With training camp set to open this weekend, the Moose Jaw Generals are hoping that last year's struggles will lead to successes this season.

The Generals will hit the ice at Mosaic Place on Saturday and Sunday to open the 2018-19 season with the team’s annual training camp.

"We had that camp in July out in Caronport, it was a really good camp and that created some excitement, all the guys are excited to get back, so it will be good to have them all back this weekend and start the process," said Generals head coach Ray Wareham.

The local midget AAA squad struggled to a 9-29-2-4 record during the 2017-18 season, but that was expected with the team going with a younger roster in hopes of building together.

Wareham said he saw the development that he wanted to see out of the team last year and now it's about putting that to use this season.

"We took our lumps last year, but we knew going in with 18 new guys and 12 15-year-olds, we knew it was going to be a challenge, but the kids battled hard, they learned a lot and we could see that in the July camp, where they had a better understanding of the game and they were able to let their skill take over."

The Generals made a lot of their roster decisions over the summer when they hosted a camp at the Barkman Arena in Caronport.

There wasn't a lot of roster spots up for grabs, to begin with, but Wareham said there are still some players that could fight their way onto the roster this weekend.

"We have a couple of kids coming that are looking for AP status, but we were up front with everybody after July with our situation because we have so many guys returning, but there could be a surprise or two," said Wareham.

"What we did in the July camp is we started our systems and stuff, so we'll continue that here with some practices in the morning and a scrimmage in the afternoon, and then we'll get the annual Blue-White Game.

"The camp in July was fantastic, we thought the pace was good and we're hoping that the same thing will occur this weekend."

The Generals will be on the ice for practices at 9 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. on Saturday with a scrimmage at 3 p.m. They will practice at the same times again on Sunday morning and then host the Blue-White Inter-squad game at 2:30 p.m.

The first preseason action for the Generals comes on Sept. 6 when they host the Swift Current Legionnaires.