The season is starting to wind down for the ISU hockey team as it begins tournament play this weekend at the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament in Dearborn, Mich.The Cyclones finished the regular season with a 14-5-1 record, which was good enough for second place behind Eastern Michigan.Along with the ‘Clones and Eagles, the tournament is comprised of teams from Illinois, Ohio, Kent State and host Michigan-Dearborn. As the tournament host, Michigan-Dearborn will have the second seed instead of Iowa State.This means that Iowa State must play a first-round game instead of having a bye. However, it’s not a pressing issue to some of the players.”The home team automatically gets the second seed,” ISU forward Scott Steinkamp said. “Either way, you have to win all your games to finish first.”Iowa State hits the ice Friday against sixth-seeded Kent State. The Golden Flashes tied the Cyclones in their only meeting of the season.After a split with St. Louis last weekend, the cardinal and gold want to try and duplicate the style of hockey they used to pitch their first shutout of the season.”We need to play like we did on Saturday,” ISU forward Mike Gilbertson said. “We stepped it up and played a defensive game.”The Cyclones stress their backline play as a key to being successful this weekend.”We just have to continue to work on our systems so that everyone knows their job in the game and so that we can play hard, smart hockey because that is what we will need to win,” Steinkamp said.”The biggest thing is that we have to concentrate on defense,” Gilbertson said. “It’s all going to come down to who has the best defense.”Another factor working against the ‘Clones are the six University Games players that won’t make the trip. They will be back for the regular season finale against Northern State Feb. 23 and 24. In their absence, newcomers like J.E. Lagueux and Josh Braby are getting more skating opportunities.”The new guys are doing really well,” Steinkamp said. “This is the time for them to get more playing time and show what they can do.”This tournament could resemble the ACHA National Tournament at the beginning of next month with CSCHL squads making up more than half of the 12-team field.”It’s pretty intense,” Steinkamp said. “You have the top teams of the CSCHL battling for number one and trying to get momentum heading into nationals.””I think the CSCHL is one of the stronger parts of the ACHA,” said Gilbertson. “A lot of teams bring their intensity and just come ready to play.”