VANCOUVER – Riding a seven game win streak as one of the hottest teams in the country, the UBC Thunderbirds head into their final home-and-home series of the season with their cross-town rival Trinity Western Spartans this week, culminating in the 2024 Winter Classic on Friday, January 19 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
A pair of wins this week against the Spartans (2-15-1) would match last season's program record for wins in a single Canada West season while keeping the team atop the conference standings, going a long way to helping secure a coveted first round bye. But nobody, to a man, is putting the cart before the horse as the 'Birds (18-4) know they face a strong test against a team fully intent on making life as miserable as possible.
"They've always played us tough. They're big and strong and well coached," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon of the Spartans who have yet to secure a win against the T-Birds since joining the Canada West two seasons ago. "It'll be kind of like a Manitoba, Regina, Grant MacEwan kind of game where they'll have four or five guys back at all times and kind of dare us to make mistakes and make the game more complicated than it needs to be and then capitalize on our mistakes. So, as long as we play our game we'll be fine."
And so far this season, the T-Birds' game continues to be more than fine. Holding a one point lead over the defending conference champion Calgary Dinos, the 'Birds continue to boast the league's best record, most goals (102), best goal differential (+52), top penalty kill (88.9%), and the second best power play (22.9%).
"Keep fighting, keep that fighting mentality, keep that drive," said Butenschon of what's needed to maintain their standing with the playoffs drawing near. "We've talked about setting a standard for ourselves and it doesn't matter who your opponent is. The standard is set and you have to maintain that. Don't slip up and hold each other accountable if you see those demands that we set for ourselves not being met. We need the leadership group to continue doing what they've been doing and I think the rest will take care of itself."
Kickstarting the home-and-home series Thursday night in Langley gives the week a bit of a different feel, but it's one the team is used to with mid-week games the norm back in the players' junior hockey days. With the playoffs now just four weeks away, it all makes for added intensity and excitement.
"We love this. Sometimes the week can drag on and you're trying to spend a lot of time on managing energy and load management and balancing all that. Now it's rest a day, prep a day, fine tune a day and then play. And now that we have the cross-town rival with Trinity it makes for one less of a demanding road trip. It's going to be a great week and now we just got to make sure we come out with two wins."
When considering the excitement factor, nothing adds to it more than the annual Winter Classic. Friday night promises to be no exception with a packed building full of raucous fans and, of course, a big two points up for grabs.
"Guys look forward to it. We talk about it when we're recruiting guys out of junior hockey about the event and how much fun it is. The fan engagement, the alumni engagement and just the overall experience, it's like nothing I've ever been a part of and the guys are pretty jacked up about it."
Thursday night's matchup with the Spartans at the Langley Events Centre gets underway at 7:00 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
Friday's Winter Classic at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are still available online now!
