There will be plenty of fresh faces on the men's hockey team this year. Gone are key leaders such as Brett Stovin, Nick Zajac and Zach Franko and in their place is a deep recruiting class that head coach Mike Sirant is optimistic about.

"It's been a big recruiting class," he says.

"By the team we select our final roster we could have up to 15 new players this year, so that's a big turnover. First of all, they're all really good people. And when we're recruiting, yes we want good hockey players but the number one criteria we're looking for is if they're good people, and these guys have been fantastic."

Included in that group are defencemen Matthew Stanley, Liam Schioler and Brady Pouteau, who each come to the program with well over 100 games of Western Hockey League (WHL) experience. The youngsters are expected to form a nice complement to some of the Bisons' veterans on the blue line, such as captain Adam Henry and alternate captain Sean Christensen — two of the three fifth-years on the team.

Stanley and Schioler were both alternate captains at one point in time during their WHL careers, while Pouteau was given the Regina Pats Rick Rypien Memorial Award in 2017-18, given annually to the team's unsung hero. Pouteau earned the award after helping Regina reach the Memorial Cup final despite a nagging shoulder injury suffered in the first round of the WHL playoffs.

"They come in with a high pedigree and they've all been really good for us," Sirant says of the recruits on defence. "We really like our back end this year. We feel we've got size, physicality and skill, so we're really happy with how the back end is shaping up."

The forward position includes another critical fifth-year in Jonah Wasylak, who along with Henry and Christensen has done an excellent job of leading by example for the younger guys.

"Our leadership group is doing an amazing job already. There are many things that make a good leader, and what we talked about as a leadership group is first of all you've got to lead by example, and those guys are. With their work ethic and consistently high performance in practices and games and in the weight room and classroom, they really are leading by example," says Sirant.

"We've got a really young team so there's going to be some times during the season when we're going to have some adversity and we're going to just have to keep working and be patient. That's where they're going to have to be there to help their teammates out and share their experience at this level."

Other returning forwards who have played important leadership roles already include Colton Veloso, Keaton Jameson and Geordie Keane.

Jameson was the captain for a successful Swan Valley Stampeders team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) in 2017-18 and played a valuable role for Manitoba both on and off the ice a year ago, totalling 13 points. Keane is also a former captain, having worn the 'C' for the Winnipeg Blues in 2016-17.

Veloso, a Winnipeg native, debuted for the Bisons around Christmas time last year after spending 14 games with Jacksonville of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), along with a tryout with the Manitoba Moose. He was an immediate difference-maker on the ice with seven points in 12 regular season games.

"[Veloso] came back from Jacksonville in the East Coast Hockey League, but this is a really good level of hockey, so it was an adjustment for him too," says Sirant.

"It's always challenging coming in mid-stream, but he was really effective for us right from the start. And this year now having half a year of experience, he knows what to expect. He's trained well in the off-season and he's come in at an even higher level than when he finished last year. Colton is a key member of our team for the future."

First-year forwards that have looked good so far for the Bisons include Ben Dalke, Dylan Thiessen and Nathan Halvorsen. Dalke and Thiessen spent three seasons in the MJHL together with the Virden Oil Capitals, while Halvorsen logged heavy minutes for the MJHL's Selkirk Steelers.

"It's a big jump up from playing in the Manitoba Junior league, where the group of forwards mostly came from last year. It's going to be a learning curve, but they're working hard and showing a willingness to learn," Sirant says.

"They want to get better, so we expect that the learning curve is going to be quick and that they'll pick up what it takes to be successful at the Canada West level really soon."

The goaltending position sees a significant change, as three-time team MVP Byron Spriggs has graduated. In his place are three capable goalies in Tyler Brown, Riley Lamb, and Jeremy Link.

Brown, a WHL veteran, was with the team last year recovering from off-season surgery while Lamb comes to the program with 88 games of WHL experience as well. Additionally, Link is a five-year MJHL veteran most recently playing with the Winnipeg Blues.

"From this group this year, we just need them to give us solid goaltending and give us a chance to win," Sirant says.

"As they get more experience at this level then sure it would be nice if they could help us steal a game here and there but right now we just need them to give us solid goaltending and give us a chance to win, and we need to play good team defence in front of them."