It's beginning to look a lot like winter in the Wood River Valley, which means hockey season is here.
The Sun Valley Suns men's senior amateur hockey team opens its 32nd season of competition Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2 with a two-game weekend series against the veteran-packed McCall Mountaineers at Manchester Ice Centre in McCall.
Opening face-offs are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday as the Suns (511-202-29 all-time) reach the 743rd and 744th games in franchise history.
Chris Benson, entering his 17th season with the Suns and his third full season as Suns head coach, said about the McCall trip, "It will be a good test for us against a good team filled with ex-Idaho Steelhead players. We'll bring a full squad and should be strong. Both goalies (Ryan Thomson and Colin Zulianello) are healthy and ready to go."
At McCall, Sun Valley will be returning to the site of the season finale of last winter's 16-8 Suns campaign. McCall swept that series, 4-3 and 5-2 last March 31-April 1.
Benson said, "McCall isn't the biggest hitting team we'll play so in that way it's a good start for us."
The Mountaineers hold a 13-6-1 advantage including a 6-3-1 home ice edge in the three-year rivalry between the two teams. Sun Valley's last win in McCall came exactly two years ago, Dec. 3, 2004, by a 7-3 score in the 2004-05 season debut. Since, McCall is 4-0-1 on home ice.
Sun Valley players have been practicing for five weeks, since the end of October, and tonight's practice will be the team's 11th heading into the 24-game 2006-07 season.
The home opener is Dec. 15-16 against the Park City (Utah) Silver Kings at Sun Valley Skating Center. McCall visits Sun Valley over the New Year's holiday weekend, then the Suns have three home weekends of games in January interrupted by a trip to Jackson Hole, Wyo. for a rematch against the Moose Jan. 12-13.
Leading the Suns will be last year's top scorer Vilnis Nikolaisons (12 goals and 24 assists for 36 points). Ninth-year wing Nikolaisons from Latvia is quickly climbing the charts on the all-time Suns scoring list and could move into second place by the end of the 2006-07 season.
