VANCOUVER - On Saturday night, five UBC Thunderbirds will be honoured as they play their final regular season home game. Perhaps more importantly, a win over the weekend would ensure the girls get to play their first-ever playoff game on home ice.
With UBC leading the visiting Manitoba Bisons by six points in the standings for fourth place, the Thunderbirds need to take just one of the two match-ups at Protrans Arena to clinch a top-four seed and thus a home playoff series.
“It's exciting,” said head coach
Graham Thomas. “As a group we're playing well right now and we're playing confident as a team. We're coming together down the stretch. We need to continue to just focus on us and worry about us. “
Also within reach for the Thunderbirds is a first-round bye, which goes to the two top teams in Canada West. The Thunderbirds are just two points back of second-place Regina for that distinction, and Regina and third-place Alberta battle each other this weekend. If those teams were to split the weekend series, UBC could leapfrog one or both of them in the standings.
“It is a goal,” said Thomas. “We don't usually talk about the standings as a team, but we did allude to it a bit this week. This is obtainable for us and it's a goal that can be achieved.
“They know it's there and it won't be brought up again. Our biggest goal is still to keep playing as well as we can and keep that momentum.”
The girls who will be honoured as a part of Saturday night's Senior Night event are
Kaitlin Imai (Coquitlam, BC),
Kaylee Chanakos (Nanaimo, BC),
Emily Grainger (Sooke, BC),
Dayle Poulin (Prince George, BC) and
Kelsey Halvorson (Armstrong, BC). Imai, Chanakos and Grainger will also receive a Golden Helmet commemorating their 100th career CIS games.
“Coming into this season I thought I had a good idea of the emotions I would be feeling,” said Imai. “I figured it would be a bitter-sweet ending to the game that has shaped my entire life thus far.
“However, now that our team has clinched playoffs and has a chance to potentially host a playoff series, this weekend means more to me than I could have imagined. This weekend, especially Saturday night, will be an emotional one. The past five years have been quite a journey but this final year has by far been the most memorable and special one.”
With family members, guests and alumni expected out for the event, the bump to Protrans Arena, a smaller venue than the Thunderbirds normally play in, could be an advantage. A decent crowd turnout could result in a very noisy arena, providing UBC a big home-ice advantage.
The focus, however, will need to stay on the Bisons and not the crowd or the team's accomplishments. The Bison are a potential first-round playoff match-up and are a high-energy, up-tempo team. UBC can't afford to look ahead to the playoffs just yet.
Manitoba has a pair of players tied for fifth in conference scoring in Nellie Minshill and Kyleigh Palmer, so UBC will need to be sharp defensively. That may not be a big problem, though, as the Thunderbirds have allowed just nine goals in their past seven games.
Danielle Dube (Vancouver, BC) and
Samantha Langford (Pense, SK) continue to be a formidable duo between the pipes for UBC. Dube ranks second in the conference in goals against average with a 1.71 mark and is the pacesetter in save percentage at .942. Langford is 10 minutes shy of qualifying for the leaderboards but would rank fourth and third in those categories, respectively, if she qualified.
“Both goalies are ready and will be ready to be called upon,” said Thomas. “It's clear we're confident in either one. Maybe well split, one might play both, but they've both been great.”
Thomas kept his planned goalie rotation to himself, but it will be revealed on Friday when the puck drops at 7 p.m. at Protrans Arena. Saturday's game starts at 7 p.m. at Protrans Arena as well, with Senior Night ceremonies taking place before the game.
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