Tuesday marked the start of training camp for the Airdrie Techmation Thunder and it's safe to say they have high hopes for this season.

The Heritage Junior Hockey League Team, the Thunder, have their eyes set on provincials this year as they were only a couple of wins away from making it last year.

"We are hoping to put out a team that's going to compete every night," stated the General Manager of the Thunder, Shaun Guest.

The Thunder's last season came to an end in the North Division Final, when they lost the series to the Sylvan Lake Wranglers. For this season, Guest explained the team will look different.

"We've got lots of returning guys this year. We have a few guys who won't be returning of course. We are also seeing a lot of talent come in from some of the prep teams and some other guys that we had out at our three-on-three tournament that we really like. We're excited to see them all play together and see exactly how they play."

It has been a busy off-season for Guest, as they have been busy renovating the locker room for the boys. Things like flooring, stalls, and the equipment room have all been renovated. Different technology has also been added like a brand new T.V. to help with coaching.

"We've added some new tools here to hopefully give the coaches everything they need to go over things with the boys to help them perform better."

The room is almost complete and should be ready to go for the start of the season.

The Thunder have five pre-season games, two of them taking place this week. The first game is against the Mountainview Colts, 8 p.m. at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on Friday before they take on the Colts once again on Saturday, this time at the Didsbury Memorial Complex Arena, also at 8 p.m.

The Regular season kicks off Friday, September 22 as the Carstar Okotoks Bisons make the trip to the Ron Ebbesen Arena for an 8 p.m. puck drop.

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM