Their franchise was granted for the 1969–70 season. They played in
Trois-Rivières,
Quebec, from 1969 to 1992. They were known as the
Ducs from 1969 to 1973, and as the
Draveurs from 1973 to 1992. They moved to
Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1992 to become the
Faucons (1992–1998) and the
Castors (1998–2003). The Castors moved to
Lewiston, Maine, in 2003. The MAINEiacs clinched the
Jean Rougeau Trophy for first overall in the regular season for
2006–07. During the same season, Lewiston increased its annual attendance totals to 94,903 tickets sold. In the playoffs that year, Lewiston went 16–1 to cruise to their first
President's Cup.
2007 Memorial Cup After winning the 2007 President's Cup, the MAINEiacs won eligibility to play in the
2007 Memorial Cup in
Vancouver,
British Columbia. Following an opening win over the
Medicine Hat Tigers, the MAINEiacs suffered a huge loss with the injury of their captain,
Marc-André Cliche, and never really found their scoring touch. They crashed out of the tournament in fourth place after losing consecutive games to the
Vancouver Giants,
Plymouth Whalers, and the Whalers again in the tie-breaker, scoring only three goals in three games in the process. ;Scores • Saturday, May 19: Lewiston 3,
Medicine Hat Tigers 1 • Sunday, May 20:
Vancouver Giants 2, Lewiston 1 • Tuesday, May 22:
Plymouth Whalers 2, Lewiston 1 (OT) • Thursday, May 24:
Plymouth Whalers 5, Lewiston 1
Sale and aborted relocation On January 25, 2009, it was announced that the MAINEiacs were negotiating with the city of
Boisbriand, Quebec (a suburb of
Montreal), in hopes of relocating the franchise for the 2009–10 season. Under the plan, Mark Just would remain majority owner with 51% of the shares, with former NHL defenseman Joel Bouchard owning the rest. On January 31, the team announced that they had filed their intent to relocate, and had submitted papers to do so to the QMJHL. In a January 31 media release announcing the move of the MAINEiacs franchise, owner Mark Just said that community support for the team was a major consideration. During the six seasons since the team moved from
Sherbrooke, Quebec, to Lewiston, the MAINEiacs never managed to break even. However, on February 2, Farrel Miller, owner of the QMJHL's
Montreal Junior Hockey Club, issued a statement that his team would fight the MAINEiacs move to Boisbriand on territorial grounds. :
The Montreal Junior Hockey Club has communicated to the QMJHL that it will retain, without modification, its exclusive geographic territory that it acquired in connection with its 2008 Franchise Agreement with the QMJHL. On January 21, 2009, the Montreal Junior Hockey Club communicated to the Governors of the QMJHL that (i) it has chosen to retain its exclusive territory without modification and (ii) that it is not seeking any financial compensation in connection with this issue. After several weeks of negotiations with a number of Canadian cities (most notably
Fredericton,
New Brunswick), MAINEiacs Head Coach Don Macadam announced on March 24, 2009, that the MAINEiacs would be remaining in Lewiston. In June 2010, Lewiston businessman Paul Spellman became minority owner of the team, and in early August 2010, former
Moncton Wildcats General Manager Bill Schurman was named as the team's Sports Management Consultant. However, relocation rumors continued to follow the team, with
Summerside, Prince Edward Island (where Schurman, a native of that town, had recently been the municipality's Director of Community Services), and
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, named as a potential destinations in January 2011. Schurman's denials of the team looking into a Summerside relocation proved unconvincing, and the rumours had a negative effect on attendance. However, Schurman's dream of moving the MAINEiacs to his home city ultimately failed, as a preliminary exploration to gauge support for a move to Summerside found little traction. The team then began to look at other possibilities, but found that few other relocation options existed.
Takeover by league and disbanding On May 31, 2011, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League held a conference call to prepare an offer to purchase the team from Mark Just for 3.5 million dollars. Under the league's plan, the MAINEiacs would then be disbanded, with players being selected by other clubs in a dispersal draft. Late on May 31, the league issued a press release confirming the sale of the MAINEiacs to the league, and the subsequent disbanding / dispersal draft occurred the following week. Colisée stated they would search for a replacement team from outside of the QMJHL to take the MAINEiacs place. The Lewiston franchise was disbanded by the QMJHL in the summer of 2011. To replace the defunct MAINEiacs club, the
Sherbrooke Phoenix were scheduled to begin play for the 2012–13 season, the 3rd franchise to call Sherbrooke home in 25 years. The City of Lewiston and the Androscoggin Bank Colisée would end up getting the
American Hockey League's Portland Pirates to move to the Colisée for the
2013–14 season after disputing their lease with the
Cumberland County Civic Center in
Portland. Starting in 2019, the
NAHL Maine Nordiques and their partner organization, the
NA3HL Lewiston-Auburn Nordiques, began play at the Colisée. ==Coaches==