The Steinbach Regional Secondary School girls hockey team is off and running.

Actually off and skating.

The Sabres had three practice sessions at the T.G. Smith Centre last week and by the time the third practice was over, SRSS head coach Kayleigh Henrikson was feeling really good about her hockey team.

"We had a very good turnout on Friday," said Henrikson. "We're looking good. We're excited. We have a couple of girls who are new to hockey but they're athletic so it won't take them too long to adjust to that. We have a really good core of girls who have played hockey for a really long time and who have played together for a while as well. Before and after practice we can already feel them gelling so that was very, very awesome to see."

"We were on the ice last Monday and we only had school for two days at that point so I think it's a really quick turnaround from summer holidays and kids are trying to get back into a routine so that's why we saw a lesser number," added Henrikson. "Currently we have three full lines of forwards, four defensemen and two goalies and I have about three girls who are on the bubble. If we get those girls or even if we get what we have right now - we're going to be okay."

The Sabres will begin their inaugural season in the Winnipeg Women's High School Hockey League next month.

"It's so exciting," remarked Henrikson. "I said to the girls a couple of times this past week, 'You're making history right now. There has never been a female hockey program at our school and we're all a part of history.' I think that is such an honour and it's super exciting that we're all able to be part of this together. I know this is going to be something that I'm never going to forget for the rest of my life."

The Steinbach Regional bench boss and her coaching staff put their players through skating drills on Monday and Wednesday and started working on breakouts, forechecking and offensive zone play last Friday.

The Sabres will put those practice sessions to good use real soon as the SRSS will play three games this month at Bell MTS Iceplex in a seeding tournament which will determine what division the team will play in this season.

"I think going in, we're treating it like - this is what we have and let's see where we can go with this," said Henrikson. "We have a very good core of girls who have played this sport for years and years and years. They know what they're doing out there."