The Pembina Valley Hawks will open the 2018-2019 Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League season this weekend.

"We're super excited," said Hawks co-coach Jeff Andrews. "The last two, three weeks, things are really coming together. We were happy with our preseason. This week in practice we've been able to bring the team together. Leadership is starting to emerge. Roles are starting to take shape for guys. We're in our room now and everyone is really excited. As a coaching staff we are so pleased with the group we have and I think we're going to really be able to do some good things this year."

Andrews pointed out that the coaching staff had a number of tough decisions to make when finalizing this seasons roster.

"The guys who tried out really brought their A game and were focused in try-outs. Some of them, it was evident they really took some time to prepare over the summer. Any time you have good competition in try-outs, that usually makes for a good, solid team and I think that's where we're at right now."

The Hawks will play their season opener Saturday at the Southdale Arena in Winnipeg against the Bruins and then play their home opener Saturday against the Eastman Selects in Morden.

"We're expecting two real difficult games," Andrews said. "We played the Bruins in the preseason and I think all three of those Winnipeg teams are all going to be quite strong. They'll test us and hopefully we're ready for what they bring."

"Our game plan is simple," added Andrews. "We have a plan for how we want to operate in all three zones of the rink and we're going to stick to that game plan. As a coaching staff, we feel if we can do that - we're going to be successful regardless of any team we play. This league is so good and there's lots of great players. All the success we have as a team this year is going to be because guys are filling roles, doing their jobs and pulling in the same direction."


Pembina Valley Hawks 2018-2019 roster