U18 AA Warriors head coach Mike Russell has some building work ahead of him this season.

The team held their annual evaluations over the weekend and had their first practice as a team Tuesday evening at the Kinsmen Arena.

“The boys came out willing to work,” Russell said after the practice. “We didn’t have a lot of bodies on the ice, let’s be honest. Again, that’s something we go through in Moose Jaw and the (U18) AA level. But the kids that did come out, they’re willing to work. Their work ethic this year is starting to mirror last year’s, which brought us a lot of success, and a lot of the young guys pushing the older guys again.”

The Warriors won 10 games out of 36 last season in the Saskatchewan U18 AA Hockey League, which to the untrained eye might not seem a lot but was a far sight better than the two they won the season before and the five they won the season before that.

They just missed the playoffs by a handful of points last year, but in some ways, it’s back to the drawing board. Last year’s leading scorer, Ben Peterson, is off to the Kootenay International Junior (B) League after graduating. Goaltender Aiden Clegg graduated as well, and fellow netminder Jaxson Taupert will play this year with the U18 AAA Warriors.

Developing players for the next level, and sometimes for the hockey academies, is a major part of the U18 AA experience.

“My goal is to try and get them all to be able to play at the next level, and build character individuals and solid young men to put out into society out there,” Russell said. “If they come in and buy into the program, and give us the work ethic, I think we’ll see some success like we started to see last year.”

While there are quite a few players missing from last year, Connor Ruckaber returns with his solid work ethic as part of a group of vets. He scored 23 goals last year in 35 games.

“He was probably the hardest working kid in the entire league,” Russell said. “So he’s back, and so is (Lyndon) Fell. Fell and he are back as our 17-year-olds. Then we have a few 16-year-olds in Jacob King, as well as Eric Tittemore, Landon McLellan and a couple of others. And of course, we’ve got (Jayden) Watterson back as well.”

Watterson split time in net with the other two netminders last season, and now at 16, it’s expected he’ll be carrying the mail between the pipes.

Russell is hopeful that a couple of the first-year players he has will be able to make an impact in the league.

There is no league schedule yet for the Warriors.