Looking to make history: Brooks Bandits on the hunt for a third straight national championship

The Brooks Bandits earned a league-best 108 points this season, easily winning the south division and a first-round bye.

BROOKS, Alta. -

After a strong regular season, the Brooks Bandits are looking to stretch their AJHL and national championship streak to three.

A third straight national championship would also be historic – it's something no Junior A team has ever done.

"We had a really good season and we had a lot of momentum coming out of the regular season, so we're really looking forward to a good playoffs. We're preparing a lot for this," said Bandits forward Heath Armstrong.

The Bandits earned a league-best 108 points this season, easily winning the south division and a first-round bye.

Leading the charge for the Bandits is the newly crowned AJHL MVP, 18-year-old Aiden Fink.

In his final year of junior hockey before joining the University of Wisconsin Badgers next season, Fink racked up 97 points in 54 games.

"Obviously, it's pretty cool to win AJHL MVP and that stuff," Fink said.

"But honestly, right now, I'm kind of focused on winning a national championship with these guys."

The Bandits have been off for a few weeks, thanks to their bye, having last played March 5 in a 5-0 win over the Olds Grizzlys.

Now, coaches are trying to ramp up their practices to make sure the team is ready to go for the playoffs.

"First week off, we took a couple days off to kind of rest and recharge after a long season. And then right back at practice last week. We did some three-on-three, little bit of competition, little bit of a tournament to kind of get the intensity up," said Bandits assistant coach Taylor Makin.

The Bandits' opponent in Round 2 of the AJHL playoffs will be the Okotoks Oilers.

The Oilers are coming off of a series sweep against the Camrose Kodiaks.

It's a matchup the Bandits players and coaches are looking forward to, as the clubs have started to develop a rivalry over the past few years.

"I'm really excited. We've got a little bit of bad blood between us. I think it'll make for a really good series," Armstrong said.

Despite all the expectation surrounding the team heading into the playoffs, the Bandits aren't feeling too much pressure.

"Obviously, we're the top team in this league and I think every night, we're going to get everyone's best. So I feel like you have a bit of pressure, but also, you can't really have those nerves all the time," Fink said.

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series between the Bandits and Oilers gets underway March 24 at 7 p.m., at the Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks.