In the middle of the summer with temperatures hitting over 30 degrees, the Moose Jaw Generals came together with the upcoming season on their mind.

For the first time ever, the local midget AAA team welcomed in returning and prospective players for the 2018-19 season for a week of on-ice sessions and off-ice team building.

Head coach Ray Wareham said he's very pleased with the results of the week.

"We were talking at the end of last year with so many guys eligible to return, we wanted to do some more team bonding stuff and build off what we did last year," explained Wareham.

He added, "It's been fantastic."

The team had 34 players hit the ice over the course of four days for morning practices and an evening scrimmage at the Barkman Arena. During the afternoons, the Generals have been carrying the competition over to the golf course, as well as kayaking.

Returning forward Jaxon Georget said it was a fun week, "It's been really good to get some conditioning in, get going with the boys again, it should be a good start to a good year," he said.

Two players battle towards the net during the Generals summer camp this week at the Barkman Arena. (Photo: Marc Smith)

The Generals were a young team during the 2017-18 season, but they showed a lot of progress over the course of the year.

With 18 players eligible to return to this year’s squad, laying the ground work now could pay dividends early in the season for the Generals, who are looking to improve on last year’s 11-33-2-4 record.

"It's been, in my 17 years, the best camp that I've ever had," said Wareham. "Intensity-wise; our veteran guys are leading the way, they're working their butts off; the young guys are coming in and following suit; we've been real happy with the pace of the games, so it's been real encouraging."

Georget said that the players were eager to get back on the ice and continue the growth that they had together last season.

"Last year was a great learning experience, we're just building off that coming into this year," he said.

"This week has been very good for bonding, we're just getting to know each other just a little bit more and that will help with connections on the ice coming into this year."

Wareham said they may trim down the roster a bit before heading into training camp next month, but he's coming away pleased with how every player has preformed on and off the ice.

"We've been real happy, we've got some guys that have really stepped up and it's going to make it difficult to make some decisions, but we've got some kids that can play that unfortunately won't be able to because we can only keep 20," said Wareham.

"We went the way we did last year, we knew that we were going to have some bumps in the road and we're hoping that it pays off this year. Looking at the veteran guys coming back, they've put their time in over the summer and they've looked real good so far."

The Generals will host their training camp next month before the players head off to their respective junior camps at the end of August.

For now though, there’s a feeling of excitement in the air for the Generals before the puck drops on the season.