Assistant coach Taylor Makin was with the Bandits when they won the Centennial Cup in 2015.
He says there is a big target on their back, as the ruling National Champions.
But he feels the group is prepared, with a wealth of experience on their side.
“Everybody always wants to beat the previous champion, so every game you go into, you have a target on your back. ’If we can beat the bandits,’ teams feel pretty good about that. We’re pretty used to it in our league. Every night we see everyone else’s best. You know they wanna come in and they wanna knock off the champs, so we’re expecting the same thing here at this tournament.”
The Bandits head to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, for the Centennial Cup next Tuesday.
Their very first video game is May 11 versus the Yarmouth Mariners, the Maritime Hockey League champs.