The Estevan Bruins will play the first regular season game in Spectra Place on Saturday night.
Before that happens, though, they need to cut at least two players from a roster that included 27 as of Monday.
The breakdown of players still in the running to play in Thursday's opener against the Melville Millionaires included 16 forwards, eight defencemen and three goalies.
The Bruins were 4-1 in pre-season play entering Tuesday's finale against the Notre Dame Hounds at Spectra Place.
That includes a 3-2 overtime victory Sunday in Yorkton and a 5-4 shootout loss to the Swan Valley Stampeders on Friday in Virden, Man.
Jesse Bernard scored the overtime winner against the Terriers, with Chris Daniels and Calder Neufeld supplying the other markers, both in the first period.
Derek Tendler got the win in his second start of the pre-season.
"It was a tight game back there and he was calm and cool in the net," said Bruins head coach Keith Cassidy.
He added that all three goalies in camp acquitted themselves well in pre-season action and that the picture remains "clear as mud."
That said, Shea Cooper suffered a laceration to his foot in an off-ice accident and is expected to miss about two weeks. That means Tendler and Steven Glass will start the season.
Glass was impressive between the pipes in Friday's loss. Estevan's goals came courtesy of Daniels, Michael Hengen, Dylan Smith and Neufeld.
Cassidy said forward Josh Jelinski looked good on Friday and Sunday in his first two games of the exhibition slate.
Ryan Ostertag (concussion) has been cleared to play, while Derek Whitehill (shoulder) is day-to-day. Ben Johnstone suffered a mild concussion in Weyburn last Wednesday and his status is unclear.
The only two players no longer on the roster reported by the Mercury last week are defenceman Kade Halabuza, who decided to join Swan Valley, and 17-year-old forward Wyatt Garagan, who opted to return to the Tisdale Trojans for his last year of midget.
Cassidy said he isn't in a hurry to cut down from eight defencemen.
"(Lyndon) Soper and (Jeff) Bartel have certainly made a strong case to stick around a bit longer," he said.
Whittling the roster down to 25 players could come solely from the forwards.
A few line combinations have emerged during the pre-season. A veteran scoring unit of Calder Neufeld, Cole Olson and Dylan Smith has racked up the goals and an all-1993 line of Matt Brykaliuk, Jesse Bernard and Tanner Froese has clicked.
Cassidy said he liked the chemistry between Jelinski and Daniels on the weekend.
On the whole, Cassidy likes what he's seen so far and projects his team as a tight-knit group that can outwork opponents.
"We've got a bunch of guys in that room that like playing for one another. No one's putting themselves above the team.
"Our identity's going to be a hard-working team that's got a lot of speed and hopefully never quits."
The Bruins will get a week off after Saturday's game before visiting Notre Dame on Sept. 24.
Bruins marketing manager Becky Tait said the team had sold about 470 season tickets as of Monday, up roughly 15 per cent from last season.
She attributed that increase largely to Spectra Place and added that the team hopes to bump the number up to 600.
"People have been coming around last minute like we expected. The community has been really supportive," Tait said.
