It's game day

After years of waiting for Spectra Place and months of waiting for the new-look Bruins to take the ice, the day is finally here.

Here's a look at tonight's season opener against the Melville Millionaires (I'll try to get the lineup and jersey numbers up later today).

Remember, you need to be in your seat around 7 p.m. tonight. Also, you may need to leave a few minutes early because 7th St. is currently the only way into the rink. You can't get in from Souris due to road work.

Melville Millionaires

The Mils are the odds-on favourites to win the Sherwood Conference this year, but they aren't expecting to get off to a hot start. Part of that is because players like Sean Aschim and Zach Rakochy are still in the WHL, and the other part is they only play three of their first 13 games at home, not opening the Horizon Credit Union Centre until Oct. 1.

Still, this is a team that can fill the net and they have three strong veterans on the back end, although Jamie Fiesel is looking for another one. They also have capable netminder Alex Sirard in Rakochy's absence. Melville can ice two excellent scoring lines along with a gritty third unit that can chip in points. The Bruins' young defence will have to deal with guys like Jesse Mireau, Mark Owen, Lucas Froese, Michael Desjarlais and Roger Tagoona all night. The Mils also have some promising rookies including Colin Mospanchuk and Allen Kilback.

Lee Christensen will anchor a blueline tasked with handling the Bruins' deep forward corps, with support from 20-year-olds Bob Pond and Tyson Newell. Tyler Bird and Jared Williamson are also back as 19-year-olds. Sirard, a former Bruin, will start his second straight season opener after the North Stars brought him in as an injury fill-in last year.

Estevan Bruins

One of the biggest things I'm sure Keith Cassidy is working on today is keeping his players' focus on the game. With so much going on, the first game in Spectra Place, all the people who will show up (not to mention the tailgate and last night's appearance at the combine demolition derby), it's important that the guys keep the distractions out, not to mention the nerves for all the 18-year-olds.

This is our first chance to see the highly touted rookies in a regular season game. Let's not forget, it's going to take them a while to adjust. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see guys like Taylor Reich, Tanner Froese, Matt Brykaliuk or Tyler Kauk make an impact tonight. They all looked more like veterans in pre-season.

The top line of Calder Neufeld, Cole Olson and Dylan Smith will obviously be expected to lead the way. I'm not sure if the Brykaliuk-Bernard-Froese line is staying together. I also expect vets like Ryan Ostertag and Michael Hengen to step up and be heard in what could be a breakout year for both.

We know the blueline will be very young with four 93s. Expect Kauk to log lots of minutes to help out Perrault and Baldwin, and Yano as well. There is no question they will have their hands full and as Keith mentioned earlier this week, the calm presence of Derek Tendler will be key. It's a chance for Tendler to show what he can do with Cooper out and I expect him to take full advantage.