The Berkshire Battalion opens the inaugural season Friday night at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshire Battalion won't play its first game until Friday evening, but head coach Dan Farrell already feels like a winner.

 

"It's almost like hitting the coaching lottery at this level," Farrell says when asked about how the Battalion roster was compiled for its inaugural season in the Federal Hockey League.

 

"I didn't know a lot about any of them, really, before they got here. But it's like I said the other day, it's almost like the stars are aligned perfectly."

 

The North Adams affiliate in the semi-pro hockey league hits the ice for the first time on Friday at 7 p.m. against Southwest Pennsylvania, the first of three home games this month for the Battalion.

 

Farrell's troops did not arrive at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink until late last week, seven days before the season opener. That did not allow much time for players and coach to get to know one another or for Farrell to figure out what kind of hand the hockey gods dealt him.

 

But on Thursday morning, he was sounding like a guy holding a winning ticket -- maybe not Megabucks big, but a nice little payout nevertheless.

 

"I'm pretty confident with this group," Farrell said. "If I wasn't, they wouldn't be here. It's a business. It's pro sports."

 

And it was enough to entice defenseman Jeffrey Sanders out of the German Oberliga, the third-tier league where he was skating Lowen Frankfort.

 

"I got a message from my friend [forward Matt Hamilton] saying, 'Berkshire's looking for another defenseman, so if you want to come back to the States and play in your home country, that would be great,' "Sanders said before Thursday's morning skate.

 

For Farrell, it was like making the score on the free ticket you get off that scratch ticket you bought.

 

"I said, 'Sure, we might be short bodies. Bring him out,' " Farrell said. "And now he's going to be one of our core guys."

 

Understandably, Farrell is still figuring out exactly what that core is going to look like.

 

Unlike the established clubs in the FHL, the Battalion has been saddled with a shorter training camp (one week as opposed to two or three) and, of course, no returning players who were familiar with one another.

 

Farrell probably could have used more time in camp, but he wasn't complaining about the other disadvantage.

 

"Sometimes it helps," he said. "If everyone is a fresh face, you don't have any animosities or preconceived ideas. Everyone is starting fresh."

 

Coach Dan Farrell feels good about the team he's assembled.

Sanders said the team is making the most of the little time it has to prepare for Friday.

 

"It's actually been really good," he said. "We were just saying the other night at a meeting that it feels like like we already put together a pretty strong team bond in just this last week.

 

"Guys are starting to figure out each others' tendencies on the ice. We're starting to know what each other's voices sound like so when we call for the puck, we'll get it."

 

Farrell said he knows what kind of style he thinks he can play with the roster he's assembled, but he is not saying.

 

"I'm not showing my cards right now, but I do know," he said.

 

One thing local fans can expect to see on Friday night is a familiar face - either on the Battalion's bench or behind it. Peter W. Foote Rink manager Darin Lane is an assistant coach and is listed on the roster as a forward.

 

Lane said on Friday that he likely will skate some for the team this season but would not say for sure whether he will suit up for the opener.

 

One of his teammates, Michael Kaselouskas of East Longmeadow, does expect to be in the lineup. Kaselouskas, who said he has a large contingent of family members making the drive up for his pro hockey debut, was one of the first to arrive to the rink on Thursday morning.

 

"I can't wait for tomorrow night," he said. "I'm psyched."