The WayWayseecappo Wolverines of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) kick off their regular season tonight, and among those in the line-up is Cochrane's Nick Dobson.

The defenceman was recently traded by the Weyburn Red Wings and will play on the top D pairing for the Wolverines.

Dobson says he's excited about the potential of the Wolverines to go deep into post-season play. Last season, the Red Wings finished outside of the playoffs.

"I was really excited when I heard the news. There's a lot of potential for this team to make a run for the championship. It's really awesome that we're able to be in that position this year, and I'm really excited to be part of a team that's ready to win."

Tonight they open their regular season against the Dauphin Kings, considered to be among the top teams in the MJHL. That suites Dobson just fine.

"Dauphin is considered to be one of the best teams and we're suppose to be one of the best in the league, so I'm really excited to get going, and see what the competition's like."

Previous to this, Dobson had two assists in the team's only exhibition game against the Neepawa Natives.

Dobson played 32 games as a Red Wing in his first season of junior hockey.

"I think I really broke out as a player. I established myself in the Junior 'A' circuit and got use to the speed and the pace of the game. This year I'm ready to take a step from not only playing at that level, but taking it above that level, and really becoming an impact player."

In an interview with DiscoverWeyburn. com, Red Wings head coach and GM Rich Pilon says the tough decision was reached to trade Hobson because he wouldn't be given the proper chance to develop further.

Pilon says they were simply too deep at the back end.

"It'd be nice to keep Nick and say 'can you be patient with us until things settle down and we know exactly what we have,' but it isn't fair to him either," says Pilon. "When you have players that are all doing so well, you can't get them the type ice that they need like powerplay if that's what they need to take that step up."

WayWayseecappo is located 32 km east of Russell that is situated close to the Saskatchewan border.