Men's Hockey | 10/9/2015 11:47:00 AM

The University of Regina men's hockey team will open its 2015-16 Canada West season this weekend on the road, as the Cougars will visit the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

Regina had a fairly quiet pre-season schedule, playing in five total games and finishing with a 2-3 record. The Cougars topped Manitoba 4-0, lost to Saskatchewan 3-0 and beat Briercrest College 8-0 in the Cougars Summer Challenge, before losing a pair of games at Calgary to close the team's non-conference schedule.

The Cougars lineup will see significant change from last season, with 10 new players on the roster. Of the new players, eight are rookies. Two players, forward Stephen Langford and defenceman Stefan Virtanen, with both enter their third seasons of CIS eligibility. Though the roster looks young, head coach Todd Johnson is optimistic about the team's structure.

 "It'll be a bit of a learning curve but I think we have the veterans in the right positions that can help the young players along," the fourth-year head coach said.

Returning for their fifth and final seasons of CIS eligibility are Mark Schneider, John Sonntag, Sanfred King, Brock Appleyard (pictured) and Troy Hunter.

Leading scorer from last season Dylen McKinlay will be back, looking to build on his rookie season in which he finished third among Canada West rookies with 17 points. Also returning at the forward position is Ian McNulty, Tyler Giebel, Zach McFee, Miguel Pereira, Skyler Hladun, Christian Magnus and Cody Fowlie. New to the team but expected to see minutes at forward are Dillan McCombie, Trent Lofthouse and J.J. Coleshaw.

Joining veterans Schneider and Sonntag on the blue line will be Devon McMullen, Ryan Dech, Austin Bourhis, Brody Luhning and newcomers Tyler Bell, Landon Peel and Landon Cross.

Returning in net is Mitch Kilgore, who split time with Lucas Gore last season after Andrew Hayes' campaign came to an abrupt halt in the pre-season due to a lower body injury. Kilgore posted a 2.87 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in eight starts. New between the pipes will be former Regina Pat goaltender Dawson MacAuley and Andy Desautels, who spent time with the Everett Silvertips.

"I expect us to play faster than we did last year," Johnson added. "Our identity last season was trying to be a hard team to play against. That won't change, but we'll play at a faster pace and as a result we'll be in the offensive zone more often."