VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (7-9-1-3) head back out on the road for a series with the last-place Manitoba Bisons (5-13-1-1) beginning Friday, January 17, at 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 18, at 12:00 p.m. PT at the Wayne Fleming Arena. With four weekends left in the regular season, the 'Birds still find themselves in a Canada West playoff spot despite an eight-game slide and are gunning to get back in the win column against the Bisons.
UBC shutout Manitoba in a series sweep back in October at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, winning 3-0 and 1-0 thanks to two shutout performances from Tory Micklash and goals from Mikayla Ogrodniczuk, Shay-Lee McConnell, Hannah Clayton-Carroll and Ashley McFadden.
Last Action
The T-Birds are coming off a goalless series of their own against the Regina Cougars (6-10-4-0) - falling 1-0 and 3-0 as the Cougars are now tied in points with the 'Birds (26) for fifth in the Canada West standings. UBC outshot Regina in both games, but were unable to capitalize on a number of opportunities and the Cougars extended their winning streak to four games.Â
Manitoba earned an impressive split with the first-place Calgary Dinos (13-5-1-1) at home last weekend, winning a tight 2-1 decision on a Jordyn Zacharias power play marker after falling 3-1 the previous night.Â
Coach's TakeÂ
UBC head coach Graham Thomas spoke Wednesday as his team utilized a rare Vancouver snow day to put in a little extra preparation ahead of their road trip. Â
"The weather helped us a bit I think," said Thomas. "The players got a bit of down time, we got to spend some extra time, we had some meetings and video and I definitely think it was good timing for us."
Thomas feels as though his team needs to unify through this tough stretch in order to get off the schneid.Â
"It's a belief thing." said Thomas. "Being able to stick to it, then finding a way to have some fun as a group and come together and stick together, that's the biggest thing. If we don't stick together we won't come through this adversity. We're sticking together, we're working hard together, I think those are the keys right now and not get so caught up in the outcome.
"We've given belief and hope to other teams. They'll look at us as being on a slide and other teams are motivated. We need to respect our opponents and know they're going to come hungry," said Thomas of the upcoming test against Manitoba. "They play hard, they're a young team, they're a good team, any team can win on any night in this league."
