A lot of has changed within Cyclone Hockey this year, but with the end of the season just around the corner one thing remains the same: the desire to bring home a national title.

Before the No. 7 Cyclones (25-7-2, 10-4-0 CSCHL) can think about hanging a championship banner in the Ames/ISU Ice Arena, though, they must finish the 12 games left on their schedule and then play in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League Tournament.

And with eight of the regular season games remaining against top-20 teams, the road to the American Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs will not be easy.

“I don’t think we have an game for the rest of the year that isn’t going to be tough,” said ISU head coach Jason Fairman. “So we are going to be tested every weekend.”

The first part of this test will be the upcoming series against No. 3 Ohio. Iowa State will also face No. 11 Central Oklahoma, No. 17 Lindenwood and No. 19 Illinois in following weeks.

The Cyclones have shown they can compete with these teams in the past. Throughout the 2013-14 season they have beat each of them at least once.

Additionally, just like most ISU sports, Cyclone Hockey will also have a Cy-Hawk series against Iowa with the first game on Jan. 24 and second on Jan. 26.

Focusing on the fundamentals of hockey is how the Cyclones hope to get the upper hand on their opponents going forward. Fairman, who has only been the head coach of the Cyclones since Nov. 22, has been slowly been introducing his style of play into the program, which emphasizes the rudiments of the sport.

“[Fairman] has been there, and he knows what it takes,” said forward Chase Rey. “Right now I think are team just needs to get back to the basics, and that is what he is working with us on.”

Health also will play role as the season begins to wind down. The Cyclones have been without forward Jon Feavel, the team’s leading scorer, for the past two weeks due to a concussion, but he is expected back for the series against Ohio.

Also, defenseman Alec Wilhelmi, who broke his hand earlier in the season, hopes to make a return in February. Having to deal with these types of injuries late in the year is nothing new to hockey players, according to Fairman.

“The key is to stay healthy and to take care of yourself,” Fairman said. “Hockey players are just use to playing banged up this time of year. Guys have a lot of bumps and bruises.”

Iowa State does not need to win the CSCHL to make it into the ACHA Tournament. The Cyclones want to have a strong showing in the conference, though, due to the impact it will have on their seeding going into the payoffs.

“Each one of [CSCHL Tournament] games are going to be big,” said forward Mark Huber. “We normally say don’t ever look at the rankings because they don’t really mean anything, but when it comes to bracketing in the national tournament, the rankings do play a role.”

The Cyclones may have a challenging road ahead them, but Fairman seems to like their chances.

“If we clean a few things up, we will beat anybody,” Fairman said. “We aren’t there right now, but we will be.”