Josh Bloom was chomping at the bit to get back to game action at the Young Stars Classic.

“I’m really excited to play games again, it feels like forever,” Bloom said. “Obviously in the summer you get away from it but being back here you get the juices going again and it’s an exciting time. I’m really pumped to be back.”

The 21-year-old won the Memorial Cup with the Saginaw Spirit in June and was at Canucks development camp at the beginning of July that included a scrimmage, but even that feels long ago to him.

Like many of the players, he thinks Young Stars is a great way to prepare for training camp. He hopes to continue to get more comfortable and gain a deeper understanding of the Canucks’ systems throughout the weekend.

“Putting my best foot forward is the goal of the week and hopefully take away some stuff from Manny and the staff here to get into the swing of things going into main camp,” Bloom said.

He hopes to showcase the progress he’s made during the summer, while letting his strengths like his speed and his footwork shine.

“The biggest thing for me would be my pace, I think I play with a lot of speed so just showing that part of my game this week and not trying to force myself into situations. Just sticking to what I know and using my speed to help me get out of problems,” he said.

Aside from attending Canucks development camp in July, the forward was in Ontario rinks all summer working with various coaches working on different aspects of his game. One takeaway from his summer training that he’s bringing to Young Stars and training camp is staying patient with the puck on the offence.

He also worked with skating coach Dawn Braid, fine-tuning his stride, speed and working on his turns and put a lot of work in at the gym as well.

“I was working on my turns, staying confident through those turns and getting out of them quickly. In the gym, I trained with Limitless Training Systems and Paul Ferri out of Burlington did a great job with me this summer. I feel a lot faster, a lot quicker, a lot stronger,” Bloom said.

Bloom says the keys for him this weekend will be staying confident and using his feet, and the rest will fall into place.

If getting back to game action is the best part for Bloom, seeing the guys is definitely a close second.

The 6-foot-2 forward played 14 games with Abbotsford at the beginning of last season, and this is his second Young Stars Tournament.

“Getting to see them again and talking hockey and getting into the day in day out again is really fun to be a part of. Obviously being in the room with all the guys is one of the best parts of hockey so getting to see all those familiar faces,” he said.

Bloom will enjoy every minute he’s on the ice this weekend and after it’s over he’ll be counting down to training camp.