For a team rated to finish so high in the league standings, Rimouski is hurting.

And Lewiston will try to take advantage of that, at least for one night.

The Maineiacs will go into their season-opener with a slight edge, on paper, over visiting Rimouski, as the Oceanic will be without eight players who are invited to NHL camps. Lewiston, by contrast, will miss just three for the home-opener (Androscoggin Bank Colisee, 7 p.m.), and five for the next night.

The Maineiacs skated an up-tempo morning skate Friday morning, and even coach J.F. Houle got into the spirit with a rough drill for himself to cap the practice. The team appeared fluid, and the goalies all looked about as sharp as they needed to be.

A few lineup notes for Lewiston for tonight’s game: With Christophe Lalonde on the shelf with a five-game suspension, there is room only for one healthy scratch at tonight’s games, and that will be forward Marc-Antoine Rousseau. He’ll sit as Jonah Coonishish-Coon will start on the fourth line, alongside Cole Hawes and Alex Zafiris.

Jess Tanguy is healthy enough to play this weekend, which is good news fore the team. He’ll slot in on the second line with Antoine Houde-Caron and Francis Beauvillier. Look for the Lac St. Louis trio to get top billing while they’re all still in town, with Henley, Critchlow and Brodeur slotting in as the third option.

Defensively, the team will be on an adventure this weekend, missing its top two blueliners to camps.

“I don’t care what team you are,” Houle said. “Missing your top two defensemen is hard to deal with.”

Lewiston will skate a pair of 16-year-olds, Brayden Wood and Dillon Fournier, on the blue line, to go with Olivier Dame-Malka (20), Ian Saab (18), Zach Evans-Renaud (18) and Zach Shannon (18).

Houle would not officially say who will start the 2010-11 season in net for Lewiston.

A few notes

• The QMJHL launched its new Web site Thursday, and is still working out a lot of the bugs. The site is cleaner, and more functional, and has a lot of bells and whistles, and when it is completed, it looks like it will be pretty solid.

• Richard Martel, the head coach of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, will become a part of QMJHL history tonight. The coach will direct his 1,122nd game in the league, making him the longest-serving head coach in league history.

• The Maineiacs’ and Oceanic’s problem with invited players isn’t limited to those teams. In all, 91 QMJHL players have either been drafted or invited to professional training or rookie camps over the next couple of weeks.