VANCOUVER - After seeing their playoff hopes dashed in the second to last weekend of the regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds will aim to close out their 2010-11 campaign with a strong weekend against the first-place Alberta Golden Bears. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
A look at the Thunderbirds
It was a tough bye-week for the UBC Thunderbirds, who saw their playoff hopes disappear as Manitoba picked up a pair of points that put fourth place out of reach for the 'Birds. But the Blue and Gold head into their final weekend of hockey in the 2010-11 season undaunted.
It's been an emotional season featuring the tightest race for the playoffs in recent memory, and the Thunderbirds would like to cap the year off with an above .500 record. That means they'll have to sweep this weekend's series against Alberta.
For this year's graduating players –
Max Gordichuk,
Dalton Pajak,
Craig Lineker, and captain
Matthew Schneider – their final CIS games will be passionate affairs.
Schneider has been a leader on and off the ice in his five years in a T-Birds uniform. The big center has 10 points in 26 games this year, and will be a key figure on the ice against the Bears.
As a senior, Pajak is having a strong year as well with his offensive contribution at a career high. Pajak was an important part of the Thunderbirds' playoff run a couple years ago, when the forward notched three points in five games.
At 6'6”, Gordichuk has been an imposing presence on the blueline for UBC. The domineering d-man has played a strong shutdown role during his tenure with the 'Birds, and will look to do the same against Alberta.
Lineker, another stalwart along the blueline for UBC, has always been one of the T-Birds most talented defenceman. He's notched a career high in goals with four this season despite missing three weekends with an injury.
The Thunderbirds have a largely replenished roster after having been besieged by injuries at a crucial time in the season. Using two forwards at defence to compensate for the shortened bench, UBC competed hard, but dropped four straight games, their most disappointing stretch of the year. While coping with those injuries, other teams climbed up the standings, leaving UBC on the outside looking in. This weekend, they get one last shot at redemption, and they would like nothing more than to finish the season on a victorious note.
A look at the Golden Bears
The Alberta Golden Bears hit the ice at UBC having already clinched first place in Canada West. The Bears are ranked no. 3 in the country, and are gearing up for a strong playoff run.
Forwards Derek Ryan and Chad Klassen lead Canada West with 45 points each. The question is, which one of them will win the conference scoring title. With Manitoba's Blair MacAulay a distant third at 33 points, the top spot is going to one of the two Bears snipers.
Fellow forward Sean Ringrose has kept us his point-per-game pace through most of the season, including three goals and four points in his last three games.
The trio of Ringrose, Ryan, and Klassen, are a big part of Alberta's conference leading offence. The Bears have racked up 106 goals for in 26 games, 13 more than the next best team.
In net, the Bears' combo of Kurtis Mucha and Real Cyr are also potent, with the rookie Mucha shouldering two-thirds of the work. Both keepers sport impressive goals against averages of 2.14 for Cyr and 2.60 for Mucha.
Coach Dragicevic on...
The team's motivation for its final games:
“We have a lot of character on our hockey team and a lot of pride. Our goal is to finish above .500. I told the players today that's got to be first and foremost. But we also want to leave with class and pride, and that means making sure that our graduating players are sent off on a positive note, and on a high. These guys have paid their dues and spent five years here. It's important for them to go to the next phase and become proud alumni of the Thunderbirds.”
The keys to beating the Bears:
“We have to do the simple things against Alberta. They're an explosive team, so we need 20 guys to show up and play our game. We've got to play tight defensively and chip the puck, and shoot the puck from everywhere and crash the net. When we do little things like that we have success.”
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