The Carillon Senior Hockey League's 15th season begins Saturday night.

"I think everybody has been working hard and if you're not excited to get it going, something is wrong," said CSHL president Ray Laing. "St. Malo worked very hard to get a team going again and we're happy to welcome Lac du Bonnet into the league. They haven't had hockey there for a year or two and they're excited to get going."

Laing says the Blues bring a lot to the table.

"Other than an extra team, they bring a rich tradition of hockey. They've had hockey there for a long. It's a community a little bit out of the way but they’re excited to be part of the league."

The defending champion Ste. Anne Aces will meet the Warriors in St. Malo and Lac du Bonnet will face the the Red River Wild in St. Jean.

It will take the Blues just over two hours to drive from Lac du Bonnet to the parking lot of the St. Jean Arena.

"Obviously distance is a big issue but I think we all have to get over the idea that we can only drive five or six miles to play hockey," said Laing. "We have to open up our boundaries a little bit and travel a little further. We'll see how it works out but we're happy to have Lac du Bonnet in."

The Aces, Wild and Grunthal Red Wings are the only teams left from the 2016-2017 season.

The Steinbach Huskies, La Broquerie Habs and Springfield 98's are all taking the year off.

The Carillon Senior Hockey League president was pretty straightforward with his answer when asked what teams have to do to keep senior hockey alive in their communities.

"You need players, that's number one but you also need an executive right in front of that," replied Laing. "You need some organization and you need coaches in place. The one thing I've heard over the years - not everybody likes the coach, but everybody wants a coach in place. That's organization."