Head coach Curtis Hunt is uncompromising when it comes to certain aspects of the Regina Pats’ game.

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Others require a little more flexibility.

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“Every single team is unique and the team will dictate — based on our speed, our strengths, our weaknesses — the type and style of game we need to play,” offered Hunt, whose WHL team opens its exhibition schedule tonight (7 p.m., Co-operators Centre) against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

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“That’s our biggest responsibility as a group, to find that identity outside of the givens. The givens are you come to work every day, you’re mentally ready to go every day and within that this needs to be a miserable place to play. We need to find that identity within this group.”

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As the Pats wrap up training camp and switch gears for the pre-season, the club remains very much a work in progress. One thing is certain: It’ll be a different group by default based on the loss of top-end players like defenceman Colten Teubert and — in particular — all-world sniper Jordan Eberle.

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How that translates onto the ice remains to be seen.

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“Really there’s two games within a game,” explained Hunt. “The game behind the blueline never changes, (although) what you teach and sometimes what they do are two different things. There’s different ways of accountability for that. We have to block shots, we have to be physical, we have to create numerical advantages defensively and without the puck.

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“How you play with the puck is the biggest dictator in terms of the change of your game. That’ll relate back to what kind of skill you have. Where’s your strength? Is it on the back end? Is it up front? Do you need to get your D involved? Does it affect your cycle? Does it affect your mentality? There are some things that don’t change but there are going to be subtle differences in the style of game we play from a year ago just because of the change in personnel.”

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Those questions will be answered in time, but Hunt doesn’t see that process as a negative.

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“When you look at our guys I think they have a real clear understanding that we’re going to be a team that does everything by committee,” he said. “Understanding that coming in makes for a tighter group and it makes for a group that’s more apt to make our environment one of better accountability, one of better communication, one of better team in general.”

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Hunt believes that missing the playoffs for two straight seasons should provide added motivation for the players. Having that extra chip on their shoulders could also be a positive “if we channel it in the right direction.”

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“It’s a changing of the guard,” added Hunt, who doesn’t buy the theory that some of the pressure and expectation departed along with Eberle & Co. “I think there’s more pressure. Our guys need to grab onto that responsibility and that pressure and relish in it. One of the things we talk about as a team is to love the battle. In our business it’s about applying pressure. There’s more pressure on everybody to bring your game up that much more.”

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