the Acadie-Bathurst game on September 24th with a wrist injury.

Joniah Coonish-Coon practiced Monday wearing a non-contact jersey.

The Rochester, New Hampshire native is in his second season with the Ice. The other goalie will be Zane Gothberg, a sixth round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2010 and a North Dakota recruit.

Huard also 19, will be playing in his second World Junior “A” Challenge where he had a goal and an assist in last year’s event. With the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime Hockey League this season, he has 12 goals and 12 assists in 13 games. The Woodstock Slammers are ranked 6th in the latest Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Top 20 rankings.

He played half season with the Maineiacs in 2008-2009 where he had three assists. Last season he played in four games scoring two goals and adding a pair of helpers.

Team USA won last year’s event by defeating Canada West in the Gold Medal Game.

Notes: Speaking of Indiana Ice goaltenders, their back-up is South Portland native Jon Gillies. The 16-year old is committed to Northeastern for either the 2012 or 2013 season. His father is Bruce Gillies who played for New Hampshire from 1980-1985.

“When I went up on my visit, I felt like it was the right place to commit and they are in Hockey East,” Leen said.

He also describes himself as an offensive forward.

“I am definitely an offensive minded forward,” he added. “I’ve been working on the defensive zone this year especially with Coach Hunt. I like to create plays in the offensive zone and make things happen.”

He was named the Eastern Junior Hockey League’s offensive player of the week for the week of October 7th to October 13th. In that time, he had two goals and for assists in three games.

Right now he’s unsure if he will be with the Black Bears in 2011 or in 2012.

“It’s up to the coaches, it all depending on my progression this year,” he added. “Hopefully it’s 2011, but if it is 2012, I will work on my body, getting bigger, stronger, and faster.”

What’s it like to play against a future teammates

Brian Harris of the Junior Bruins went up against four future teammates last weekend. He and the rest of his Bruins teammates lost Saturday to Connor Leen and the New Jersey Hitmen 5-0. On Sunday the Junior Bruins lost to the Junior Monarchs 6-4.

“It’s nice to know we will be teammates later on down the road,” Harris said.

Jake Rutt doesn’t pay attention if he’s playing against future teammates.

“It’s fun, but when you are on the ice, you don’t really think about that,” Rutt said. (Harris) is on the other team, in a couple years he will be on my team which is great because he’s a great player.”

Harris and Cam Brown were teammates last season with the Boston Advantages of the Tier I Elite League.

“It’s always fun playing against each other,” Harris added.

Cam Brown Update

Speaking of Brown, who will miss three weeks due to Mono, was lighting the EJHL up. In nine games he had four goals and five assists.

“He’s been great, he’s an entertaining player to watch,” said New Hampshire Junior Monarchs Head Coach Sean Tremblay. “He’s like an Adam Shemansky up (at Maine), little bit on the smaller side, but he knows how to create space. He’s incredible gifted with the puck and skilled. He will be a great hockey player.”

“I was really focused coming into the week and the results came along with that.”

He had a 1.33 goals-against average and had a 944 save percentage. He stopped 67 of the 71 shots he faced in those three games.

“It’s really good for his confidence, and he made all the key saves,” said Lewiston Maineiacs head coach J.F. Houle said. “Whenever we needed a big save to keep us in the game, he made it. When your goalie plays well, we have a good chance to win. ”

Nicolas Champion will have the night off when the Maineiacs take on the Shawinigan Cataractes Wednesday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“I am going to gave a chance to (Andrey Makarov) tomorrow,” Houle added. “I think it’s his turn and he has been good in practice. He’s been good throughout the year and he’s a young goalie, he needs to learn.

Injury news

Jonah Coonishish-Coon was seen walking around the rink Tuesday with a sling around an arm. Houle wouldn’t comment how long he will be out, but the injury happened this weekend. Cameron Critchlow who was hit in the mouth a couple times this weekend is ready to go against Shawinigan.

Super Series Roster Announced

The annual two game series against the Russian National Junior Team is around the corner. The CHL and the QMJHL announced the Q roster for the games on November 8th and 10th. No Maineiacs were selected to participate. The event is part of the selection process of Canada’s World Junior Team.

Another coach given his walking papers

The Halifax Mooseheads announced Monday owner Bobby Smith will take the coaching reigns from Cam Russell. Russell will remain the team’s general manager and director of player personal. Smith, the number one overall pick in the 1978 NHL draft spent 16 seasons in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars and the Montreal Canadiens.