ESCANABA — The Escanaba Eskymos hope a blue-collar approach will be their key to success this hockey season.

“We’re stressing the importance of being a hard-working team,” said coach Matt Hughes. “If we’re going to win games, we’re going to have to outwork teams.”

Esky, which finished 8-19 last season, hosts Marquette Tuesday at 7 p.m. in its opener at the Hannahville Ice & Turf Complex in Wells.

“We played a hard game against Kingsford (in a 3-2 Division 1 regional playoff loss),” said Hughes. “It was a hard battle to the end. We have a tough schedule this year. The teams in the Great Lakes Conference are tough.”

The Eskymos return six defensemen. They include seniors Chris Sliva and Bryce Cooper, juniors Luke Labre, Grant LaMarche and Braden Reinhart and sophomore Kayden Hayes.

“Chris is probably our top guy,” said Hughes. “He’s a pretty skilled kid and we’ll probably lean on him quite a bit. Luke and Grant are solid players who logged a lot of ice time last year and looking to add to that this year.

“The other defensemen are hard workers who are trying to work their way into regular shifts. Some have been here 2-3 years and have experience playing against the top teams in the state. They know what’s expected of them.”

Leading forwards are seniors and team captains Joe Jacobson and Christer Carne. Additional returners are senior Jake LaFave, juniors Grant Wickham, Ethan Silverstone and Kyle Krutina and sophomore Spencer Bourdeau.

“Joe and Christer logged a lot of ice time last year,” said Hughes. “We’re leaning on them as leaders and looking for Grant to be a leader. We have some pretty fast forwards. Our focus has been on competing. We have guys who have good hockey sense and are willing to work.”

First-year forwards include junior Devin Fisher, sophomore Nick Kolich and freshmen Ayden Mylander, Jayger LaMarch and Karson Krutina.

Junior Trevor Denome will serve as regular goaltender, with freshman Bryce Buchbinder as back-up.

“Trevor played in a few games last year,” said Hughes. “He knows what to expect.”

Seven icers played on the Esky football team, which reached the Division 4 regional final.

“The football team had success, which delayed things a little,” said Hughes. “We’ve had seven team practices and we’re looking forward to playing some games. It’s hard to tell what we need to work on until we get some games in. It’s hard to gauge those things in practice.”

After Tuesday’s opener, the Eskymos host Kingsford Thursday and Neguanee Monday.

“It has always been a big rivalry between us and Marquette,” said Hughes. “We’ve kind of been back and forth with them in recent years. Kingsford is no slouch either. They’ll work hard and battle to the end. Monday games are always tough because we don’t practice on Sunday.

“The three Copper Country schools (Houghton, Hancock and Calumet) in our conference are always solid and Jeffers is always pretty gritty.”

Esky has five home games before the holidays and host Tawas Area Jan. 4-5 before hitting the road for their next 10 games. They return home Feb. 16.

“The back end of our schedule is pretty road heavy,” said Hughes. “We have only two home games after the long stretch of road games. All the road games are tough on the kids, but I think they can be beneficial for them going into the playoffs. The kids get a chance to bond and gain team unity. Hopefully, that’s a positive for us.”

The schedule:

Nov. 27 — Marquette; Nov. 29 — Kingsford.

Dec. 3 — Negaunee; Dec. 7-8 — at Sault Ste. Marie; Dec. 14-15 — at Marquette Showcase; Dec. 18 — Hancock; Dec. 21 — Houghton; Dec. 29 — Painesdale at Michigan Tech.

Jan. 4-5 — Tawas Area; Jan. 11-12 — at Traverse City Central; Jan. 17 — at Marquette; Jan. 25 — at Calumet; Jan. 29 — at Negaunee; Jan. 31 — at Kingsford (Iron Mountain).

Feb. 7-9 — at Chelsea Showcase; Feb. 14 — at Hancock; Feb. 16 — Calumet; Feb. 21 — at Houghton; Feb. 23 — Painesdale Jeffers.