The Aberdeen Wings officially started their season last week during the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minn., but things will officially start to heat up on Friday night.

The Wings will host long-time rival Bismarck to open their home season at 7:15 p.m. at the Odde Ice Center. Puck drop is the same time on Saturday.

“Honestly, pretty much every where you go, there’s a rivarly in our division, but I think this is one that takes a step ahead of a lot of the others,” said Wings coach Steve Jennings. “There’s some history there between the teams, so for us, we really want to come out of the gates well against these guys.”

The Wings split four games at the showcase. Jennings said that goaltending stood out as one of the most positive takeaways from the initial action.

“I think team identity takes a while to truly come out,” he said, “especially while we’re still tweaking with the roster and all that stuff.”

Speaking of the roster, this year’s team is full of newcomers. Some come from as close as Sioux Falls, others from as far away as Belarus and Finland.

There are some familiar faces returning to the squad this season, including the likes of Mason Kelly, Owen Dubois, Anthony Galante, Ronan Walsh, Landry Schmuck, and Devon Carlstrom.

Another familiar figure is also back with the squad. Former coach Scott Langer, who guided the team to the 2019 Robertson Cup championship, has returned to the organization as the general manager.

“It’s great to have Scott back helping us,” Jennings said. “I think he and I worked together well for a long time.”

Even though the team is still working on its identity, Jennings said look for the Wings to continue to feature solid skating while trying to be a bit more physical on the ice this upcoming season.

“I thought last year we were a good skating team. I think again we’re a good skating team here. We want to continue to do that,’ Jennings said. “I think we want to be a little bit more physical and I’ll say appropriately physical. You can be physical when you’re chasing it for the wrong reasons. I think we want to be more appropriately physical and now it’s also trying to teach these guys how to do it the right way.”

The NAHL season is a marathon that lasts for eight months, not including the post season.

While Jennings said that “it’s irrational and unrealistic” to expect to win every single game at this early stage of the campaign, he said it also important to get off to a good start.

“The number of times that September has come back to haunt somebody in March and April is big. While we’re still trying to work it through we still have expectations,” Jennings said. “These are aspiring high-level hockey players and some of them will play college hockey at a very high level, some will go on and play pro hockey. We expect those guys to be here ready to perform.”

While the season is barely a week old, Jennings likes what he sees so far from his current group of players. He said the goal is to improve each day and build momentum throughout the course of the year.

“We want to build through the season to the end. That’s what we’re trying to get these guys to do,” Jennings said. “They’ve actually responded pretty well, staying focused on the day, taking the day to learn and get better for tomorrow. That’s a big part of what we’re trying to instill with these guys, and I have to say I have liked the response of the group so far.”