Vancouver – The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team will get a taste of playoff action for the third consecutive season as the blue and gold travel to Saskatoon for the Canada West quarter-finals. UBC enters as the sixth seed in the Canada West after prevailing over Regina for the final playoff spot while the No. 9 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies enter the playoffs as the third seeded team.
Game 1: Friday February 21 5:00 p.m. (PT)
Game 2: Saturday February 22 12:00 p.m. (PT)
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday February 23 5:00 p.m. (PT)
While the Huskies (17-10-1) had the third seed locked up entering the final weekend of the season, the UBC Thunderbirds (11-15-2) bid for a playoff run came right down to the wire. Despite losing its final game against Manitoba, the Thunderbirds received a favorable outcome as Regina lost its final two games of the season leaving the two teams tied for sixth. Based on a head-to-head tiebreaker, UBC held the advantage and enters the weekend with a clean slate in the playoffs.
UBC struggled head-to-head with the Huskies earlier in the season dropping its first three games against Saskatchewan by a combined score of 12-4 before defeating the Huskies in the fourth and final game between the two. The 5-1 victory helped kick-start and fuel the Thunderbirds final bid for the playoffs. UBC's defeat was the only blip on the Huskies record in the final eight games of the season having won seven of those eight to end its regular season. Further back, the Huskies have been on a tear winning 11 of its past 13 after a mediocre start to the season.
The series features two of the leagues most prolific scorers in the likes of Derek Hulak and
Cole Wilson. Hulak earned this season's Canada West scoring title tallying 13 goals to go along with 35 assists, good for second in the CIS. This year marks the second scoring title for the Huskies veteran to go along with his Dave "Sweeney" Schriner Scoring Trophy from the 2011-2012 campaign.
Wilson finished fifth in league scoring for the Thunderbirds and will need to be an integral part of the UBC offense during the team's first round series. Wilson's 35 points were a career-high as the third-year veteran collected 18 goals and 17 assists during the regular season.
Neil Manning was the top scoring defenceman on the Thunderbirds putting up a career-high 19 points (5g, 14a) during the regular season.
In all, the Huskies were the third highest scoring team in the Canada West this season. Look for the Huskies' Andrew Bailey to bring some veteran playoff presence as the forward is tied for the all-time Canada West lead in games played with 140 over his five-year career with the Huskies.
A number of obstacles will need to be overcome if UBC is to have a chance against their prairie rivals. The Huskies are 11-2-1 at home with its only two regulation losses being against the No. 1 ranked Alberta Golden Bears. Saskatchewan is the third highest scoring team in the Canada West and has conceded the second fewest goals. And to boot, Ryan Holfeld has been solid in net having lead the entire CIS in minutes played having started all but one game this season
UBC will counter with a number of strong suits of their own, boasting a penalty kill with over 85% effectiveness, which puts them in the top 15 in the CIS.
Steven Stanford will backstop the Thunderbirds having started the final three games of the season for UBC and amassing a 7-5-2 record. Stanford has won seven of his past 11 starts having allowed two or fewer goals on eight of those occasions. Stanford also set a career high in games played, wins, as well as save percentage (.906%) during the regular season.
The Thunderbirds were eliminated in similar 2-1 fashions each of the previous two years at the hands of the Calgary Dinos. All games will be played at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, which will also play host to the 2014 Potash University Cup in late March as teams vie for the CIS championship.
