Alaska ushers in a new era without Calvin Abueva when it takes on two-time finalist Meralco in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Action kicks off at 7 p.m. with the Aces looking to open its season-ending conference on a winning note against the Bolts (1-1) even without its former prized forward Abueva.

Prior to that, Talk ‘N Text (1-1) parades a new import in Stacy Davis when it guns for second straight win against the debuting Blackwater reinforced by resident import Henry Walker in the first game at 4:30 p.m.

The Pepperdine University standout Davis arrived yesterday to replace Mike Glover who was axed by TNT after a subpar performance in his first game.

After six years, Alaska parted ways with star Abueva following a trade with Phoenix last month in exchange for guard Karl Dehesa and a first round pick in the 2019 PBA Rookie Draft.

The Aces actually played without Abueva for two months as he was slapped with an indefinite suspension last June by team management before eventually trading the enigmatic star to the Fuel Masters.

Without him, Alaska still thrived and even made it to the semi-finals of the recently-concluded Commissioner’s Cup led by conference breakout player Vic Manuel.

Inheriting the mantle of leadership in Alaska with Abueva’s departure, Manuel is ordered by head coach Alex Compton to lead the Aces’ new generation especially after finishing runner-up to Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo in the mid-season tourney.

Anticipated to provide support to Manuel are veterans Jvee Casio and Sonny Thoss alongside young guns Simon Enciso, Jeron Teng and debuting import Mike Harris.

The 30-year old veteran Harris is expected to be a huge help for Alaska due to his vast experience as a champion player in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), National Basketball Association (NBA) Developmental League, aside from his NBA stints with Houston, Utah and Washington.

With the two-time reigning Best Import Allen Durham at the helm, Meralco still bowed to an All-Filipino TNT line-up, 90-92, last Sunday for its first loss in the season-ending conference.

Bolts head coach Norman Black hoped for that will serve as a wake-up call for his wards.

“Honestly it’s a little embarrassing,” he said. “That should have been our advantage. That should have been their problem, playing without an import. Considering that we have the best import, we should have beaten them.”