“A rebuilding year?” repeats Kelly Kisio, awaiting player registration for the start of rookie camp at the Don Hartman Sportsplex, out 68th St. N.E. way. “Yeah, uh, I guess it is.”

But, with all due respect, isn’t that, through fair weather and foul, with stacked teams or stripped, ALWAYS what Cautious Kelly says as the Calgary Hitmen reconvene early each September?

Small, self-deprecating smile. “Yeah, uh, I guess it is.”

The Hitmen piled up 107 points and 52 wins during the regular season last year, and that playoff train they kept plugging chugged all the way east to Brandon and a Memorial Cup berth.

Invariably in junior hockey after a season of that kind, a springtime journey of such length, the trap door swings open underneath, and . . .

In the feast-or-famine world he inhabits, though, what Kelly Kisio has always managed to do is set a tasty table. A superb eye for talent, uncanny knack for the big trade and complete confidence in his scouting staff have continually kept the Hitmen competitive, in the playoffs, season in, season out.

That virtually foolproof formula will be put to the test now.

Brandon Kozun’s league-leading 107 regular-season points? Ian Schultz’s sizable presence? Those 36 Ws and that miserly 2.21 GAA Martin Jones delivered between the pipes? Joel Broda’s lethal release from the high slot? Michael Stone’s massive minutes on the blueline?

Gone. All gone.

“We are losing some high-, high-end guys,” reiterated Kisio. “It’s a funny year. There are lot of guys signed going to (NHL) camps. Kozie’s a good example. L.A. expects him to play in the American league. So . . . I’m assuming he’ll play there. (Kris) Foucault, I don’t know what’s going to happen to him. We don’t know if he’s coming back. Schultzie’s gone.

“St. Louis likes (Tyler) Shattock, so he’s gone. Jonesy, too.

“Honestly, I don’t know who are going to be our 20-year-olds. By Oct. 10, we’ll see what our hockey team looks like because guys might filter back, or they might not.

“As it stands right now, and wishing and hoping don’t get a lot accomplished, there are a lot of important pieces missing from last year.”

The only indispensable piece, however, remains intact. Touted as a prime candidate to shift to other, posher offices within the Pengrowth Saddledome, to finally get a much-deserved NHL opportunity in the Calgary Flames’ organization, Kisio finds himself back at his familiar post down the hallway this fall.

“I did have conversations over the summer about different jobs with Darryl and Ken,” he reluctantly acknowledges. “But at the end of the day, we . . . I . . . just felt the Hitmen is best spot for me. What can I tell you? I like this job. I enjoy coming to the rink. It’s always a challenge.”

In this situation, perhaps, even more so.

“It’s a tightrope walk, for sure,” Kisio admits. “You want your young guys to play and allow them to make honest mistakes. That costs you games.

“In a year like the one coming up, it’s probably going to cost us a few games. It’s gonna happen, have to live with it. At the same time, the attitude around our team, our dressing room, is that losing is unacceptable.

“The last six or seven years, we’ve put high demands on our kids. But we bring them along the right way. We don’t toss them to the wolves and let ’em survive or be eaten. We ease them in, whereas a lot of teams will throw them hard into the lineup, with disastrous results. We do our best to teach them about the game in our league and the way it should be played and then they slowly make their way and so, by the time they’re 17, 18, 19 years old, they’re pretty solid hockey players.”

Matt MacKenzie will rally the blueline troops for second-year coach Mike Williamson. In attack, there’s a handful of returnees being counted on to bump their levels up.

“We’ll have a young defence,” says Kisio. “Young defences and the Western league don’t usually mix very well, but in a couple of years this group, I believe, is going to be outstanding. First, though, they have to go through the sort of growing pains all young kids do.

“Up front, we’ve still got some horses.”

“(Tyler) Fiddler had very good year, but he fell off at the end, got sick hurt a couple of times, and that bit into his production,” Kisio says. “But he’s key for us. Jimmy Bubnick can put up numbers. Cody Sylvester. (Cody) Beach. We need those guys to play major minutes on the top two lines.”

One area he doesn’t sound the least worried about is the most vital – goal. Somewhat odd, considering the importance of Jones to the Mem Cup run.

“I think,” Kisio says, “it’ll be OK. (Michael Snider) learned a lot the last couple of years. He’s been the backup, but when given the chance, he played damn well.

“A lot of years, you go into games with the backup and you’re crossing your fingers. We never worried about him at all last year. He’s grown as a player and a person for us.”

Over 80 hopefuls are set to audition, with the main camp slated to open Friday at Don Hartman.

“I can see a lot of teams on our side being better this year, not having made many changes,” says Cautious Kelly. “Red Deer. Kootenay. Moose Jaw. Those teams . . . well, we’re going to play our ‘A’ game if we want to compete.

“If things work out, I’d say we’ll be, uh, in the middle of the pack.”

Then again, he said the very same thing a year ago at this time.