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Steamboat Springs — As a senior and returning cornerstone of the Steamboat Springs High School hockey team, Jon Winkelblech knows what he can bring to the ice.

But Winkelblech admits that even after a couple weeks of practice for the 2009-10 season, he’s not totally sure what type of team the Sailors have.

That should change Saturday, when the Sailors welcome Doherty, Pine Creek and Peak to Peak high schools for a full day of scrimmages.

Steamboat plays at 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. All games are at Howelsen Ice Arena. The game times were scheduled to fit around the Steamboat Springs High School football team’s home playoff game against Windsor. That game starts at 1 p.m.

“We’ll get a better idea,” Winkelblech said about Saturday’s scrimmages. “We’ll see who comes out to play and who is into it. We’ll see where people are at after the summer.”

The scrimmages are free and open to the public.

Each team will get to play one another for two 25-minute halves.

“It’s six hours of free high school hockey,” Steamboat coach Jeff Ruff said.

Despite being a relatively young team, Ruff is excited about the skill level his athletes have displayed.

He said the Sailors will use the scrimmages to try different line combinations and give new goaltenders Erik Owen and Joey Haight a chance to see game action for the first time.

“We’ll be matching different guys with each other,” Ruff said. “We have an idea of some lines we like. We’ll see how they do with an authentic opponent. We can scrimmage each other day in and day out, but it’s not an authentic opponent.”

The other benefit, Ruff said, is for his young team and first-time starters to see some high-school-level competition before the regular season officially starts.

Steamboat opens the season with the Mountain Hockey Tournament Dec. 4 and 5 in Aspen.

“This is huge,” Winkelblech said. “It’s good to get out there and get used to moving the puck around, get used to where guys are going to be. Once we get into the season, then it’s just minor tweaks.”

— To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com