It’s a new season with a new coach.

And the hope for the Cedar Rapids Junior RoughRiders is that there also will be a new result.

The Junior RoughRiders are made up of players from 14 different area high schools, including six of the eight Metro schools. They are coming off the worst season in team history.

Cedar Rapids finished 1-25-1, scoring four points to finish with the worst record in the Midwest High School Hockey League.

The Riders are looking for much better results in 2013-14, beginning Friday night when they open their 28-game schedule against Dubuque in a 6 p.m. contest at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

“We’re definitely hoping for different results this year,” said Alec Nichols, a Cedar Rapids Washington senior. “I think our team is way more excited about this season than we were about last season.”

Brandon DeWolf, who took a year off last year after coaching several years on many levels, was named the Riders’ coach in August, replacing Ben Rusnak. Rusnak left to coach the University of Iowa’s club team.

“I’ve been involved in hockey all my life,” said DeWolf, the third Riders coach in as many seasons. “I grew up in Cedar Rapids and played high school hockey in Waterloo. I took last year off and wanted to get back into it. I saw this job was open, applied and got the job in August.”

DeWolf knows all about last year’s dismal record and his goals for this unit are simple.

“I know last year was a rough year,” he said. “This year, I don’t have any real specific expectations for it other than to go out there and compete. I’ve seen that competitive fire in practice. There’s a lot of energy and excitement that was lacking last year.”

Senior right wing Jordan Schultz, who attends Cedar Rapids Kennedy, has played hockey since he was 3 years old. He admitted that last season was not enjoyable.

“It was really hard,” he said. “You can say we were a young team and I don’t think we were really ready to face the teams in our league. I think a lot of it had to do with our attitudes going into the games.  We just weren’t ready to play.”

If the early practices are any indication, being prepared should not be a problem for this unit, according to Schultz. He said DeWolf has brought a very structured approach to the team.

“I think a lot of it has to do with discipline,” he said. “We’ve got (DeWolf) this year. I mean he is doing all the little things compared to last year. Discipline-wise, we are coming more together as a team. The chemistry is all there 100 percent.”

Part of that chemistry will show in the units DeWolf puts on the ice. He said his first three lines are pretty well set with a number of other players battling for spots on the fourth line.

“I’m really excited about what I have out on the ice right now,” he said. “I think we have some good players with some good skills. I like what I have seen so far.”

Having players from so many different schools hasn’t been a problem for DeWolf.

“They may give each other a hard time off the ice, but once we get out there, we are our own entity,” he said. “There isn’t a divide depending on what school you go to. We are all Riders when we practice and play games.”

Nichols said that theme will need to carry through to the games. After Friday’s opener, the Riders host Lincoln, Neb., in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. Getting off to a good start at home is crucial for a team that needs to set the tone early.

“Obviously wins and losses are something that we are going to keep track of,” Nichols said. “We want to get the wins on the board right off the bat to set the tone.

“We want to show people that we are not a team they can just walk over," he said. “We need to be physical and play our game. We weren’t a big team last year. This year, we still don’t have a lot of size, but we’re not going to back down from anybody and get more into the battles along the boards.”

Those who go out and watch the Junior Riders will see a different brand of hockey from that played by Mark Carlson’s USHL RoughRiders team.

“The difference is going to be the speed of the game,” DeWolf said. “I would also say the strength of the players is different. Our pool of players is from the Cedar Rapids area where Carlson has the entire United States to choose from.

“We play a good brand of hockey in our league,” he said. “There are players who go on to play in juniors and in college. I don’t know how we will finish, but I do know we will play hard and we will be in condition to go hard throughout the game.”

Or, as Schultz put it: “This is a very good league. We have some good players and we know we can compete. It is up to us to go out and get the job done.”

The season begins Friday and finishes Friday, Feb. 21 with a contest at Ames.

The 12-team league is divided into three divisions. Cedar Rapids is part of the Eastern Division with Quad City, Dubuque and Waterloo. The Central Division has the Des Moines Capitals, Des Moines Oak Leafs, Mason City and Ames. Teams from Sioux City, Omaha, Lincoln and Kansas City comprise the Western Division.

Here is the list of players from the Metro Schools:

Jefferson: Dalton Heggebo

Kennedy: Jordan Schultz, Colton Schultz, Cooper Johnson, Robbie Lewis

Linn-Mar: Nick Shanklin, Thomas Doyle, Devin Patel

Prairie: Tysen VanDraska, Dylan Ceynar, Austin Wisnousky, Dylan Moore, Riley Lowe

Washington: Alec Nichols, Chayton Wendler, Chris Brown, Michael Eken

Xavier: Jordan Even