The Estevan Sherritt Coal Bruins' peewee AA team played in a tournament in Yorkton on the weekend in preparation for the start of their regular season this Saturday.
The Bruins posted a 1-2 record, including a 5-4 loss to Yorkton, a 9-1 win over Melfort and an 11-5 loss to Brandon.
New head coach Derek Wilhelm was impressed.
"They showed a lot of heart and determination. We played Yorkton tough; they haven't lost a league game in probably two years.
"Against Brandon, we were down 5-0 after the first period and we worked so hard to tie it 5-5 in the second and then kind of ran out of juice," Wilhelm said.
Five players are back from last year's fifth-place club and the team has also picked up a second-year from Carlyle.
"Our goal is to be the hardest-working team in the league," said Wilhelm.
"I think we're going to be a team that can roll three lines, for the most part. We're going to be tough to play against, we're going to be gritty," he added.
The Bruins open in Weyburn on Saturday. Their first home game is Oct. 23 against Moose Jaw.
"We have probably three or four guys that can put the puck in the net on a regular basis, but we're going to need everybody pitching in," Wilhelm said.
"Defensively we're pretty strong. We have six solid defencemen. I like both of our goalies. They seem to battle when they're in there."
