VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team looks to hit the ground running in 2013 as they kick off the new year with a crucial weekend series versus their arch rivals from Calgary.

With just 12 games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Thunderbirds (9-6-1) head into the weekend sitting in fourth place in the Canada West conference with 19 points, one more point then the Dinos (9-7-0). UBC trails third place Manitoba by just two points. Alberta leads the way with 28 points, followed closely by Saskatchewan with 26 points.

"We look at this weekend as a playoff series for us," said UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic. "This is our biggest rival. Calgary's got a great team. They can score a lot of goals, they have great goaltending, and they know how to win. This is a very important part of the seaosn for our hockey team. Since day one our goal has been to finish in the top four in the Canada West and host a playoff series. At this point we control our own destiny and it starts this Friday."

The Thunderbirds and Dinos split their two game series earlier in the season, with UBC winning 4-2 on October 12 and Calgary earning a 7-4 victory the following night. In both games, the winning team came from behind in the third period to earn the two points.

"With Calgary we know it is going to come down to the last period or the last few minutes as has been the case over the last few years. That's why they are such a good rival," said Dragicevic. "This will be a very good test for our team to start the second half of the season."

Friday will mark UBC's first regular season game since December 1. The 'Birds stumbled into the break losing three of their final four games, so needless to say Christmas holidays came at the perfect time. 

"The break was great for us," said Dragicevic. "First and foremost, our guys were able to concentrate on their exams, we were able to get Justin McCrae back from injury, and we also had the opportunity to play two exhibition games last weekend against Arizona State and Oklahoma to get us game ready for the CIS."

McCrae, the 'Birds fourth year captain, has been out since October 19 with a concussion.

On the flip side, Calgary went into the Christmas break having won three straight games. They are led by Brock Nixon, who has a team high 19 points. However, when it comes to stopping the Dinos, it's all about shutting down their backend.

"To stop Calgary you have to shutdown Cory Pritz, Kodie Curran, and Giffen Nyren on defence," said Dragicevic. "These guys control everything. They jump into the rush, they are all plus players, and average a point a game. We need to stop them off the rush, be physical against them, and not allow them on the power play."

It all gets started Friday January 4 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.