Newcastle Northstars captain Liam Manwarring is expecting his side to become the hunted after an undefeated start to the Australian Ice Hockey League.
After recording six consecutive wins this campaign, the Northstars sit second behind Canberra Brave but remain the only unbeaten side. They host the Melbourne Mustangs on Saturday and Melbourne Ice on Sunday.
Manwarring said with some sides now 10 games into the season the Northstars were expecting tougher challenges moving forward, particularly when playing at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay.
"We've set the benchmark this year and have mentioned during the week don't be surprised when teams come hard at us at home," he said. "It's a pretty good atmosphere here in Newcastle and teams will want to come and spoil the show.
"You can't take anything for granted coming into that 10-game point in the season when teams start to gel a little bit more."
The Northstars are coming off a 7-5 win over Brisbane Lightning in an exhibition match last week. They beat the Mustangs 3-1 and the Ice 9-2 in Melbourne last month.
"Saturday will be a pretty tough game, the Mustangs have a good roster and some power up front that can hurt us," he said. "The Ice have got a young squad, but once again, you can't take anyone lightly at this point."
Manwarring said his side had everyone on deck but veteran Tim Stanger, typically a defender, would go back to the future by playing up front this weekend. Defender Dash Quartarolo played his first game last week after returning from overseas.
