The Vancouver Giants kick off their preseason schedule tonight with a tilt against the Kelowna Rockets at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
Game time is 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults or $8 for seniors and children under 12.
The Giants will also host Kamloops on Friday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. and Victoria on Friday, Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. in preseason action in Ladner. Tickets will be available only at the door on game nights starting one hour before face off.
Training camp for the Western Hockey League team wrapped up Wednesday with the annual Alumni Challenge intersquad game.
"The guys have worked really hard in training camp ... The key guys that you're hoping would step up are doing that. Guys like Jordan Martinook, and Cain Franson, and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, guys that have been on your team for a couple years now are really in that role as the leaders of your group," Giants coach Don Hay told CKNW Radio earlier this week.
Last season Vancouver finished fourth in the WHL's Western Conference and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Spokane Chiefs.
The Giants announced earlier this week that Vannieuwenhuizen, 20, would be the club's new captain.
"Wes is a player that carries all the intangibles that we want in a leader," said Giants general manager Scott Bonner. "He has made great improvements as a player, and we believe he'll be a great role model for our group."
Vannieuwenhuizen is entering his fourth year with the team, totaling 19 points and 309 penalty minutes in 137 regular season games.
The defenceman takes over from Tsawwassen's Brendan Gallagher, who's expected to move on to play in the Montreal Canadiens organization. Gallagher, a South Delta Minor Hockey alumni, was selected by the Habs in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL draft.
