VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey team has finalized an exciting exhibition schedule that features two teams from China and a trip to Minnesota to face some of the top university programs in the world.

For the second straight year, the T-Birds host Kunlun Red Star of the Canadian Women's Hockey League while also hosting a brand new team from Shenzhen, China for a three-team showcase-style series starting August 18 at Father Bauer Arena.

"It's always great to play international competition and it's exciting for our players, especially our players that took part in the Shenzhen camp a couple months ago as they continue to try to make the Chinese World Championship team and maybe even the Olympics," said UBC head coach Graham Thomas. "If we can be a part of that and continue to keep that international relationship strong, that's a great opportunity and something we're very excited about."

The series will see both China-based programs play each other twice before the 'Birds take on Shenzhen August 22 and 23 followed by two meetings with Kunlun on August 25 and 26.

"We also want to have some fun," added Thomas who sees the series as an opportunity for team building both on and off the ice, especially for his new recruits. "It's pre-season and still August so it's a chance to get everyone together, to get to know each other better and try some different things."

The 'Birds will then have a few weeks of practice before departing for a tour of Minnesota where they'll face the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers on September 22 followed by a visit to Minnesota State-Mankato the following day. UBC will complete their trip with a game against the newest NWHL team, the Minnesota Whitecaps.

"With the Whitecaps being a part of the NWHL, it's a great opportunity to play them as they'll have gold medal winning Olympians on their roster," said Thomas. "For us to play against that sort of competition, that's pretty neat. The Gophers are also always either winning a championship or right in the mix as one of the best programs in the world so we'll really be able to test ourselves against them as well as Mankato."

The T-Birds will open up the 2018-19 Canada West regular season at home October 5 and 6 against the Lethbridge Pronghorns at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Click here for a complete season schedule.