Sick of practicing, ready to hit the ice for real.
The reincarnation of the Prince George Mohawks senior hockey program returns for the local audience to take in this weekend, and just the fact the Mohawks will be seeing game action is enough to have coach Grant Williams and his charges feeling eager.
"We've been practicing once a week, but usually it's without a full squad because of guys having work, or conflicts with their rec hockey schedules," said Williams, who will be behind the bench Saturday (7 p.m., Coliseum) and Sunday (10:30 a.m., Elksentre) when the Penticton Vees arrive for a two-game exhibition set.
"We're getting it started a lot sooner than we did last year and we'll be far better prepared to play the Fort St. John Flyers at the Savage Cup."
The Mohawks lost three games against Fort St. John, all exhibition outings, last spring.
For this weekend's series, the team captain is former NHL defenceman Stew Malgunas, and he gets help on the leadership side from players such as Brent Williams, Kevin Malgunas and Tyler Brough, who was on the Flyers team that captured the 2010 Allan Cup national senior hockey championship.
Lyman Miller and Guy Walch are the goaltenders for the Mohawks. Others slated to suit up are Joe Morgan, Shaun Fomenoff, Bucky Schmidt, Mark Nelson, Jamie Molendyk, Peter Kolida, Paul Brown and Brad Herman. David Keough has not yet committed one way or another.
"We're a bit of a mix-n-match group right now, but we're still hoping there may be a few guys around the rec leagues who are capable of playing for us who decide to give it a go," said Williams.
"Maybe they'll get the itch, but if not we have the players to challenge Fort St. John."
The Mohawks will head to Fort St. John for games in January, then will see the Flyers return the favour with a series in Prince George in February. This is all buildup for the three B.C. teams meeting in Fort St. John in March to determine the provincial champion (Savage Cup) at the AAA senior level that will move on to battle the Alberta winner for the right to play in the Allan Cup tournament in Thunder Bay.
The Vees feature a number of former junior, college and pro players, though the most notable member of the roster is ex-Cougars forward Brad Priestlay, who suited up in 33 games for the Cats in 2003-04 after being acquired from Portland.
Familiar names include Derek Ruck, Dan Zukiwsky, Greg Barber, Mark Petry, Rob Dekock, Marcus Lebler, Geoff Morgan and Tyler Liebel. Ed Lebler is the coach.
"I don't know that much about them, really, and these are their first games of the year just like it is for us," said Williams.
"We know they have guys who have played at a high level and we expect them to be tough."
Admission for the weekend games is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and children.
