新闻稿

The start of a new season has the Buggies looking forward to the challenge of an uphill climb. With two straight seasons of missing the playoffs despite spirited runs at the end of both regular seasons, some new blood on the team is making it look like the team from Elmira is a serious threat for playoffs contention this year.

"We've added a few new defencemen and a couple wingers to bring the heat on the other teams," said the Buggies owner, Mitch Muir, in a press release. "Our preliminary observations have been great of all the players, new and veterans, and we're constantly looking for ways to improve the entire organization."

Head Coach Isaac Ferraro says this year is going to be great.

"The head office really broke the bank to get a few players over here, and the team is going to be better for it. We have spent over $10 million to bring in top-calibre players from around the world, and we're hanging on to most of our local talent as well."

He said by the end of the year, there may be some players who are very recognizable in the organization departing for a new team.

"Some of the guys we have sitting on the sidelines every game are too good for that, and we have the depth we need at this point, but as the other teams improve, we need to stay ahead of them as a team."

Normunds Vasks was awarded the starting goalie position after a valiant effort in net every game last season. He's quickly becoming a fan favourite.

"Fan favourite, I don't know," Vasks said with a chuckle. "That's a litte far-fetched, I think, but I'm just (going to) go out there and do the best I can every game and I really hope Dominek (Mensik) can get some ice time too."

Look out, III.2, the buggies are here!

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