As the puck drops on another WHL season tonight some new faces will hit the ice with the Swift Current Broncos.

One of them is 18-year-old forward Max Patterson who was added from Kootenay in a trade during the pre-season.

"I'm really excited to play for this organization," Patterson said. "It's been awesome. The guys are great."

Patterson has a family connection here as his father Ed played parts of two seasons in Swift Current.

"He liked it here a lot," Patterson said. "He said it was fun to play in front of these fans. I'm wearing the same number as him."

The 6'4 Patterson scored twice in three pre-season games for Kootenay before they  moved him to Swift Current for goaltender Bailey Brkin. He had 7 goals in his first season and 8 more in his second with Kootenay.

"We certainly feel we've got a player that can help us out immediately," said Broncos Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Manny Viveiros. "We feel we're going to have him for a couple years at least. We feel he has some untapped potential. He's a big, big young man and goes to the dirty areas. We're excited we're adding a little bit of size to our right wing and we think he can help us out."

Patterson is hoping to take a step forward with Swift Current.

"I want to play strong bellow the circles," he noted. "I want to take pucks to the net. I want to work on my skating a bit. That will come... use my shot to my advantage"

You can hear Friday night's game live on The Eagle 94.1 FM with Robertson Family Group Broncos Hockey at 6:30pm.