Vancouver, BC - Coming off a weekend sweep against Mount Royal, the UBC men's hockey team gears up to take on the Manitoba Bisons on home ice Friday and Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Both the Thunderbirds and Bisons sit tied for third in the Canada West conference along with the Regina Cougars with a record of 6-3-1 on the season. After starting the year 1-3-0, the Bisons have gone 5-0-1 in their last six games. Everybody is chasing the University of Alberta, who sit in first place with 18 points on the year, five points more then UBC and Manitoba.
Last year Manitoba was the regular season champions, but faltered in the playoffs losing in the semi-finals to Calgary. They feature the reigning Canada West Player of the Year, Blair Macaulay and Canada West Defenceman of the Year, Jeremy Schappert. Both were 2nd Team All-Canadians in 2011-12. This season Macaulay is second on the team in scoring with 11 points, trailing only his linemate Ian Duval, who is arguably the fastest skater in the Canada West. Duval leads the way with 13 points on the year. Along with a strong blueline, led by Schappert, goaltender Jesse Deckert has been solid in net this season, posting a record of 5-3 with a 2.09 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
The 'Birds got back to their winning ways last weekend, picking up a pair of victories over the Mount Royal Cougars, winning 7-2 and 3-2.
Scott MacDonald (Surrey, BC) leads the team in scoring with 11 points,
Scott Wasden (West Kelowna, BC) is the leading goal scorer with 7 goals, while
Neil Manning (Nanaimo, BC) has the most assists, with 10 helpers. For the second straight weekend series
Jordan White (Surrey, BC) and
Steven Stanford (Calgary, BC) split the duties in net against Mount Royal, so it will be interesting to see if head coach Milan Dragicevic continues that trend against the Bisons.
With regards to special teams, UBC boasts the top power play in the league at 23.7%, while the Bisons are the fourth best on the man advantage, operating at 17.2%. It is the exact opposite on the penalty kill, as the Thunderbirds are a league worst 73.0% and Manitoba is third best at 84.8%.
This weekend will mark the first time a couple of old teammates have squared off against each other as UBC's
Neil Manning goes up against Manitoba's James Henry. Manning and Henry played four and half seasons together in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants. Manning played 310 games in a Giants uniform, while Henry played 281 with Vancouver.
Puck drop is 7:00 pm Friday and Saturday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
