The team dominated the premier women’s grade last season but was edged in the final.
Momona won the game in a shootout.
City coach Ben Varkalis squeezed out a chuckle when asked about it.
The root cause of his amusement was a sharp sense of irony.
‘‘It was one of those days where the opposition played well and we probably weren’t quite as good as we had been,’’ Varkalis said.
‘‘But finals are like that sometimes.’’
A good core of last year’s group has returned, so City should be strong again.
It has two quality players at either end. Experienced goalie Ginny Wilson is a terrific shot stopper and Sarah Thomas is a prolific scorer.
Black Stick midfielder Tessa Jopp will be busy preparing for the Olympics. In her absence, Brooke Eddie and Tegan Buchanan will shoulder the workload in the middle, while defender Jess Faulks also shapes as a key player.
City opens its season against Kings United, while Momona will play the University Stingrays and the Taieri Tigers meet University Huskies.
Varkalis expects Momona will be strong again but suggested there were plenty of new faces around the club hockey scene which made it hard to predict who would emerge from the pack.
The format for the women’s competition involves the six sides playing three full rounds.
The playoffs are the same as last year, so the No1-ranked side will play the No2 ranked side for direct entry to the final.
The third and fourth-placed sides will play an elimination match, with the winner playing the loser of the 1 v 2 game for the right to play in the final.
The playoff format for the men is the same. But because there are only five teams they will play four full rounds.
Kings United is the defending champion but it has a bye today.
Player-coach James Nation clocked up more than 100 games for the Black Sticks and the 45-year-old shapes as a key member of the defence for Kings.
Talented midfielder Dylan Thomas has silky skills and a wonderful change of pace, while striker Craig Turner is sharp in front of goal and adept at setting others up as well.
The Taieri Tuataras play the University Black Panthers. Taieri has the three Ward brothers — Jordan, Finn and Patrick — and shapes as a very decent side.
The Albany Alligators play the University Blue Whales, who could be a dark horse this season, in the other game.
