Playing the best game possible and focusing on itself has been Cyclone Hockey’s mantra during the 2015-16 season. 

But for this upcoming weekend’s series against Illinois, the challenge will go beyond just the opponent.

The University of Illinois Ice Arena is one of the most unique playing surfaces in all of hockey. It features an ice sheet with dimensions of 197 x 115 feet, which is 30 feet wider than the sheet that the Cyclones are familiar with at the Ames/ISU Ice Arena.

“It takes a lot more out of you and you have to skate a lot further, but I think it will work to our advantage,” said Kody Reuter, who won Cyclone Hockey’s player of the week this week.

The Illini home ice arena is known as the Big Pond and certainly merits the name. Olympic ice sheets are 200 feet long but only 100 feet wide, 15 feet less wide than the Big Pond.

That makes the arena in Champaign, Illi., even more excruciating than the ice that even the best in the world play on, creating challenges to replicate in practice.

“There’s no real way to train for it until we get out there,” said freshman Jon Severson.

The Illini have one of the biggest home ice advantages in the American Collegiate Hockey Association and Fairman said that Nick Fabbrini, the coach of Illinois, has already let Fairman know that the 1,200-person arena has been sold out for the matchup against the No. 5 Cyclones.

“You can’t even prepare for how big that ice sheet is,” Fairman said. “They’re good on it and it is definitely a home ice advantage for them. They’re going to be ready to play.”

Last season was the first time Fairman had coached against Illinois and the Cyclones struggled, getting swept in the two-game series. This season, with many of the top contributors being freshmen and never having played at the Big Pond, there is a lot of unfamiliarity but also a fair amount of confidence.

“I’ll like [playing there],” Severson said. “We’re going to have to use our speed so it will be an advantage to us because we have a lot of fast guys on our team. It’ll be fun to watch.”

The arena won’t be the only challenge facing the Cyclones when they go to Champaign. The No. 15 Illini have had a strong season so far with a record of 9-3-2 but that success has come without some key players.

Five players are expected back for Illinois this weekend including captain John Olen, who lead the Illini in points last season with 34.

This will also be the first series on a road trip that lasts until Dec. 11.

Despite all of the challenges facing the Cyclones this weekend against the Illini, Cyclone Hockey won’t change what it has done all season. The team will just adapt.

“It’s going to be a hostile environment,” Fairman said. “But hopefully we can respond to the challenge.”