One of those leading the way in these early days has been Brian Pinho.
“I’m really excited to be back,” said Pinho. “We’re just excited to get the season started.”
The 31-year-old forward is coming off a third straight 30-point AHL campaign and as he spent the summer ramping up to his ninth pro season, his focus landed on some foundational pillars of his game.
“Focusing on my speed a little bit, trying to keep my skating level up,” said Pinho of how he spent his offseason. “I found that when I’m skating well and competing for pucks and winning battles then everything else kind of takes care of itself.”
Pinho was a big piece of Charlotte’s regular-season success a year ago - a campaign that eventually came to an abrupt end with a first-round playoff exit that left a bitter taste for the team over the summer. With an offseason between then and now, though, Pinho is ready to take that experience and build from it.
“I think we’re going to learn from that experience and keep pushing and try to separate ourselves from the rest of the teams,” he said. “Play consistently - I found last year that when we were consistently playing our game we were a tough team to beat. So I think the goal for us this year will be to find that early and kind of just keep it rolling through the whole year, through playoffs, keep playing the way we know we can play.”
The Massachusetts native is back in the fold this season, but - as is the nature of this league - there will be plenty of new faces around him come opening night. That’s where the environment and culture can take over, though, starting with these first few skates.
“That’s why we were such a good team last year,” said Pinho. “Everyone bought in and we were playing the same system. Guys would stick up for each other and all that. I think the new guys will pick it up quick and hopefully we can pick up where we left off and have a good year."
