Improvement in play is what you strive towards in the preseason, and the Cochrane Generals saw just that last weekend in their opening games against the Okotoks Bisons.

It took the Gens overtime to put away the Bisons, 4-3, in their first outing on the road before returning to Totem One to claim a 7-3 win and showed a disciplined style of play.

Head coach Derek Donald liked what he saw from Gens prospects and was impressed with the leadership shown by the team's veterans.  

"I was happy with how we played on Friday and then we really showed up on Saturday," says Donald. "We showed a really composed, mentally tough, disciplined style. We didn't get baited into a lot of the secondary stuff which put Okotoks in the box for much of the game."

The Gens went into the series without Slater Ransom, last season's top scorer in the Heritage Junior Hockey League, nor the hard checking Colton Wong and perhaps that was to the team management's advantage to assess the prospects looking to put on a Gens jersey this season.

He's impressed with the young crop of players in the 1998-99 age group and even those in the class of 2000, who are still midget eligible. He doesn't discount the chance of signing some of the youngest players to the team.

"We're going to take a serious look at having several players play a full season with us. Some will have to decide whether they want to be an affiliate or take on a full-time role."

He gives credit to the veterans on the team for providing the younger players a comfort zone..

"It's very nice to have the great leadership that we do out of our veterans guys. That really helps the younger guys feel more comfortable coming in."

The team is playing an intense red-blue three-on-three tournament Friday night in advance of their final preseason game on Saturday. No cuts have been made yet but likely some will come after the Friday tournament.

There are some other potential roster additions in the wings but whatever happens, Donald believes the Gens will be competitive again this season.

"Should things come together, our team gets stronger. Should they not, we're happy with the guys that we have right now on the ice."

The Gens are looking for challenges leading up to the regular season and Donald expects the Airdrie Techmation Thunder will fill that bill in this Saturday's matchup.

"I think skill-wise our guys are there and I think Airdrie's going to be another test for us this week. They're not in our division, but we play them early in the season and it will be good to see them. We want to get on ice with teams who have success so that we can hopefully gauge where we're at."

The Thunder have split their preseason matchups, beating High River Flyers, 3-2, before losing to the Mountainview Colts, 5-1.

Saturday's game time is 7:30 p.m. at Totem One in the SLS Family Sport Centre.

The Gens open their regular season on the road with games against the Bisons on Sept. 22 and their home opener is on Sept. 30 against the Ponoka Stampeders.