Coming off a tough series last weekend against Lindenwood, the ISU Men’s Hockey Club looks to rebound and get back to its winning ways as it heads to St. Louis to take on the Billikens of St. Louis University.

For the Cyclones, this weekend’s series is also the first series of the season in which they will play a rival from the Central States Collegiate Hockey League.

“The CSCHL is probably the toughest league within the American Collegiate Hockey Association, and St. Louis is no exception,” said coach Alan Murdoch.

The Cyclones share a great rivalry with St. Louis, and Murdoch said he looks forward to fast-paced hockey.

The association’s preseason rankings come out Friday, and Murdoch said games like these help boost a team in the rankings. There are 43 teams in the association, and the top 16 make the tournament in March.

Murdoch said he hopes his team is in the upper half in the preseason ranking and said this weekend’s series makes it very important for his team.

Things will be a bit different than usual for the two teams this weekend, as the Friday night game will be played on an Olympic-size hockey rink.

The Cyclones and most other teams play on a National Hockey League standard-size rink. Olympic rinks are 15 feet wider and 10 feet longer than the standard NHL ring.

Murdoch said he believes this will benefit the Cyclones.

“Our team is a good skating team, so this should play to our advantage,” Murdoch said.

Saturday night’s game will be played on the normal-sized rink.

The Billikens are usually a quick team, Murdoch said, and he expects no change for this season. He also said he thinks the series should be pretty physical, as both teams like that kind of play.

St. Louis also has “snipers” on its team, which in hockey terms means they have players that “shoot to score.”

However, Murdoch said he feels confident in his goalies, Matt Johnson and starter Trent Baker.

This week Iowa State has been working on its power play and penalty killing, something Murdoch said he felt needed work after last week’s series. He also said the team is working on conditioning and getting ready for the long season ahead.

Senior Mike Moren feels the team is working hard and getting better all the time.

“We are improving every day, working hard in practice, and if we keep working hard we’ll get better, not doubt about it,” Moren said.