The University of British Columbia Athletics

Vancouver, BC - This weekend the UBC women's hockey team will embark upon their 2014 playoff campaign as they host a best-of-three series against the Calgary Dinos in the Canada West quarter-finals. The series marks only the first of numerous high-pressure elimination challenges these teams must battle out in order to land themselves in the Canada West championship final at the end of the month.
 
It came as a shock to many when the 'Birds finished third in the Canada West, losing out to their weekend conquerors, Saskatchewan, in what came down to a third tiebreaker for second place and a bye through quarterfinals. It may not have been the result UBC was originally looking for – and indeed falling twice to the Huskies this past weekend was in nobody's agenda – but head coach Graham Thomas believes having to play in the quarter-finals may actually be a blessing in disguise.
 
"The good thing about going this route is that it puts us back in a bit of an underdog situation in which we have something to prove," said Thomas. " It keeps us prepared and on our toes."
 
The Thunderbirds emerged victorious on three of four occasions with the Dinos this season, falling short only once in a shootout loss. The 'Birds also finished three spots above Calgary, who finished second at the CIS national championship in 2013. However, coach Thomas knows that despite his team's impressive 20-6-2 record – far superior to Calgary's 12-14-2 – the postseason is a fresh start for everyone, and the real question now is which team has the greatest appetite for victory.
 
"Our mentality is that it's a new season. It doesn't matter where they finished or where we finished in the standings, we just have to be prepared for every opponent and be ready to play do or die hockey. We've got the depth and the talent – so it really comes down to getting excited to go out and play. Our girls need to embrace it and look forward to it. It's the most exciting time of the year."
 
Thomas went on to say, "We're gonna rely on our leaders and the character of our group as a whole to try to personalize it so that we're beating as one heart as a team. We'll try to pull the emotion and passion out of the players and, collectively as a team, put that onto the ice."
 
Coach Thomas highlighted that their best shot at victory will come from rivaling Calgary's hunger to win, putting in a consistent and collective effort, and playing with a defense-first mentality.
 
Coming to great use for UBC will be its #1-ranked powerplay and penalty kill during the regular season, as well as the sharp netminding abilities of veteran goaltender Danielle Dube. Dube was 13-3-1 during regular season play and will for another year be a pivotal contributor to the T-Birds' campaign. Tatiana Rafter, who finished at the top of the conference in scoring, and Nicole Saxvik not far behind in 4^th, will look to keep the points coming on UBC's offensive end.
 
While first and second seeded Alberta and Saskatchewan take the weekend off, Manitoba hosts Regina in the other Canada West quarter-final series. The victors of each best-of-three battles will go on to face the Pandas and the Huskies in the semifinals next week.
 
The puck drops on Friday and Saturday at 7:00 pm at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for games 1 and 2. If necessary, game 3 will be at 3:00 pm on Sunday.