GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence hockey team will kick off their season on Friday with a road game against the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont. at 7:30 p.m. The two teams will then travel back to Great Falls for the team's home opener on Saturday. The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Falls Ice Plex.

The games will begin after a shortened preseason. Due to a leakage found in the pipes at the Great Falls Ice Plex, the team will have only had eight practices before the game against the Grizzlies on Friday.

"It's not easy to try and stay focused on an upcoming season when you have this level of uncertainty of when this first game is going to be," head coach Jeff Heimel said. "The rink staff worked incredibly hard day and night to make sure we got back on in time. I'm really grateful for that."

Because of the limited amount of practice time, Heimel hasn't been able to delve into his normal preseason routine. Thankfully, his team consists of mainly upperclassmen with multiple years of experience in the program, and he has leaned on that experience to focus on other immediate areas of need. 

"Some of the things that you may have been teaching early on, the team has carried over some of those concepts from last season," Heimel said. "It's not perfect, we've got a lot to work on, but I'm thankful for that leadership. If we had a team full of freshman this year that might be a little more difficult."

A lot of that leadership can be credited to captains Levi Anderson, who became the first All-American in program history last season, Leo Felt and Cooper Page. Combining their leadership with the team's returning depth and focused goalkeeping gives Heimel great confidence in his roster.

"There are some guys that are some big time players that are going to step up to the plate," Heimel said. "I'm really excited about how the lines are shaking out. We've got a lot of depth and a lot of seniors. Levi and our captains are obviously a huge part of what we do."

"We've got good goaltending between Jacob Fry and Tristan Lewis, who have been spectacular in the past," he said. "Our goaltending is as strong as it could be in the league. It certainly helps bail us out when we're not playing our best hockey."

The Argos will open their season against the Grizzlies, who are competing in the American Collegiate Hockey Association for the first time. Despite the program's fresh start, their roster consists of quality players, and the team has already demonstrated they'll be competitive during their preseason schedule.

"They are really quick and compete really hard," Heimel said. "I think they're going to be a good new team. That's a good thing for us. You want to have teams you play that are going to push you every night. I'm excited about that."

The Argos however, are only looking inward. After two straight seasons of qualifying for the National Tournament, the team knows what they're capable of.

"One of the best parts about having all those senior guys is that despite the challenges that we had early on, the expectation didn't change at all," Heimel said. "We know we need to come out and set the tone for the season. That was hard, but once Monday hit it was game week. I've seen the competition level at practice so I don't think the competition is any different than it should be this time of year."