As is always the case for teams in the Canadian Hockey League, each new season brings a renewed sense of optimism, intrigue and most importantly, uncertainty.

For the Lethbridge Hurricanes, defending Eastern Conference champions a season ago, nothing was more indicative of their first few months of the new season. Optimism for a chance to defend their conference title and improve on their playoff run, intrigue in terms of possible breakout seasons from young players and uncertainty on which players would return to the fold.

A mediocre first half of the season cast some doubt on the team's optimism after many coaches and general managers predicted a repeat of the Western Hockey League final of Lethbridge and Spokane in Sportsnet.ca's pre-season poll.

Young gun and top prospect Carter Ashton provided the intrigue, quickly developing into the player the Hurricanes expected he could become when they drafted him seventh overall in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft.

And as the season now hits the home stretch, the Hurricanes' optimism may have dipped at times but returns following the uncertainty the team faced all season long.

Like a post-secondary student waiting for financial aid to purchase a semester's supply of books, the Hurricanes were handcuffed awaiting a decision over which they had no influence. That decision was whether Luca Sbisa, their No. 1 defenceman and a pivotal cog in their championship run last season, would be returned from the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers.

It took most of the season, but the uncertainty hanging over the team's collective heads has been answered, giving the team perhaps its biggest sense of renewed optimism since the schedule was released in the summer. After playing 39 games with the Flyers, one shy of becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency at the ripe, young age of 25, Philadelphia sent Sbisa back to Lethbridge on Monday.

The move, while minor in NHL circles, quite simply sent shockwaves throughout Western Canada and the Northwest United States: the underachieving Hurricanes now have their ace back in the lineup.

"There's a sense of confidence, there's a sense of giddiness around our team right now and the guys are all really excited," Hurricanes general manager Roy Stasiuk told Sportsnet.ca. "Luca's very positive, very happy to be back and obviously we're very excited to have him back."

Sbisa didn't waste any time making his impact felt. In spite of a long travel day, which included his originally booked flight canceled, Sbisa finally arrived to meet the team in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday in time for Wednesday's clash against the lowly Winter Hawks. Sbisa had a goal and two assists in the 4-3 overtime win, including the winner.

It was vintage Sbisa on a few different plays Wednesday night. First it was a legal low-bridge hit on Portland forward Max Brandl, which forced the Winter Hawk to leave the game due to injury, before the poise with the puck on the goal. Taking the puck at the blue line, Sbisa moved in, adjusted his shooting lane with a small maneuver in the high slot before wiring a wrist shot to the far-side top corner.

The celebration that ensued was less exuberant than expectant. It was as if his teammates anticipated something special was going to happen when Colton Sceviour threw the puck across the blue line for the streaking defenceman.

The poise, coupled with the end result, is what makes Sbisa's re-acquisition so important for Lethbridge. Like a top closer in Major League Baseball, Sbisa is the type of player who brings the rest of his teammates a quiet confidence.

In saying that, though, the next step for head coach Michael Dyck and his staff is to ensure Sbisa isn't looked upon as a saviour in the locker room. The team needs to avoid looking to their newest member to handle the bulk of the load, something Stasiuk is confident the team has addressed after going through similar instances earlier in the year with other players returning from NHL camps.

"We've addressed it with our entire team and we made sure that everybody understands they have a role to play," Stasiuk said. "We expect them to play to the best of their ability to fulfill that role and not sit back and wait for one player or a couple players to get it done."

What the Hurricanes now have with the addition of Sbisa is a team more than capable of repeating as conference champions. Much will depend on the play of goaltender Juha Metsola, who rose to star status with chants of "Ju-ha" during their playoff run. If he can repeat his performance from last year's playoffs, the Hurricanes have the ability to take the next step forward in their quest for their second league title in franchise history.

The core of Metsola, Sbisa, and forwards Zach Boychuk, Kyle Beach, Sceviour and Ashton would present quite the dilemma for any team. If this team can stay healthy and in the lineup -- suspensions recently cut their roster short -- there's no reason not to believe this darkhorse looks more like a contender with each passing minute.

And with more than a month remaining in the regular-season schedule, the team has ample opportunity to come together to become a force to be reckoned with in April.

"I think adding Luca back to our lineup is like making a huge trade, a blockbuster trade, after the deadline," said Stasiuk, whose team received Sbisa more than three weeks after the league's imposed trading deadline of Jan. 10.

"Luca's really excited and he still believes we have some unfinished business from last spring."

As the team embarks on its journey to improve where last year's version left off, the Hurricanes move forward, cautiously optimistic with the only uncertainty now revolving around their play.