It is business time for the Southern Stampede, which heads to Auckland to play the Botany Swarm in the opening round of the national league this weekend.
The Stampede was a finalist in 2011 and secured a home final last year, losing to the Canterbury Red Devils in a controversial shootout.
Manager Ross Burns said although th Stampede was a couple of players short of a full roster, he was quietly confident ''with the team we will be fielding this weekend''.
The blended team ranges from stalwart and captain Simon Glass, to young and promising local players such as Cameron and Lachlan Frear, to a strong international influence.
The Blue Tongues, based on the Gold Coast, are this year not participating in the Australian league. Consequently, the Stampede has gained four of the team's players: Mike McRae, Adam Blanchette, Greg Bay and Jeremy Brucker.
New Zealand's Kane Easterbrook returns to New Zealand after a season with the Blue Tongues and is one of the team's two goalies.
The Stampede's usual quota of American players is also in the mix.
Burns said the Botany Swarm was ''pretty much their returning team from last year. We never underestimate them.
''Certainly we want to get off to a stronger start this season,'' he said, referring to early rounds last year in which the Stampede had a mix of wins and losses.
''We didn't manage to get a consistent winning streak [early on], so we're looking to rectify that this year.''
Still, the Stampede finished strongly last year and hosted the Red Devils at the Queenstown Ice Arena in a sold-out home final.
Glass, who has held the captaincy since 2005, was equally optimistic, saying new players coupled with returning players ''added some depth''.
The Stampede has the disadvantage of the home rink not being open year-round, and Glass said last year the team was slow to gain speed.
He said with teams changing players from year to year, it was hard to say at this stage who to be most wary of, but Canterbury was sure to provide tough competition.
Southern Stampede
The facts
Last year: Finalist.
Coaches: Stephen Reid and Brian Horwitz.
Three key players: Simon Glass, Matt Schneider, Bert Haines.
