THIS WEEKEND: Lethbridge at UBC, Fri. & Sat., Nov. 5 & 6, 7:00 p.m., Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
RADIO/WEB: 101.9 CiTR FM,
www.citr.ca
A LOOK AT THE T-BIRDS
The UBC Thunderbirds return from a pair of games in Regina last weekend having earned a split – winning on Friday but losing on Saturday. It's a familiar story of the T-Birds, who have been able to push their opponents every weekend, but have yet to string together consecutive wins.
The 'Birds are getting scoring help from throughout their roster, with energy players like
Ben Schmidt and
Wyatt Hamilton each scoring last weekend. The T-Birds, who have struggled to put the puck in the net at times this year, scored eight goals over two games last weekend for the largest offensive output of 2010-11.
That said, some top line skaters like
Max Grassi and
Tyler Ruel will need to contribute more offense for the Blue and Gold to be at their most effective. Ruel scored his first goal of the season last weekend in Regina, while Grassi has yet to light the lamp this season.
A LOOK AT THE PRONGHORNS
With just one win under their belts through six games in the 2010-11 season, the Lethbridge Pronghorns arrive in Vancouver as a hungry squad. In a traditionally tight Canada West, the Pronghorns must get their season on track immediately if they hope to see the post-season.
The Pronghorns are led by 6'5” rookie defenceman Nicholas Hotson, whose eight points in six games make him Canada West's highest-scoring blueliner along with Manitoba's Jeremy Schappert. Dustin Moore has seven points in six games to lead the Pronghorns' forwards. Both players will be keys to Lethbridge's attack this weekend.
COACH DRAGICEVIC ON...
Areas of improvement following the split in Regina:
“We have to cut down on our penalties. That's first and foremost. Our discipline has to get better. In practice, we've also been focusing on our d-zone coverage. Our positional structure in the defensive zone needs to get better, not just the puck, but awareness of our surroundings. And our power play has to generate more shots and more traffic to the net.”
The difference between a winning and losing effort:
“We were very opportunistic on Friday night against Regina. We scored six goals, which is a lot for our hockey club. We had some patience and we scored some nice goals because we went to the net hard and we competed in front of their net. On Saturday, the compete level in front of their net and in front of our net wasn't there. Those were the two differences between the nights.”
The key to success for this year's squad:
“Every player on our team knows what our identity is, and if we do it – if we play that tough gritty in your face style and have work ethic – we're very tough to play against. But if we don't do it then we become a very easy team to play against and shut down. If we don't play to our identity then there's going to be some long nights, and everyone has to buy in to that.
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