The Milk Provincial AAAA Hockey Championships are less than a week away from hitting Portage la Prairie.

The Portage Collegiate Trojans are the host club of the tournament which starts Friday. They were eliminated from the Zone IV Hockey playoffs a couple of weeks ago by the Carman Cougars. Head coach Chris DeLong says they've had a few practices since.

We haven't had a whole lot of them but we've had a few last week, and this week to come," says DeLong. "We tried to arrange a couple of exhibition games with three different suitors but to no avail. At last week's practice, the boys seemed excited about the event"

There are going to be some exceptional teams in Portage la Prairie for the competition including last year's champions St. Paul's Collegiate.

"We've got a daunting task on our hands because we're in AAAA Provincials so the field is going to be pretty talented," says DeLong. "Looking back from the past winter St. Paul's is always a candidate, both Vincent Massey Winnipeg and Brandon are good, our own Zone 4 Champions the Morden Mustangs are a strong team. We've got our work cut out for us."

St. Paul's has won the championship three times in the last five years. The Milk Provincial AAAA Hockey Championship tournament starts Friday at Stride Place.