As announced in Tuesday’s Lewiston Sun Journal, Head Coach and General Manager Clem Jodoin announced his resignation and will not return to the team for a fourth year. Having delivered on his promise of a championship for the franchise, the hockey operations leader decided for family personal reasons that it was time for a change. In typicial Jodoin fashion, it was all about “we” just as it has been in his three seasons in charge of the team.

With his departure being a shock to many in MAINEiacs Nation, I submit this. You can’t help but be happy for him.

Three years ago, Jodoin took a franchise that lacked direction after its first season in Lewiston after the move and gave it an overhaul. It all started on draft day in 2004 at the Henry Leondard Centre in Baie-Comeau, with the selections of Jonathan Bernier, Stefan Chaput, Marc-Andre Daneau and Eric Castonguay. Roughly three weeks later, Jodoin would select Jaroslav Halak and Michal Korenko in the CHL Import Draft. Jodoin had a vision for his team, build from the crease out, and speed, speed, speed. That philosophy was apparent in his first training camp, as guys that couldn’t move their legs were shown the door.

Jodoin was a visionary. He knew that with the tighter rule enforcement that the NHL implemented would have a trickle down affect on the lower leagues. Soon, the American Hockey League would adopt the NHL philosophy, and the QMJHL was the first under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella to jump on board. He knew the game was going to change, and he saw to it that his scouting staff delivered him players that fit the shift. Another key quality in players he was looking for,” team first” type guys. That would take time.

To Jodoin’s credit, he is very patient. He tolerated much more on and off the ice misbehavior and slower development than many in his role. He gave players more than a fair share of opportunities to right their wrongs, and to prove their worth as leaders, role players, and as citizens. Many made the cut, and flourished under the system. Some didn’t, and those players either retired, were traded, or moved on over time.

After an inconsistent first season, largely attributed to players learning a new style of play, Jodoin’s MAINEiacs swept Shawinigan in the first round, only to be swept by a powerhouse Rimouski club in round two. 2004-05 marked progress overall, with Halak bridging the gap for Bernier, who ultimately would take the reigns between the pipes the next season.

The 2005-06 season started off with a bang at the draft. A fan favorite from the season before, Alex Bourret was traded to Shawinigan for Stefano Giliati and a first round draft pick, of which, Lewiston selected Patrick Cusack. More pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. Kevin Marshall, Dave Taylor and Tom Michalik were also selected by the MAINEiacs in Chicoutimi. What could be viewed as the weakest draft by Lewiston under the Jodoin watch, more players that fit the mold came in.

Bernier’s first full season between the pipes and a tighter defensive scheme led to its own ups and downs. The team would have some thrilling victories, and agonizing losses which left many in the Nation scratching their heads. A season that culminated with a premature six game postseason exit at the hands of the Halifax Mooseheads led to whispers of concern. After making it two rounds the season before, the one-round-and-out was a disappointment. Despite taking some criticism, Jodoin believed in what he was doing, and was not going to alter his course. Going into the 2006 draft, he needed a few more pieces to complete the picture.

In Charlottetown one year ago, in what could be the best draft by the franchise ever, Jodoin selected Danick Hudon-Paquette, traded up to get Michael Ward, took Peter Delmas in the fifth round and gambled on some kid by the name of David Perron in the sixth round. Three others, of the names of Victor Hesselton, Alexander Beaton and Nicholas Therrien likely will have a long term contribution to the team starting next season. Add two trades for Simon Courcelles and Tristan Manson during training camp in August, and Jodoin had his team, one that would stick together from game one to game seventy in the 2006-07 campaign, and a group that all believed they could be champions.

Jodoin is a humble man, does not take credit for much of the success that the team enjoyed over the past season. He’s always quick to point to his scouting staff, the quality of players on his club, his assistants, his trainer, his equipment manager, even the stick boy. He’d give credit to the team owner, team president, director of marketing, the billet coordinators and the billets themselves. He accepted very little, if any credit for the teams success and increasing popularity in the region. He thought of himself as a small piece to the big picture, emphasizing that it wasn’t he who laced up the skates to go out and play or sold the seats. It wasn’t just about him, it was about everyone else. After all, it takes the efforts of many to make the franchise successful.

Where Jodoin can’t escape credit is supplying a game plan that won, and won consistently, with a group of young men that bought into the plan that he sold to them. Not the most talented bunch by any stretch of the imagination, Jodoin proved that it isn’t necessarily talent that wins championships as it is teams that win. He imbedded that point in the back of everyone’s minds regardless what the position was on the team or in the organization. Everyone had a job to do, and he expected the best efforts of everyone, every night. The results would speak for themselves if they subscribed to his mindset.

It worked.

Anyone remotely close to the organization can quickly see that Jodoin was the gear that turned the wheel, who gave himself unselfishly to everyone inside the organization, and made time to speak to those on the outside. He would inspire and motivate all that wanted to contribute to the teams success, no matter how big, or how small. He was the reason why … we believed.

Thanks Clem, for showing everyone in the organization in the last three seasons that it is indeed all about “we”. Thanks for teaching these young men that with sacrifice in sport and in life, comes success. Thanks for putting a capital T back into team, and the Together Everyone Achieves More ideology back into the game of hockey, something that has been sorrowly missed by this writer for a long time. Thank you for your unselfish nature, and making everyone feel important. Thanks for giving all of us direction, on and off the ice. Thanks for your patience, and believing in everyone. And thanks for your all-out effort into turning the Lewiston MAINEiacs into champions. You left the club in much better shape than what you inherited, and started a tradition to carry on into the future.

Bonne Chance, Monssieur.

offthepost@lewistonhockey.com