Mark Robinson doesn’t have a lot of familiar faces around the locker room this year, but he likes the good mix of experience and youth that make up the roster for this year’s edition of the Western Kings. The Kings, one of four teams in the provincial major midget hockey league, released its roster for the 2018-2019 season Thursday afternoon. Robinson admits he had a special team last year that boasted a lot of offensive weapons which helped the Kings finish first overall in the league before bowing out in the final. He may not have some of his big guns from last season like scoring champion Andrew Antle at his disposal, but he was impressed with some of the new guys who showed up at camp and the one thing that stood out to him was the strong work ethic players brought to the ice. “I think they’re all hard workers,” Robinson said Thursday while taking a break from helping instruct players on the ice at the Juan Strickland Hockey School. “It seems to me that this year’s team is going to be a hard-working, meat and potatoes kind of team.” Robinson said it was a tough assignment trying to form the roster for this season as compared to last season when the team boasted a dozen or more third-year players who had experience on their side. While Robinson was familiar with a lot of the faces in the mix, he was surprised to find a few guys who he had never seen before. They impressed him enough to give them a shot by giving them a roster spot. Jonathan Park of Deer Lake is one of the guys he singled out as promising additions to a young team that will find its way as they get adjusted to not only playing with each other but comfortable playing at the quick pace that comes with major midget hockey. “He showed up in phenomenal shape and works hard. He certainly got lots of energy,” Robinson said of the sturdy right winger. The Kings open the regular season at home Sept. 7 with a three-game series against the East Coast Blizzard. https://www.thewesternstar.com/sports/western-kings-coach-mark-robinson-likes-the-work-ethic-of-new-roster-237784/