Hockey Canada and the CJHL have confirmed that the Estevan Bruins remain the host team for the Centennial Cup in 2022. It would be inappropriate, however, to say that now the work begins. The work has been going on for some time and never really stopped. 

Even before the arrival of head coach and GM Jason Tatarnic, some of the foundations for a Centennial Cup-host roster had been laid, and some of those pieces remain with the team. Tatarnic has left his own stamp on the roster to come, and more work is yet to be done. 

"The plan has kind of been in place for a couple of years now, working with our scouting department," he said. "We kind of followed the last step before the Centennial Cup last year with our plan, adding a couple of younger guys and kind of getting our age bracket sorted out and making sure we have the right pieces moving forward. I think we're in a pretty good spot roster wise right now."

Like any team, the Bruins will have some holes to fill left by departing 20-year-olds (especially on defense) but they'll have some impressive pieces returning as well. Leading rookie scorer from 2019-20 and Viterra Division Rookie of the Year Griffin Asham-Moroz is entering his 20-year-old season, while Brady Nicholas, who finished top-ten in league rookie scoring that same year, is also returning as a 20-year-old.

Cody Davis, who sniped 16 goals as a 17-year-old in the last full hockey season, is also back. The last time a 17-year-old scored more goals than that in an SJHL season, it was Adam Dawe putting up 19 goals in 2016-17 for the Notre Dame Hounds. In fact, Dawe is the only 17-year-old rookie in the last decade of SJHL action to score more goals than Davis. 

The Bruins didn't get much of a look at their rookie crop in game action last year, but both Antoine Saint-Onge (four points in four games) and Mason Smith (two points in two games) finished at a point-per-game as 18-year-olds. As for their 17-year-olds, Caelan Fitzpatrick and Keagon Little both proved they belong in the league and even became fixtures on the penalty kill. 

"We definitely like our core right now for sure," Tatarnic said. "As we move forward this summer and the beginning of the season we'll make those evaluations to see where we are. If we feel like we're in a really good spot, not much will be happening but if we feel like there are some pieces to add, we'll definitely move in that direction."

One area where the Bruins will have to make choices is in their 2001-born players. When last season came to a halt in November, they had 10 20-year-olds on their roster and while some may not return as they still have opportunities in the WHL, some of those players may well be back as well, which would leave the Bruins with a few decisions to make. The most 20-year-olds they're allowed to play in a game is eight.

"Right now, you just kind of want to assemble the best players that you can," Tatarnic said. "Then you have to look at the age of those players and how they fit in, who the best 20-year-olds are that we can put on the ice, so that's something we have to decide. We also want to make sure we have a really good core of 19 and 18-year-olds."

The Centennial Cup is due to be hosted in Estevan from May 20 to May 29.