The juggernaut known as the Chatham-Kent Cyclones Under-13 hockey team is heading into the playoffs on a historic roll.
The Cyclones U-13 hockey squad capped off its regular season undefeated with a record of 27-0-4, a first for any team in CK Cyclones history, according to team officials.
Head Coach Kyle Hope told CK News it's pretty cool to end the regular season undefeated, but his players are dialed in right now because there's more work to do.
"They were pretty calm, cool, and collected after. I thought they'd be jumping up and down and dumping water on me, which is generally their play. We've won some tournaments and stuff and it seems like they were just ready to get going with playoffs and get that done," said Hope. "They put in the work and they deserve it. They love hockey, they live and breath it. Some of their teachers are like 'I can't get them to stop thinking about hockey'. They love it, they love coming to the rink and they play hard for each other."
Coach Hope said it wouldn't surprise him to see his young players play professional hockey one day because they're hard workers, grinders, and good students of the game.
"They're a very special group for Chatham-Kent to have in their talent pool. I think it's quite the group and it will be interesting to see where these guys are 10 years from now even," the coach said. "They just grind the other team down and they do it as a group and it's relentless to play against. It's pretty fun to watch."
The CK Cyclones are coming off a huge tournament win in Detroit recently, winning the Summit Series Showcase against some very tough opponents, such as the LA Kings (#3 in USA rankings) with former NHL star Rob Blake's son and coached by former NHL'er Alexander Frolov, Detroit Compuware, and HoneyBaked from Farmington Hills.
Hope also noted the CK Cyclones are ranked 8th in Canada and have beaten several higher ranked teams throughout the year.
The coach said the team is still waiting for the playoff schedule and invites the general public to come out and cheer the young CK superstars on to what they hope is a championship.