VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (4-9-1) close the first half of their regular season with a two-game homestand this weekend against the Calgary Dinos (8-4-2) at Father Bauer Arena.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5.
The T-Birds will be out for revenge as the Dinos swept UBC by scores of 4-1 and 4-0 last weekend. The pair of wins by Calgary gave them a firm grip on fourth place in the Canada West standings and they are just two points back of Manitoba for second spot in the conference.
UBC, on the other hand, is now fighting to get back in the playoff race as they are nine points back of the Dinos for the fourth and final playoff spot.
A look at the Thunderbirds
UBC has just one win in their last 10 games with scoring woes proving to be a major issue during this stretch. UBC opened the season averaging four goals per game over their first five contests, however, since then they have scored more than two goals just twice.
Justin McCrae and
Brandon Campos lead the offensive effort with 11 points apiece, however, that ranks them only tied for 25th in league scoring.
Tyler Ruel is next best with nine points and
Theran Yeo's seven points leads all UBC defencemen. In net, rookie
Jordan White has earned a pair of starts over the past three games, including the T-Birds 4-3 win over Lethbridge. Veteran
Francois Thuot has seen the bulk of the time between the posts and sports a 3.91 GAA and .864 save percentage.
A look at the Dinos
A sweep of the T-Birds last weekend ended a three-game losing skid for the Dinos who look to move back up the CW standings this weekend with another strong showing. Their attack boasts three top 20 scorers in Brock Nixon, Torrie Wheat and Reid Jorgensen. Nixon leads the Dinos with 14 points, while Wheat is the team's top sniper sitting on nine goals and Jorgensen is the setup man with a team-best 11 assists. That trio combined for nine points in last weekend's series against the 'Birds. Teagen Moore and Ryan Annesley are two other names to watch out for as they have 12 and 10 points respectively. Jerrid Sauer leads all Dino defenceman with seven points, however, production from their blue line hasn't been a strong suit for Calgary so far this season. Dustin Butler has seen most of the workload in net and he has a 2.75 GAA and .901 save percentage in 11 appearances. Backup Jeff Weber has struggled at times this year, however, he picked up his first win of the season last weekend, blanking the 'Birds in Calgary's 4-0 win on Saturday.
-30-
