Eagles boast strong returning cast, impact rookies as season opens vs. UVic

---

Friday evening marks the beginning of the 2015/16 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season for the Eastern Washington University Eagles, who will look to push for their first league championship in their fourth season since making the switch from the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

The Eagles open the campaign by hosting the University of Victoria Vikes for a two-game weekend series Cheney. EWU will feature a lineup that boasts eleven new faces to go with the fifteen returning players from last season.

The Eagles return the core of last year’s team and have augmented that with possibly the best recruiting class the program has ever seen. The core features the three leading scores from last season (Walker, Mathews, and Bell) along with the top three defenseman (Wharton, Rolfe, and Hawes) and both goaltenders (O’Donnell and Brihn).

The 11 new players consist of ten freshmen and one transfer. The additions gave camp and the last two weeks of practice a much different feel than last year according to Eagles coach Bret Kellogg.

“We have battle for places within the lineup and just to get in the lineup every night and that speaks to the depth we have added this summer. It’s a great feeling to know I can put anyone on the ice and expect positive results.”

A challenge when almost half the roster is changed over can be to find chemistry but the staff feels that has gone well given the amount of time the players spent together since camp started on September 12th.

“We brought in a lot of guys from different places and fortunately they have all complemented each other as well the existing players. We still have some minor tweaking to do but I like where we are with most of the forward lines and defensive pairs."

"Having the team set since September 18th has given us a great chance to experiment and move players around which will likely help us down the road in the event we run into situations that require lineup changes,” said Kellogg.

This weekend’s games will both be at 7pm at the URC and tickets are available at the door.