The Chatham Maroons' exhibition games are underway with several players putting in a final push to make the cut.
The biggest question the team will need to answer early on in the season is where they will find scoring.
Three of the team's top five goal-scorers last season are all gone, leaving a noticeable hole to fill.
In the 2016-2017 campaign, Austin Thompson, Kevin Gursoy, and Steven Beenackers combined for a little over 1/3 of the entire team's scoring, putting up 87 of the team's 251 goals during the regular season. Thompson and Beenackers "graduated" from the Maroons when the season ended and Gursoy is now moving on to play in the QJMHL.
But with scorers like Bryce Yetman and Nolan VandenBoorn set to return, Head Coach Ron Horvat says they're up to the challenge.
"We've got an opportunity to look at some new kids from the area," says Horvat. "They're young, they're fast and I'm really looking forward to seeing them perform."
Horvat is especially excited about watching Dylan Schives, Thomas Michaud, and Grant Spence on the ice.
Michaud had a goal in his first pre-season game for the Maroons and the rest of the roster appears to be shaping up as well.
Horvat says team officials will use the remaining pre-season games to fill out the final spots they have available in their roster.
"There are guys that practice and practice well and some guys prefer to be in a game to show their stuff," says Horvat. "This is another opportunity for them to show us an element that we maybe haven't seen yet."
There should be a number of fresh faces on the bench this season, too as the team works to replace other veterans including Corey Bussing, Alec Mackenzie, Ethan Sarfati, and Teddy McGeen.
"We have a great mix now of 19 and 20 year olds and now a couple of really young local 16 and 17 year old that are going to get attention right away," says Horvat. "The kids have a lot of speed and skill and I know Chatham likes that -- we're going to be fun to watch."
The Maroons lost their first pre-season game to St. Thomas 8-2 -- they'll be back on the ice Tuesday night taking on the Legionnaires for an exhibition game at 7pm at Clearwater Arena in Sarnia.
