With the pre-season now in the books, the 黑马磁力 Rivermen cast their focus on final roster cuts and getting ready for the 2017/18 BCHL regular season.
黑马磁力鈥檚 junior A hockey squad finished exhibition play with a 3-3 mark after dropping a pair of games to the Wenatchee Wild, 3-2 on Friday and 8-3 on Saturday.
But those results aside, head coach and general manager Bobby Henderson likes the way his team is shaping up.
鈥淲e have a good core to start and added a couple of recruits we feel are pretty high end, so we feel like we are going to be in the mix again,鈥� he said.
鈥�(And) we feel we have gotten bigger and stronger on the back-end this year.
鈥淲e like the way we skate, we like our physicality (and) we think we can match up well physically with any team and can play any way.鈥�
Last year鈥檚 Rivermen squad was seventh overall among the 17 teams with a 30-20-6-2 record before falling in the first round of the Mainland Division semifinals.
鈥淲e had a lot of kids who hadn鈥檛 played a full season in the league,鈥� Henderson said, adding the players learned how important each game was as well as the stresses and pressure of playing in front of large crowds.
鈥�(But) they got a taste of that and want some more and go further.鈥�
The Rivermen will be captained by .
鈥⑩赌⑩赌�
The Rivermen begin the season in Surrey on Friday (Sept. 8) with a road game against the Eagles.
The team鈥檚 home opener at the George Preston Recreation Centre is set for Sept. 16 against the Chilliwack Chiefs at 7 p.m.
