The Pembina Valley Hawks opened their preseason schedule with three games this past weekend against the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League’s three Winnipeg teams at the Southdale Arena.

“Super happy with the weekend,” texted co-coach Jeff Andrews. “We got better as the weekend went on. We still have some work to do and some things to clean up in our game.”

The Hawks dropped a 4-1 decision the Winnipeg Thrashers on Friday night.

Pembina Valley then blanked the Winnipeg Bruins 3-0 on Saturday and wrapped up the weekend with a 2-1 victory over the defending champion Winnipeg Wild on Sunday afternoon.

“We learned we can be competitive with the top teams in our league,” added Andrews. “That’s a credit to the depth we have within Pembina Valley.”

The Hawks preseason roster includes 14 forwards, 10 defensemen and four goaltenders and Andrews and the rest of the coaching staff with get that number down to 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies.

“We’ll talk with the guys on Tuesday after practice and make a couple of cuts. There is some strong competition to make our hockey club. We’re happy with what the guys have brought to the table and look forward to nailing down our roster by the end of next weekend.”

Pembina Valley has two more preseason games scheduled for this weekend.

The Hawks will meet the Central Plains Capitals Friday in Carman and Sunday in Morden.