A 46-day wait is finally over for the Regina Pats. They will hit the ice on Friday night against the Hamilton Bulldogs for the opening game of the 100th Memorial Cup in the Queen City.

"It's been a long haul here, a long time between games and we've been preparing, working hard, so we're all really excited right now," said Pats captain Sam Steel after their practice at the Brandt Centre on Thursday.

The Pats were eliminated from the WHL Playoffs in seven games by the Swift Current Broncos on Apr. 2. Since then the team has had to stay sharp as they awaited their opponents in the major junior national championship to be decided.

Despite the early exit from the playoffs and the long layoff, the Pats are feeling confident about the preparations that they've put in.

"We've made the most of our time and with these tournaments, every game is so important, so we're going to be ready to go (for Game 1) and go on from there," said Pats defenceman Josh Mahura, who is playing for a Memorial Cup host for the second time in his junior career after representing the Red Deer Rebels two years ago.

Regina will have a tough test to open the tournament as they meet up with the Bulldogs, who are coming off an upset of the top ranked Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the OHL Final.

That win will no doubt be a jumping off point for the Bulldogs heading into the start of the Memorial Cup.

"You see the ratings every week that come out and they were at the top for pretty much the whole year, so just beating them we're really confident and we're not going to have any jitters, we just let them all out in practice and when it comes to game time, we’re going to be ready to go," said Bulldogs forward Matthew Strome.

The national stage won't be anything new for a pair of Bulldogs players as forward Robert Thomas and defenceman Nicolas Mattinen both won the 2016 Memorial Cup title with the London Knights.

Thomas said he's tried to share some of that experience with his teammates, "There's a ton of attention around this tournament, so I've been trying to help them out a bit, but the biggest thing is you've just got to enjoy the experience, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so everyone is just soaking it all in and having fun," he said.

The roster for the Pats was overhauled throughout the season with veterans like Cameron Hebig, Jesse Gabrielle and Jared Legien added up front and Libor Hajek, Cale Fleury and Brady Pouteux added to solidify the back-end.

Steel said they started to find their footing late in the season and will need to have that form to open the tournament, "In the second half and that first round, we played a lot of good hockey," he said. "It was unfortunate that we lost out in a tight game seven, but we know that we can play in this tournament."

The Pats announced earlier this week that 17-year-old Max Paddock will be getting the call in goal. Paddock was 19-7-1-1 during the regular season, but was injured heading into the playoffs with Ryan Kubic starting all seven games against Swift Current.

Puck drops at 8 p.m. from the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The WHL Champion Swift Current Broncos will go up against the QMJHL Champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the opening game for both teams.

The round robin will continue throughout the weekend with the final next Sunday.