LEWISTON — It’s been a developing trend for the Lewiston Maineiacs this season. With a large number of moves over the last couple of seasons, the Maineiacs have acquired and dealt away several players who continue to play in the QMJHL. Invariably, every time the Maineiacs face a team with connections, either to current of former players, those former players tend to be thorns in the team’s side.

Jean-Francois Plante was that thorn Wednesday.

“It was pretty weird weird to see all my old teammates on the ice on the other side, but I had to focus on my own game,” Plante said. “I was pretty excited to be here, and I think it went well.”

Well? Just shy of perfect would be a better descriptor. Plante scored a pair of goals and just missed a hat trick in the third period as Shawinigan took care of Lewiston 6-0.

“It was pretty exciting, it was a tough game,” Plante said.

The 17-year-old skater, sent to Shawinigan this summer for 20-year-old forward Antoine Houde-Caron, was an on-again, off-again contributor at 16 for the Maineiacs last season.

Early in this regular season, it’s been more of the same in Shawinigan. Wednesday’s contest was just his seventh of the season. But he made it count.

“I played with more confidence,” Plante said. “When you play with (Michael) Bournival and (Yannick) Veilleux, you have to play good and you have to be confident with the puck. It was pretty easy to play with them, they know what to do, so it went pretty well.”

“I didn’t see him play much here last year.” Shawinigan coach Eric Veilleux said. “As far as I’m concerned, this season, he just has to bring more intensity, more grit to his game on a constant basis.”

“Whatever he’s going to do, he needs to do hard,” Veilleux added, “whether it be him getting the puck in the corner, blocking shots, shooting the puck, battling one-on-one, he just needs to up his level of intensity.”

Veilleux also said that perhaps this trip to Lewiston was just the springboard Plante needed.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him play,” Veilleux said. “Right away after the game I told him, ‘That’s the way you need to play to be in the lineup.'”