Vancouver, BC - UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey goaltender
Danielle Dube has been named the Canada West Athlete of the Week after leading the Thunderbirds to a series sweep over Manitoba in the opening round of the Canada West playoffs.
A goaltender known for her pioneering exploits added to her accomplishments,
Danielle Dube led the UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team to their first-ever Canada West playoff series victory on the weekend.
Danielle Dube was in net for both UBC victories at Father David Bauer Arena in Vancouver. On Friday, she stopped 26 of 28 Manitoba shots. After the Bisons' Nellie Minshull scored at 17:13 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1, Dube didn't give up another goal until halfway through the third and by that time, UBC had scored five more times to earn its first Canada West playoff win in program history.
Saturday's game was much closer. In fact, Manitoba scored first, 1:09 into the third period. But Dube, a second-year Arts student, full-time firefighter and mother of two, shut the door the rest of the way, giving her team the confidence to score four times in the final period to earn the series win. She stopped 28 of 29 Bisons shots in all.
After engineering the greatest turnaround in CIS women's hockey history during the regular season, UBC is looking to continue its most successful playoff run. The Thunderbirds will travel to Regina to face the Cougars in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series. Game one will go on Friday night at The Co-operators Centre.
Manitoba Bisons hockey forward Tyler Dittmer was named the Canada West Male Athlete of the Week. Not only did Dittmer notch a hat trick but he scored four goals in the series-clinching game and added another two points (1g, 1a) in game one as Manitoba swept Regina at home in the Canada West Quarter Final best-of-three series. Dittmer was also a first star selection and had a +3 plus/minus rating with ten shots in two playoff games.
The fifth year assistant captain had two multi-point games and goals in the back-to-back playoff wins versus Regina.
To complete the weekend playoff series, Dittmer had a four goal game as he started and finished the scoring, scored on a power play and registered at least a goal in all three periods in a 5-0 victory in game two. The Brandon, Man. native was named First Star and also added eight shots and +3 rating in the shutout win on Saturday, February 16. In the first game, Dittmer notched the game-winner on the power play plus added a power play assist with two shots in the 6-2 win over the Cougars.
Dittmer is second in 2013 conference playoff scoring with six points (5g, 1a) and first with five playoff conference goals. In the 2012-13 conference regular season, he finished in sixth spot with 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) while playing in 26 of 28 conference regular season games.
Third-seed Manitoba (17-7-4, 2-0 playoffs) now travels to play at the second-seed Saskatchewan Huskies (19-8-1) in the Canada West semifinal, a best-of-three series starting February 22 in Saskatoon.
