This week in practice, the Cyclone Hockey team will be missing a few faces on the ice.

As the No. 10 Cyclones (35-9-4, 14-5-1 CSCHL) prepare for the American Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament this coming weekend, sharpening their skills won’t be their only concern.

Several core players on the team have become ill recently, causing them to be absent from practice to avoid spreading the illness.    

“We have a flu bug going through the team — a serious flu bug,” said ISU coach Jason Fairman. “Guys are bed ridden. It started last week and it is carrying over to this week. I am very concerned about that. I don’t know how that is going to affect us, because it seems like I have someone going down every day for the last week.”

Forwards Trevor Lloyd and Mark Huber along with defenseman Mike Dopko are among those who are under the weather.

To make sure other players don’t become sick, Fairman is reminding the Cyclones to take care of themselves. Forward Jon Feavel said Fairman has been stressing the importance of eating right, staying hydrated and getting plenty of sleep.

However, these short-handed practices have not gone unnoticed.

“When they are not there in practice, it’s not that it takes away from it, but there is a little bit of a different feel to it,” Feavel said. “It’s not that they’re blowing off practice, you know they are sick and getting healthy. But you don’t have that feeling that the whole team is there.”

This isn’t the first time the Cyclones have dealt with this situation. Earlier in the season, another illness spread through the team during a six-game stretch on the road.

“If the trend continues from last week, it is going to go through the whole team,” Fairman said. “That is what happened when we went on that long trip to Arizona. We were all sick. We were all in that confined area of the bus for hours and we all had it at some point.”

Forward Nate Percy doesn’t seem too worried about the illness that is affecting the team. Come time for ACHA tournament, Percy believes the Cyclones will be given a clean bill of health.

“I think it is just a couple-day bug,” Percy said. “We have a few guys taking today off and probably tomorrow. Hopefully, they are taking care of themselves and getting ready to leave for nationals. I think it will be all right when we get later into the week.”