LEWISTON – Hockey may not have been the last thing on Sheldon Wenzel’s mind over the weekend, but it was obviously not the first thing, either.

His voice was mellow. He was relaxed, and he had just finished playing a game of catch. On Monday, he was going golfing.

“I have to get it all in now,” Wenzel said, as if he was talking about cramming for a final exam on summertime. “After I get back into town, it’s going to be all hockey.”

Wenzel will be one of three 20-year-old returning players at the Lewiston Maineiacs training camp, which opens Thursday morning, and he is coming off of a season that endeared him to local fans, both on and off the ice.

“Last year I had a good year,” Wenzel said. “I want to have an even better one this year.”

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When Chad Denny’s billet mom went to visit the second-year defenseman at home in Eskasoni, Nova Scotia, the first thing blurted from his mouth wasn’t about hockey.

“He had to show me his new driver’s license,” Sheila Blanchette said. “He was so proud of that card, it was really kind of funny.”

To Denny, the fact that he gained more than an inch of height and several pounds of muscle to replace the baby fat that once defined his face and mid-section were almost secondary to his license.

Almost.

“I grew a bit, lost some weight,” Denny said. “That was important. I got to play some golf and a little baseball, too.”

Still, with a new coach and new, higher expectations for this former No. 2 draft pick, the prospect of this year’s training camp is starting to excite him.

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Working in a factory making steel cabinets sounds like the perfect summer job for a hockey player. The grueling physical work and hot, sweaty environment seem to lend themselves to helping a player maintain a specific weight and body structure.

Or it could be that it’s just a good way to earn money.

“It was more a money thing, honestly,” said returning Maineiacs’ defenseman Travis Mealy. “It was full-time work and it’s going to give me a little extra money during the season.”

The work didn’t last all summer. With about two weeks left, Mealy “stopped working, and took a break” to get ready for this year’s camp.

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Wenzel, Denny and Mealy are in a much different place than a year ago.

“It’s going to be different now, with experience,” Wenzel said. “We know we can’t take it easy, but it will be easier in that we know what to expect.”

Wenzel in particular will be in a tight spot because of his reputation as a fighter.

“I know some of the players will want a piece of me in camp,” Wenzel said. “I am going to have to take it easy, though. I don’t want to break anything in camp. The coaches (Ed Harding and Jeff Guay, the assistant coaches under new head coach Clem Jodoin) know that I can fight, they’ve seen me enough.”

Another focal point for the returning players is physical fitness. Last year, Wenzel spent much of the first month or two shedding unneeded pounds, which he insists have stayed off this summer.

Denny, meanwhile, has also seemingly lost weight, although most of that has been redistributed to muscle. Denny also grew at least an inch in the offseason.

The nerves, according to the players, will also be calm – at least more so than last year.

“It will be better because we know the town and we’ll know some people,” said Mealy. “But really, I won’t even unpack my bags until, if I make the team. Last year a veteran was cut and I made the team as an invited player, so the same thing could happen to me this year.”

“Last year, I was more quiet and shy, at least off the ice, in training camp,” Wenzel added. “This year I will know a lot more people and it will be much more comfortable.”

Comfortable, that is, until he has to take a swing at another forward trying to prove his worth to the coaching staff. And then it’s back to a business that doesn’t include swinging a bat or catching a ball for nine more months.

The rest of the players seem to agree.

“I am looking forward to another season here,” said Denny. “Break is over now. It’s time to play hockey.”