The Swift Current Broncos drop the puck on the WHL pre-season tonight.
The Broncos host the Regina Pats in a special rookie game at InnovationPlex.
New Swift Current Head Coach Dean DeSilva plans to delve into their basic systems to see how their young guys handle it.
"We're going to spend some time going over a little bit of structure with these guys," DeSilva said. "Not everything but a few key areas. It's going to be how we want to play moving forward. It's going to be putting this image in these players heads and see if they're able to put it into play on the ice against competition. That's going to show us are these guys coachable, are they able to do it, and are able to play with pace for a couple years down the road."
The Broncos had three rookie goalies left in camp for the Blue and White game on Tuesday.
Whether it's Berney Weston, Aiden Eskit, or Connor Thorn playing in the rookie game against Regina, the Broncos are evaluating their rookies for how they could handle their transition to a WHL job.
"Mental strength," DeSilva said. "You've got to be mentally strong. When you've got a returning veteran goalie who is going to play the majority of the games, we have to get them into situations where they can have success. A lot of times they're going into a game where our players are going to be tired like a three in three or a three in a four.
"They have to be mentally strong to be able to play 18 to 22 games this season and have our veteran play the majority of the games. Also having a young team in front of them we want our guys to grow with them."
DeSilva anticipates one of their rookies playing behind veteran Joey Rocha and taking a lot of lessons from that process.
"That first year for a young goalie is understanding the league," DeSilva said. "Getting a little faster, a little bit stronger, mental strength, the time management, the nutrition, and watching a player like Joey Rocha who is just a tremendous young man. He works hard off the ice, he does all the right things, he acts like a pro every single day, and those guys are going to learn from him."
Tonight's game will feature the WHL pre-season debut of highly touted Pats prospect Maddox Schultz.
Puck drop is 7:00 PM in Swift Current.
Swift Current will them play Moose Jaw on Friday at InnovationPlex and Saturday in Assiniboia.