The last two Manitoba U18 Female AAA Hockey League champions meet Saturday night at the T.G. Smith Centre in Steinbach.

The 2018 champion Eastman Selects will face the reigning champion Westman Wildcats.

Selects head coach Bill Bram is eagerly looking forward to their home opener and the start of another hockey season.

"I'm excited. We got a young team. There's nine new kids and I think we're going to surprise some people. We got some fast kids and everybody is buying in. We have a very good group as far as attitude goes. Everybody wants to be here and everybody has been working hard. That's all I can ask. There's going to be growing pains but I'm still excited."

Eastman played nine preseason games this month.

The Selects lost their exhibition opener 3-2 to the Winnipeg Ice.

Eastman players, coaches and parents then headed off to Alberta for the Firestarter Tournament in Calgary.

The Selects lost 3-1 to the Battleford Sharks; fell 6-1 to the Lloydminster Steelers; dropped a 5-4 decision to the Red Deer Chiefs and beat the Notre Dame Hounds 3-2.

Eastman also recorded a 1-3 record at the Central Plains Capitals Showcase in Portage.

The Selects lost 3-1 to the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy; fell 2-1 to the Weyburn Gold Wings; dropped a 3-1 decision to the Winnipeg Avros and beat the Westman Wildcats 4-1.

"We competed in every game we played," said Bram. "We made a few mistakes and against good teams you can't make big mistakes. We can skate with anybody. We've got to get a little bit stronger and a little bit faster but that will come. The kids have been working hard."

Bram says his players found their groove in that 4-1 victory over the Wildcats in Portage.

"That game we started eliminating our mistakes and we started fine tuning the lines. We started working a little bit better together. Every game we're getting stronger. We need to work together and learn the systems that we're trying to implement."

 

photo courtesy Brent Wery