LEWISTON — Cameron Critchlow waited until the last drill was finished. A handful of players worked on individual skills, and the Lewiston Maineiacs players scratched from tonight’s tilt against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan skated hard during another set of drills.

Critchlow and Stefan Fournier made their way to the visitors’ bench at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, where they leaned against the boards and began speaking with an interested visitor.

There, awaiting their own turn to skate on the Colisee ice, were the Titan, and head coach Ron Choules.

“He’s one of the good guys in the league,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “Ron is a great person and a great coach.”

Choules has, at one time or another, coached no fewer than five current members of the Lewiston Maineiacs — Critchlow, Fournier, Jess Tanguy, Olivier Dame-Malka and Nicholas Champion — all of whom arrived in Lewiston via trade within the last couple of seasons.

Critchlow, this year’s captain, spoke with Choules for a while and shared a few laughs, and then skated off.

“It’s exciting to go up against them,” Critchlow said. “I am looking forward to it.”

The 19-year-old forward played 40 games last season for Acadie-Bathurst last season before Lewiston acquired him — and Tanguy — for Sebastien Trudeau and Luke Dillman. With the Titan, he netted four goals and added 10 assists for 14 points.

Dame-Malka, a 20-year-old defenseman, played 64 games last season for the Titan, contributing nine goals and 21 assists to go with 108 penalty minutes.

Champion also suited up in 26 games for the Titan last season before the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies added the keeper at the trade deadline for their run at a title.

Fournier played in 40 games for the Titan in 2008-09 as a 16-year-old before suffering a season-ending injury.

Scratches

A little bit of extra time on the ice after a morning skate likely means you’re not playing in the game at night.

Barring any major shift in philosophy, or any last-minute changes by the coaching staff, scratches for Friday’s game will be Christophe Lalonde (suspension), Jonah Coonishish-Coon (illness) and Ian Saab (healthy). Also, given that Nicholas Champion came off the ice first while Andrey Makarov remained on the ice for the extra drills, we can infer that Champion will likely get the nod between the pipes Friday.

Other news and notes, assembled by the Maineiacs’ PR team

Learning the Opposition

Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Established in 1998

1 President’s Cup (1999)

Notable Alumni – Francois Beauchemin, Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Girard, Danny Groulx, Mathieu Perreault

NHL Draft Picks

5-D-Jeremie Blain (Edmonton)

67-F-David Gilbert (Chicago)

31-G-Olivier Roy (Edmonton)

Who to Watch for

12-F-Gabriel Levesque (2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points in 5 games)

91-F-Jonathan Lessard (4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points in 3 games)

56-D-Olivier Hotte (1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points in 5 games)

63-D-Sebastien Payette (1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points in 5 games)

33-G-Dereck Tait (4-1, 2.63 GAA, .912 Sv% in 5 games)

Special Teams

Lewiston Power Play: 3-for-12 (25.0%), T-8th

Acadie-Bathurst Power Play: 10-for-32 (31.2%), 4th

Lewiston Penalty Kill: 17-for-23 (73.9%), T-12th

Acadie-Bathurst Penalty Kill: 29-for-31 (93.5%), 2nd

Who’s Hot for the Maineiacs

27-F-Cameron Critchlow (3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points in 4 games)

73-F-Matthew Bissonnette (2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points in 3 games)

44-D-Olivier Dame-Malka (1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points in 4 games)

31-G-Nicholas Champion (1-0, 3.00 GAA, .893 Sv% in 1 game)

Maineiacs Who Have Returned from NHL Training Camps

73-F-Matthew Bissonnette (Philadelphia)

55-D-Samuel Carrier (Washington)

31-G-Nicholas Champion (Montreal)

26-F-Michael Chaput (Philadelphia)

19-F-Pierre-Olivier Morin (Vancouver)