The North American Hockey League announced the 2023-24 schedule on Wednesday, and the Maine Nordiques open their fifth season on Friday, Sept. 8 against the Northeast Generals at The Colisee in Lewiston at 7:30 p.m.

The two rivals will meet eight times this season. Maine has opened the season three times against the Generals and is 3-0 against Northeast in those games.

It was one of 56 Nordiques games announced by the league. The four NAHL Showcase games from Sept. 13-16 in Blaine, Minnesota, will be announced later in July.

The New Hampshire Mountain Kings, one of two expansion teams in the East Division — the Rochester Jr. Americans are the other — will make their Colisee debut Sunday, Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. The Mountain Kings are coached by Cam Robichaud, the Auburn native and former Twin City Thunder co-owner and coach and former coach in the Maine Nordiques organization.

Maine and New Hampshire will meet seven times this season, including an 11 a.m. game on Halloween at The Colisee. Halloween is on a Tuesday this year. The teams will meet on Valentine’s Day at 7:30 p.m., also in Lewiston.

The Oct. 15 game is one of two home games this season when the Nordiques will be playing at the same time as the New England Patriots. The Patriots play the Las Vegas Raiders at 4:05 p.m. The other Sunday is Nov. 26. The Nordiques host the Generals at 1 p.m., and the Patriots and New York Giants kick off at the same time.

The Nordiques will play the Rochester Jr. Americans, New Jersey Titans and Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks eight times each this season, the Philadelphia Rebels seven times, and the Maryland Black Bears and Johnstown Tomahawks four times each.

The regular season ends April 13.

JIM MERCIER RETURNS TO THE COLISEE

Longtime Colisee employee Jim Mercier is returning to the arena as the Assistant General Manager after a couple of years away, he announced this week in the Facebook group Nordiques Nation. He made his decision to return after speaking to Shift Sports and Entertainment, the new owners of the Nordiques who will be running The Colisee.

“I’ve had great conversations with the new ownership group about the past and future operations of the building and team, which made me feel very confident that both are back on the right track,” Mercier said in a post in the Facebook group. “Their emphasis on reconnecting the building with the community was a selling point and made my decision easier. My main goal will be to bring back the safe, fun, affordable programs and events that will benefit our community, patrons, families, and friends.”

Mercier’s responsibilities will be day-to-day operations of The Colisee and the box office, corporate sales, event and ice time scheduling, and youth hockey administration.

Mercier was a Box Office Manager from 2004-2016 and Assistant General Manager from 2017-2021. He also served as the Maine Nordiques Director of Youth Hockey Programs from 2017-21.

After leaving The Colisee, Mercier briefly did corporate sales with the Twin City Thunder.

He starts back at The Colisee on July 5.

FORMER THUNDER FUTURES PICK SELECTED IN NHL DRAFT

Ryan Leonard, a 2021 Twin City Thunder futures draft pick, was the Washington Capitals’ first-round selection, eighth overall, in the National Hockey League draft on Wednesday.

Leonard never suited up for the Thunder and spent the past two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan. He had 51 goals and 43 assists with the U-18 team this past season.

Leonard is going to join Boston College this fall.

Leonard becomes the fourth former Thunder futures draft pick selected in the NHL Draft, joining James Fisher (2022 seventh-round selection by the Columbus Blue Jackets), Guillaume Richard (2021 fourth-round pick by Columbus), and Oscar Plandowski (2021 fifth-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings).

BRUINS’ FIRST PICK HEADING TO QUINNIPIAC

The Boston Bruins’ first pick of the NHL Draft was forward Christopher Pelosi in the third round, during day two of the draft on Thursday.

Pelosi, 18, split time this past season with the Janesville Jets of the NAHL and the Sioux Falls Stampede of the Tier I United States Hockey League. He had 10 goals and seven assists in 24 games with the Jets and 13 goals and six assists with the Stampede.

Pelosi is heading to Quinnipiac University in Hampden, Connecticut, for the 2024-2025 season. The associate head coach for the Bobcats is Auburn native and former St. Dom’s standout Joe Dumais. Dumais is credited with drawing up the face-off play at the start of overtime of the NCAA championship game against the University of Minnesota in April that led to the game-winning goal for Quinnipiac’s first national championship.