VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds are eyeing up history as they have the opportunity to clinch first place in the Canada West for the first time while hosting the Mount Royal Cougars this Friday and Saturday, February 9 and 10 for the final weekend series of the regular season.
The T-Birds (21-4-1) have already locked up a home playoff date and need just one win to clinch first place overall – and a coveted bye through the conference quarter-finals – a feat never accomplished in the long history of the program.
"The schedule makers are sure looking good to slot the Mount Royal Cougars coming into town to play UBC," said T-Birds head coach
Sven Butenschon who has already guided his team to new highs in both wins and points. "The final weekend of the season, winner gets first place. You can't write it any better."
Still riding an 11-game point streak, the 'Birds did see their 10-game win streak snapped by the Alberta Golden Bears last Saturday night after suffering an overtime loss in Edmonton.
"I didn't love our actual games against Alberta so there's definitely areas we need to clean up," said Butenschon after his team earned three of four possible points at Clare Drake Arena despite not playing their 'A' game. "But because it was such a tight-checking, physical, intense, playoff kind of style, I love that moving forward and we're going to see that again this weekend. That's what you want going down the stretch; you want meaningful games, you want playoff type atmosphere going into the playoffs."
Sitting just three points back of UBC, tied for second in the conference with the Calgary Dinos, the Cougars (20-6) also head into this weekend coming off a rare loss last Saturday to the Saskatchewan Huskies, ending what had been a 13-game win streak dating back to mid-November. The number-three ranked Cougars are also fighting for a top-two berth with an outside shot at clinching first should they manage a sweep over the T-Birds.
If last week in Edmonton was a tough test for the number-five ranked 'Birds, this week provides at least the same level of competition with the stakes even higher.
"They're well-coached, and I think they have seven defencemen that are all outstanding. Their goaltender, Shane Farkas, has stepped in and he's an absolute number one goalie and his numbers prove that. And then they got the Connor Bouchard factor, one of the most prolific scorers in the history of our league and he finds a way to make an impact every night."
When it comes down to the brass tacks, Butenschon and the 'Birds see this weekend as a battle between UBC's conference leading offence going up against one of the toughest defences in MRU.
Through 26 games of the season, these two teams are incredibly similar. UBC leads the Canada West averaging 4.58 goals per game while the Cougars bring the league's top rated power play to town, clicking at 24.6 percent to UBC's 23.3.
The series also features six of the conference's top ten scorers, led by Bouchard's impressive 54 points.
Jake Lee continues to pace the T-Birds with 31 points on the season.
This weekend will also mark the final home regular season series for UBC forward
Jake Kryski as well as defencemen
Jonathan Smart and
Ryan Pouliot, all of whom have been major factors in the T-Birds' emergence as a championship contender over their tenure.
"They're winners. Since they've come here as rookies, they were a huge part of that first team that took us to nationals. Lots of players had a tough time through Covid and moved on or quit, but those guys continued to grind and improve. You could say they're the backbone of what we've done since I've been here. You throw in the Sandhus and Revels and Glovers who are a little bit older, and you add those three guys to the mix and they're really the backbone of what we've done here in the last few years."
While the 'Birds continue to set new highs and push their own expectations, this weekend could very well be a key milestone on that journey. Afterall, what better way to close out the regular season than a battle for first?
Puck drop Friday night is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Saturday's regular season finale goes at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets for both are on sale now with live streaming also available on
Canada West TV.
