VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team (12-9-3) will host the final two home games of the 2011-12 season this weekend against the No. 9 Saskatchewan Huskies, with the goal of returning home in two weeks to host a playoff series for the first time in 41 years.
Because of the Davis Cup tennis tie taking place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Arena this weekend, UBC will play the Huskies at Father Bauer Arena.
The Thunderbirds' program will also honour six senior players,
Jordan Inglis,
Ryan Kakoske,
Marc Desloges,
Adam Maglio,
Carson Loveday and
Matt Pepe, on Saturday night.
The two teams played earlier this season in November, with the Huskies taking two 4-2 wins in Saskatoon.
Both games this weekend in Vancouver will have
live online statistics.
GAME TIMES
Fri., Feb, 10 - No. 9 Saskatchewan at UBC (7 p.m. at Father David Bauer Arena, Vancouver)
Sat., Feb, 11 - No. 9 Saskatchewan at UBC (7 p.m. at Father David Bauer Arena, Vancouver)
UBC Thunderbirds
2011-12 conference record: 12-9-3 (5th)
Last week: L 2-3 (SO), L 3-5 at Manitoba
Streak: 1 loss
UBC travelled to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Bisons last weekend and left with a single point, from Friday's shootout loss. The Thunderbirds held 2-0 leads in both games but were unable to stop the Bisons from recording two comeback victories.
The losses were costly for UBC, as they were overtaken by Calgary in the battle fof fourth place in the Canada West standings. The team that finishes in fourth will get to host its first round playoff series, UBC has not hosted a playoff series since 1971 and now trails Calgary by two points, but the Thunderbirds have two games in hand.
UBC will get a big boost for this weekend's series, as captain
Justin McCrae will return to the lineup for the first time in two months, having missed ten conference games with an injury.
With a two-goal game on Saturday,
Max Grassi moved up to sixth in Canada West scoring with 25 points in 23 matches. Inglis, profiled in this week's
100 Mile House Free Press, is second on the team with 18 points, while Desloges and
Scott Wasden are just a single point behind Inglis.
UBC has killed off 31 of 33 penalties since the winter break but the team's power play has been converting at just a 14 percent clip in that same time.
No. 9 Saskatchewan Huskies
2011-12 conference record: 15-6-3 (3rd)
Last week: L 2-3 (OT), L 0-3 vs. Calgary
Streak: 1 loss
The Saskatchewan Huskies are fighting for first place in the league, a prize that would also come with a first-round bye in the playoffs.
But Huskies come into Vancouver in a bit of a slump. It dropped two games at Manitoba two weeks ago and then lost twice more at home to Calgary last weekend.
Still, the visitors this weekend boast a dangerous lineup, which has three of the top four scorers in the conference.
Winger Derek Hulak leads the conference with 39 points in just 24 games played. He plays on a line with Kyle Ross, a 15-goal scorer, and Kyle Bortis, who is second in league scoring with 35 points.
The trio tallied six of the eight goals against UBC, and 13 points in total, when the two teams last met in November.
The Huskies have a deadly power play, which leads the entire nation with a conversion rate of 26.8 percent.
The goaltending duties for Saskatchewan have been split evenly between Ryan Holfeld (eight wins) and David Reekie (seven wins). They have each played 12 games this season.
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