The Saginaw Spirit boarded a bus Thursday afternoon outside the Dow Event Center and hit the road for Guelph; they open the 2012-2013 season there Friday night.
/ NBC25
SAGINAW -- The Saginaw Spirit boarded a bus Thursday afternoon outside the Dow Event Center and hit the road for Guelph; they open the 2012-2013 season there Friday night.
It's a brand new season for Saginaw, a team you might say, is in transition.
The Spirit lost all members of their top line from last year, Brandon Saad, Josh Shalla and Michael Fine all moved on. Those three combined for 96 goals last season.
In their place, the Spirit have several young guys, many still in high school, plus a handful of returning veterans.
Vincent Trocheck, the points leader for Saginaw last year, was named Captain. Garrett Ross, and Eric Locke were named alternates.
So far so good in preseason, as the Spirit only lost once, but as the guys know, the regular season is a whole different ball game.
"Preseason, you still have teams looking at younger guys and their older guys aren't playing," Spirit Left Winger Garret Ross said. "Once regular season comes along, it's definitely more competitive and real cut-throat out there."
"It should be a lot of fun to go into their rinks this weekend," Center Carlos Amestoy said. "The regular season is different than the preseason, and we have to see what we're capable of and see who will step up to the task."
The Spirit play at Owen Sound Saturday night.
They open at Home on Thursday September 27th against Sudbury.
