HOUSTON — Mike Styers is a realist.

With only about a dozen players on the Houston Hawks roster— when they’re completely healthy — the Houston head coach knows, most of the time, the Hawks will be skating at a disadvantage.

But he’s also an optimist, knowing even though the Hawks don’t boast tremendous numbers, Houston does have a solid core of talent. “It’s going to be a tough year for us,” Styers said. “The goal by the end of the year is to be competitive. That’s what we’re working on.”

While most of the players on the roster have at least some experience within the program, there are only three seniors on the roster — forwards Brendan Weimer and Jordan Cole, and defenseman Joe VanHyning.

The Hawks also only have two juniors, forward Tim Scates and defenseman Lyle Rowe.

The Hawks do have a handful of underclassman who are, or will eventual be, among the better players in the Mid-Alaska Conference, Styers said.

In that group are sophomore forward Micah Ranum, sophomore forward Rye Humphreys and freshman defenseman Zach Lovelace.

“Micah Ranum is a top player, Brendan Weimer is a top player, and I think Rye Humphreys will develop into a top player,” Styers said, noting a trio of his standouts.

The Hawks also have forward James Shuey, and sophomore defensemen Zack Weisz and Jon Olson.

The limited number of forwards and blueliners gives Styers just two units to work with.

“We have two lines and we’ll rotate them,” Styers said.

In goal for the Hawks is sophomore Ben Barenburg, who is in his first season with the Houston program.

Relatively new to the position, Styers said, there has been a learning curve for the young netminder, but he is pleased with the progress.

“He’s a hard worker,” Styers said of Barenburg. “He doesn’t get frustrated and the guys don’t get frustrated with him. They know we’ve got to slowly build and get better by the end of the year.”

Houston is 2-2-0 this season. The Hawks opened the season with a 5-4 win over Colony and skated past Delta 7-5 during the final day of the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament. Those wins sandwiched losses to Palmer and West Anchorage during the Menard tourney.

Houston continues play with a game at Homer on Friday.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.