Generals head coach Ray Wareham addresses the team at the end of practice on Thursday at Mosaic Place.

After a season built around experience and skill, the Moose Jaw Generals enter the 2014-15 Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League season in a much different position than last year.

The Generals kickoff the regular season on Saturday night in Saskatoon against the Contacts.

Last year’s version of the Generals was built to host the 2014 Telus Cup midget AAA national championship, but with just six returning players this year, the team will be one that aims to improve as the season goes.

“We’ve got a good bunch of kids, we’re young and inexperienced, but they’re eager to learn and they’ve been fun to be around,” said Head Coach Ray Wareham.  “It’s kind of refreshed me too.”

The Generals don’t have the high-end skill that they’ve sported in their lineup over the past few seasons, but the team is planning on playing a gritty game that’s built around the strong defensive zone play and goaltending.

“We have a very fast team this year and we may not have as much of the high-end skill, but the guys will work really hard and they’re going to work for each other this year,” said captain Dawson Davidson.

“We’re going to work hard, but I don’t think we’re going to light it up offensively, so we’re going to have to be good in our own,” said Wareham.  “We want to be a more of a puck possession team, I thought last year there was a lot of in and outs, we didn’t have a lot of time in the offensive zone.”

Davidson will be the key to success for the Generals as the second-year defenceman is not doubt one of the best players in the SMAAAHL.  He earned Top Defencemen honours at last year’s Telus Cup and hopes to build off that going into this season.

“I have some confidence, but you just have to utilize it in the right way and make everyone else on your team is better by it,” said Davidson.

Davidson will be anchoring the backend, while Branden Klatt — who signed  his standard WHL player agreement with the Edmonton Oil Kings on Thursday — will be leaned on to lead the offence.  He had a team-high eight points in the preseason.

Wareham said all six returning players will need to be good each night to help the team early in the season.

“We’ve only got the six, so hopefully they’re ready to go and they can lead this group,” said Wareham.  “By all indications, so far they’re willing to do so.”

The biggest strength for the Generals will be in goal with Colby Entz returning for his second season and Hunter Arps coming in to serve as back-up.  Wareham said the team has confidence in both netminders.

“(Colby) is definitely ready and Hunter Arps is very capable behind him too, so we’re really happy with those two,” said Wareham.  “We think Colby is going to have a big year and early on he’s going to have to be big for us, we’re going to have some mistakes and that’s what they’re for.”

Moose Jaw had some growing pains during the preseason, posting a 2-4-0 record.  They expect that up and down play to continue into the early part of the regular season.

“There’s going to be times when it’s not going to be pretty out there and we’re going to have to find our way,” said Wareham.  “It’s going to take some time, we’re going to win our fair share of games, but we’re going to lose some too.

“We’ve made some big strides, we’ve had to really go back to the basics,” he added.  “It’s been different for me too because I haven’t been able to teach the last few years, we’ve been jumping right into things, but it’s nice to go back and start again.  

“From two weeks ago, it’s a huge difference in our team.  We’ve still got a long ways to go, but it’s really encouraging.”

The season opening game will be a test for the Generals as they head into the always tough Schroh Arena to face the Contacts.

“They come at you hard and it’s a small building to play in, there’s not a lot of room and space, so we’re going to have to be able to win your battles,” Wareham said.  “This last exhibition game against Notre Dame, they were on us and our decision making wasn’t the best, so we’re going to have to be able to make quicker decisions and have better puck support, we’ll be alright.”

There are many rookies on the Generals roster this season and there will no doubt be some nerves heading into the season opening game.

“My first regular season midget AAA game, it’s going to be exciting and a fun game,” said defenceman Brayden Pachal. “Hopefully the team wins, but we just need to keep it simple.”

“You can see a bit of nerves in the team because we have a very young team, so we’re just trying to calm everyone down and it’s a really exciting time of the year and we’re ready for it,” added Davidson.

The Generals and Contacts hit the ice in Saskatoon at 8:00pm on Saturday night.  Moose Jaw doesn’t play at Mosaic Place until next Saturday when the Contacts come to town.