The Bonnyville Sr. AA Pontiacs are shaking off the rust as they hit the ice in preparation for their upcoming season.
The team has already hosted two open skates for those interested in trying out, and are holding a few more before their fall camp hosted at Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre from Sept. 27 to 28.
Head coach Corey Wandler said a focus for them during training will be fine-tuning and getting everyone used to one another on the ice.
"I think we have some good skills, and we've got some real good speed in our top nine upfront, and I think we can play with a lot of pace and push the pace night in and out... I think that's really going to help us."
While they didn't have the finish they were hoping for last season, the Pontiacs are looking to change their luck this time around.
"I think it's going to be a better year than last year," explained captain Lucas Isley. "We struggled for numbers, and I think we just had an off year after we won our provincial championship, then we lost a lot of guys."
Since their roster changed almost every time the Pontiacs played last season, Wandler believes the team will be better with a dedicated group.
"I think we're going to try and hit the reset button," he said. "Hopefully, the guys who were on the team last year have a bitter taste in their mouth moving into the season and they don't want that to happen again. Hopefully, the commitment's there with the players, not only for games, but for the practices. Hopefully, we have a good group that we're going to have for all of our games that we can build up."
The team is open to everyone between the ages of 18 and 40 interested in playing hockey competitively.
This season, there will be roughly 12 returning players, along with a number of fresh faces donning the Pontiacs jersey for the first time.
"We have a good mix of guys. Some are old, some are young, some guys that are new to the team, and some that have played in the league before. It's a good mix of players," Wandler said.
Isley added, "It's good to see, because with senior hockey it never fails with shift work, guys still have regular jobs, a wife and kids, and so on. It's hard to get everyone there every game. The more guys that we have in our back pocket will hopefully make it better for us at the end of the day."
Wandler has high hopes for the team in their upcoming season.
"We just want to give ourselves the opportunity to win, be competitive, and get back into a playoff spot. We didn't get to playoffs last year, and that's something we don't ever want to do again. Our goal is to make playoffs, and be there for round one."
The team's home opener is Sunday, Oct. 6 against the Devon Barons. Puck drop is 2 p.m. at the R.J. Lalonde Arena.
