The UBC Thunderbirds (1-0-1) host the Canada West-leading Manitoba Bisons (4-0-0) in their home-opening series this weekend at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Games times are 7:30 pm on both Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17.
UBC is coming off a successful first weekend in Regina, in which they took three of a possible four points with a 4-1 win and 3-2 shootout loss to the Cougars. The Bisons are the last remaining undefeated team in the conference, as they opened their season with two wins against both Saskatchewan and Lethbridge.
A Look at the Thunderbirds
The T-Birds found the offence that they spent all of last year looking for in their season opener, lighting the lamp four times with
Brandon Campos providing two of the tallies. But that game might have looked very different if it weren't for the efforts of netminder
Francois Thuot, who saved 37 of the 38 shots he faced that night. He was solid again in game two of the series, saving 23 of 25 regulation shots and two of the three he faced in the shootout.
With things at the back of the rink shaping up nicely, the T-Birds will need to focus on keeping the pedal to the metal on offence as they look to knock off the undefeated Bisons. Campos' two goals lead the team after week one, and he is tied for the team lead in total points with
Dalton Pajak (three assists).
Craig Lineker,
Justin McCrae,
Tyler Ruel and
Jordan Inglis have the other T-Bird goals.
A Look at the Bisons
After sweeping the No. 7 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies to begin the year, the Bisons finished their four-game homestand with another sweep against the Lethbridge Pronghorns, allowing just five goals in the first two weeks. Steve Christie is the early leader in every major stat category for goalies, as he boasts a 1.25 goals-against average and a save percentage of .959 with four wins and a shutout. He has been putting up these impressive numbers while being very busy as he has faced just over 30 shots per game through the first two weeks.
Nolan Waker leads the offence with three goals, while Travis Mealy is tied for total points lead with two goals and two assists. Chris Benias also has four points, all of which are assists. Balance on offence has been Manitoba's trademark, as they have a total of seven players with at least three points to their credit.
