The U17 AAA South Fort Chev Rangers are in the final stretch.
After cruising through the first two rounds of playoffs, the team will now battle it out with the best of the best at provincials.
This year's tournament is being held in St. Albert and will begin today (Apr. 6) and run until Easter Sunday (Apr. 9)
The team is coming off an extended break with their last game being played nearly two weeks ago.
"It's been really good," said head coach Mason Hawkes. "We took a little rest time just to get our minds and bodies ready to go."
"We've been practicing well leading up...we're ready to go."
These provincials hold a bit more fire for the Rangers than usual. The team is coming off a bronze medal finish last year, which was obviously short of their ultimate goal.
Lots of returning players are looking for a different end to the season.
"I think 18 of the 19 have played in provincials before, it's a chance for them to achieve more than they did last year," said Hawkes. "The kids are pretty excited, and they know somewhat of what to expect."
The Sherwood Park Squires, St. Albert Flyers, Okotoks Oilers, and Calgary Northstars all stand in the Rangers' way on their gold-medal run.
Combined, the Rangers have a record of 5-1-0 against these teams during the regular season. They have yet to play the Oilers.
Moving away from series-based play to a more round-robin format will take some adjustments from both the coaching staff and the players.
"We don't have to make a ton of changes in our preparation," said Hawkes. "It is a little different in terms of the turnaround being pretty quick, playing against other teams with under 24 hours between games."
"The preparation is a little bit different in terms of game-planning for each team."
The Rangers will have four games to prove that they belong in the gold medal game. The first one goes today at the Go Auto Arena against Sherwood Park with puck drop at 2:30 p.m.
They will play a pair of games tomorrow against Okotoks and Calgary, before capping off the round-robin with a date with St. Albert on Saturday (Apr. 8).
The medal games are set for Sunday (Apr. 9).