Vancouver – The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey squad is currently on the outside looking in as the team sits two points out of the final playoff spot entering this weekend's season finale against the Manitoba Bisons. Only the top three teams in the Canada West have clinched playoff spots thus far giving UBC an opportunity to sneak into the Canada West playoffs for the third consecutive year.
UBC (10-14-2) is coming off a weekend split at home versus the Saskatchewan Huskies dropping the first game on Friday night followed by a strong 5-1 performance where the home team scored five unanswered in a crucial victory for the team's playoff chances.
Steven Stanford is coming off one of his strongest games of the year in the back half of last weekend's home series stopping all but one in a 38-save victory matching his season high. Stanford has won six of his past nine regular season starts so expect him to be between the pipes for the Thunderbirds come Friday night. Stanford has a 3.06 GAA on the season to go along with a 0.899 SV %.
The Canada West is currently a logjam with teams four through seven still on the verge of making the playoffs. Put simply, the Thunderbirds need both a win and a pair of regulation losses by the Regina Cougars or two wins and at least one regulation loss from the Cougars in order to qualify for the Canada West playoffs. UBC currently sits in seventh in the Canada West but holds the tiebreaker over the Cougars having won the season series against their division rival. The Cougars face the No. 9 ranked and red-hot Saskatchewan Huskies who have won five of its past six.
Alternatively, a bit of help from the Lethbridge Pronghorns could put Mount Royal's playoff hopes in jeopardy as they too sit just two points ahead of UBC. Mathematically, the Thunderbirds could finish as high as fourth at the weekend's conclusion if every piece falls into place.
After putting up a three-point night this past Saturday against the Huskies, UBC's
Cole Wilson is third in league scoring with 33 points on the season, putting up 12 points over his previous seven games. Wilson is second in the Canada West and in a tie for seventh in the CIS with a career high 17 goals on the season. Look for
Geordie Wudrick to continue his strong play this weekend as he currently boasts a six game point streak compiling nine points in that period.
"We don't control our destiny at this point but we need to go in there and sweep them," said head coach Milan Dragicevic about his team's weekend finale. "We've done well against Manitoba in Winnipeg over the previous few years. If we play like we did [this past weekend] and bring the same structure to our game, we will be successful against anybody."
The Bisons (11-11-4) are coming off a pair of victories against the struggling Lethbridge Pronghorns outscoring their opponent by a 14-5 margin. Manitoba has taken both contests against the Thunderbirds this season scoring six goals in each defeating the Thunderbirds by margins of 6-3 and 6-4 in mid November. Historically, Manitoba and UBC have been very evenly matched with identical 10-10 records against each other dating back to the 2009-2010 season.
Ian Duval is the top scorer for the Bisons heading into the weekend tallying 21 points this season. Duval has been one of the hottest players in the league as of recent carrying a seven game scoring streak amassing 14 points during that span. Jordan Depape sits in third in rookie scoring this season for the Bisons as the former Kamloops Blazer has 22 points on the season. Depape earned the Canada West second star of the week after scoring a hat trick and adding three assists over a two game span last weekend against the Pronghorns.
In goal for Manitoba has been Joe Caligiuri, having started 22 games this season with a streak of 18 consecutive dating back to the beginning of November. The former Brandon Wheat King and Prince George Cougar has a 10-9-2 record on the season to go along with a 3.17 GAA and 0.897 SV %. Look for special teams to be a difference maker this weekend as well, as UBC holds a sizeable advantage on both the power play and penalty kill compared to the Bisons.
Catch the action live on
Canada West TV at 5:00 pm PST on Friday and 4:00 pm PST on Saturday for the regular season finale.
