One trip, two teams, three days.

These numbers are weighing on the Cyclone Hockey’s mind before its coming stretch of games in Colorado.

The Cyclones will make their third — and longest — road trip of the season Thursday to start a three-game stand against Colorado and Colorado State. This is a new experience for the Cyclones, who will be playing multiple teams for the first time in the same road trip.

Preparing for one opponent is challenging enough, but trying to ready a team for back-to-back games against totally different styles of play could prove difficult. The Cyclones have only faced Colorado State one time in program history and have never competed against Colorado.

“One of our philosophies is that if we can prepare ourselves the best we can and do things our way, we don’t really worry about what the other team is trying to do,” said Cyclone Hockey coach Jason Fairman. “That doesn’t mean we don’t look at some things, it just means we want to be at our best for any team we play.”

There is one major obstacle in trying to prepare for opponents, and that is the lack of game film on any given opponent in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Fairman said that the lack of organization between teams makes finding film and scouting reports difficult, which has led to an emphasis on his own team.

This philosophy puts a lot of pressure on in-game adjustments, which Fairman believes to be vital in winning against any opponent. Fairman has spoken to different coaches around the league for insight on the opposition, but knows his team is in position to make the necessary changes in-game.

“We know the game is 25 percent special teams,” Fairman said. “We have a couple different power plays we can run if they key in on any one thing, and that’s something we’ve had to do against teams in our league who make adjustments very well.”

The Cyclones will also face a new kind of adversity unique to the area: the altitude. The air is significantly thinner in the mountains, which can push an athlete’s conditioning to its limits and cause fatigue sooner.

Fairman has lightened up the recent practices, knowing his players are going to need all of their energy, but the team isn’t concerning itself with the changes in weather.

“I haven’t even thought of the altitude to be honest,” said co-captain Corey Sellers. “We are just focusing on us. It doesn’t matter who we play or where we play, we are going to play our way.”

The Cyclones begin their road trip to Colorado on Nov. 19 before traveling to Colorado State for the final two games on Nov. 20 and 21.