Fife Flyers face a baptism of fire when they square up to Danish ice hockey side Aalborg Pirates in their double-header pre-season clash at Kirkcaldy Ice Rink.
Danny Stewart, Fife’s associate player-coach, has two goals this weekend.
He is determined to see his men put on a good performance and also to record a winning start to the campaign.
Flyers have invested in quality following their late-season charge last term which saw them qualify for the final four at Nottingham for the first time.
He said: “Expectation has been raised but we must focus on right now, not what happened last time.
“Hopefully, we can continue where we left off last season but we need to show consistency.
“Two seasons ago we started well and then fell away around Christmas and battled to make the play-offs.
“Last season we started slowly but came away in the second half of the season and made the semi-finals at Nottingham for the first time.”
Elsewhere, Dundee face a double-header against Edinburgh Capitals with the Murrayfield men visiting Tayside tonight ahead of the return in the capital on Sunday.
It is a tough weekend for Stars, who entertained Asagio last night in the first of their pre-season games.
Player-coach Jeff Hutchins wants to start the season with a winning run.
He said: “It’s important to get momentum going and we’ve trained hard this week with that firmly in our minds.”
In the Scottish National League, Tayside rivals Dundee Tigers and Dundee Comets square up in the Autumn Cup on Sunday.
Daniel Topping is just one of the new faces who will be on show and Ewan Heeles returns to the ice after two seasons away from the game.
Missing will be Tigers top scorer Ryan McFarlane, who has moved south due to work commitments.
Gary Warley has decided to switch clubs and Andy Laird will miss the season through injury.
Tigers player-coach Ian Carstairs said: “Overall the team is looking strong but early signs are that the league as a whole looks to have risen in standard.
“Our first game is an exciting prospect.
“The Autumn Cup is a new competition and is an ideal opportunity to set a marker for the Scottish National League.
“Facing off in a derby match gives it that extra bit of spice.”