Winners of four of their last five and now just one point out of first place in the division, the UBC Thunderbirds are back home for the first time in three weeks, hosting the Calgary Dinos for a weekend series starting Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Featuring the potential for a mammoth four-point swing in the ridiculously tight West Division standings, The T-Birds (6-5-1) and Dinos (6-3-1) head into their second of three weekend series this regular season tied for second, just one point back of the Mount Royal Cougars.

The last visit from Calgary to Vancouver saw the 'Birds pick up just a single point by way of a shootout loss as the rematch of last season's conference final series went decidedly the opposite way. It was the start of a tough opening stretch to the 2024-25 Canada West season for UBC, but earning a split against the conference leading Alberta Golden Bears in their last home series followed by last weekend's sweep at Mount Royal, there's a sense the T-Birds are back on course.



"It's hard to put your finger on why exactly it's different but maybe that's what winning does, it brings everybody together and there's way more confidence obviously," said UBC head coach, Sven Butenschon. "But it's not like we were mailing it in or pouty; we just set a bar high for the group and you could feel some of that heaviness, and that heaviness has started to disappear. We're playing free and it's looking more like the group from last year."

As the results trend in UBC's favour, much credit can go to improved special teams play over the past several weeks. In their last six games, the T-Birds' power play has been clicking at 31.3 per cent with the team scoring at least once on the man advantage in nine straight. The penalty kill has been equally as impressive over the last three weeks, working at a 90 per cent success rate over their last five games.

"It's obviously huge getting a kill but it's also getting momentum after a kill, it's trusting the process," added Butenschon. "When I was a player, when your special teams are struggling there are a lot of questions, a lot of meetings. (Assistant Coach Matt Revel) has done a great job dialing that in, keeping the guys in check on the PK and you also have to talk about (Ty Thorpe) and (Cyle McNabb) on the kill, man what a job they're doing."



While the T-Birds head into their four-game home stand feeling confident, the Dinos head to Vancouver with a four-game win streak in their pocket. Calgary hasn't been lighting the lamp with regularity, boasting an average of 2.9 goals per game, a full goal less than UBC. But the Dinos have been dynamite defensively, allowing a conference low 22 goals against. With scoring likely at more of a premium this weekend and the series featuring two of the top goaltenders in the conference in Carl Tetachuk and UBC's Cole Schwebius – fresh off a conference player of the week award – there will be quite a playoff-type feel in the cool arena air.

"Whenever we play Calgary it's heated, it's intense, lots of history. Both teams play a similar brand of hockey and Mark (Howell) always has those guys going. They play such a structured defensive game, it almost feels like a playoff game every time you play those guys. That's what we like though, I think as challenging as it is with the schedule, you're playing meaningful games every weekend and that's lots of fun."

There may not have been a more meaningful weekend series for either team so far this season as what's on tap at the Doug starting Friday night. A sweep would allow either to keep pace with MRU while dropping both would place the losing team well back, a hole that could prove difficult to crawl out of in the race to eventually secure a home playoff berth. While the stakes for both teams are incredibly high, they're likely even more important for the T-Birds who will be looking to even up their season series with the Dinos in what will be their final battles in Vancouver this regular season.
 

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The challenge for UBC now is to not let any of the momentum they've generated on the road fall by the wayside.

"Now that we're at home we have to make sure we continue to keep that rhythm and the desperation of when you're on the road in a tougher environment. We've done a great job of that, now we just have to make sure we take that same mentality back home. We knew the divisional play was going to be even more important because we're in the hardest division in Canada, so here we are. We lost those games to Calgary at the beginning of the year, we just have to make it up now."

Puck drop Friday, November 15 against the Dinos is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Saturday's final home game against Calgary goes down at 3:00 p.m. Tickets for both contests are available now and both will be streamed live on Canada West TV.