It's championship weekend for the Chatham-Kent Cyclones U13 AAA boys team.
They're one of five teams taking part in the ALLIANCE Hockey Under-13 AAA Championship in the Town of Essex.
The boys are coming off the franchise's best regular season, posting a record of 27-0-4.
Head Coach Kyle Hope told CK News Today their opponents know not to take them lightly.
"We're gonna get everyone's starting goalie, everyone's best game. That's what happens when you're the number one seed," he said.
One of the biggest hurdles the Cyclones will face in the tournament is rust. While the team played an exhibition game this past weekend, they haven't played a meaningful game since early March.
"We've been practicing, trying to make it game realistic," added Hope.
The winner of the tournament will earn a spot at the U13 AAA Regional Championship happening in Sudbury from April 9-13.
Hope noted the team is currently only thinking about winning in Essex.
"They're pretty mature and understand the process," he added.
The Cyclones' first game will be on Friday at 2:30 p.m. against the London Jr Knights.
They're back on the ice at 7 p.m. to take on the Sun County Panthers.
They'll play two more games on Saturday, the first at 2:30 p.m. against the Elgin Middlesex Canucks and the second at 7 p.m. versus Brantford 99ers.
The second and third place teams will play in the semi-finals on Sunday at 8 a.m. with the winner of this game taking on the first place team at 1 p.m. for the championship.
