VANCOUVER – This weekend, the UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team look to establish themselves as a legitimate contender to win the Canada West conference as they make the trip to Saskatoon to take on the No. 5-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies for two crucial games.
 
UBC (11-7-2) are coming off a weekend sweep of the lowly Lethbridge Pronghorns in which they outscored the worst team in the Canada West 10-1. It was just what the doctor ordered, especially having managed just one win in the six games prior to the trip to Lethbridge. A six-game stretch in which they only scored eight goals total.
 
"We feel like we went through our slump previous to playing in Lethbridge," said head coach Milan Dragicevic. "Hopefully that is over and done with and now we can focus on our final eight games. Now is the time for us to be peaking."
 
Saskatchewan (14-6-0) is currently second in the Canada West standings with 28 points, just one point up on third place Manitoba, two points up on fourth place Calgary, and four points ahead of UBC in the fifth spot. The Huskies are coming off back to back losses to the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, the Alberta Golden Bears, and have lost three of their last four games going into this weekend's action.
 
"The key to success against the Huskies is better defence," said Dragicevic." Last time we played them back in October, we gave up 10 goals in the two games. This time we will be playing in a small barn (Rutherford Arena) and things happen that much faster. Our guys can't gamble, can't pinch, they need to stay back and respect the rush. Saskatchewan likes to attack as a group of five, but if we can eliminate all the odd man rushes we will give ourselves a better chance to win."
 
Saskatchewan boasts the second best home record in the league, having gone 8-1 so far this season at Rutherford Arena. Their only blemish was a 4-2 loss at the hands of the Manitoba Bisons back on January 4. UBC though is the best road team in the Canada West with a record of 6-3-1.
 
"We are very confident in the four lines that we have up front, with two solid checking lines and two lines that can score," said Dragicevic. "We are fortunate to be pretty healthy right now, so we really have no excuses. This is the time where we have to separate ourselves and prove to everybody in the Canada West that we are serious about being a championship team."
 
Up front the Thunderbirds are led by Max Grassi (North Vancouver) who has five goals and 15 assists and Brad Hoban (Victoria, B.C.) who leads all Canada West rookies in scoring with 19 points, including nine goals.
 
The Huskies boast the league's leading scorer in Kyle Bortis. He is tied with Manitoba's Blair Macaulay and Ian Duval with 27 points on the season. In goal, Ryan Holfeld has started every single game this season for the Huskies, boasting a 2.89 goals against average and .904 save percentage.
 
The goaltending position for the Thunderbirds isn't so cut and dry, which is a luxury for Dragicevic. Both Jordan White (Surrey, B.C.) and Steven Stanford (Calgary) have proven they have the ability to be a No. 1 guy. They split the duties last weekend in Lethbridge, so it remains to be seen who will get the call in Saskatchewan.
 
"We have so much confidence in both guys," said Dragicevic. "Obviously they both want to be playing every game, but with that being said, they also understand this is a competition and this is the way we have had it for the entire season and will continue to have it over the final eight games of the regular season."
 
The last time these two teams met back on October 26-27 in Vancouver, the Huskies won both games, 5-4 on the Friday night and 5-1 Saturday night. In fact, Saskatchewan is 23-8-1 against UBC since 2005-06.
 
Puck drop is 5 p.m. PST for both games at Rutherford Arena in Saskatoon.