Looking to build off last Saturday's impressive victory over division rival Mount Royal, the UBC Thunderbirds host the Trinity Western Spartans for the final time this season Friday night with a much-needed two points on the line in what will be by far the best atmosphere of the year – Winter Classic 2025.
With thousands of fans in attendance at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, the T-Birds (13-6-1) will look to use the hype of the home crowd to their advantage as the team aims to keep pace with MRU in the race to clinch the West Division crown.
"It's the one night where everybody kind of comes back, the former players and alumni, you can feel their presence in warmup and at the beginning of the game," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, himself a huge fan of the Winter Classic vibe. "Our players feel that too and then from the energy in the building, you can't match it. There's just this constant vibration of excitement and the boys obviously love playing in that game. It's just such a cool event from the department to the team and the school. Everybody's here, everybody gets fired up for it and it's just so much fun."
Splitting the first weekend series of 2025 with Mount Royal to finish the season series 3-3, the T-Birds enter the final eight games of the Canada West schedule three points back of MRU for top spot in the division and the coveted first round playoff bye.
Simply put, there's no room for error if the 'Birds want to catch Mount Royal, and the four points up for grabs this weekend are a must in order to have a shot at doing so.
"I'm so proud of the guys for how they found a way on Saturday, they rallied," Butenschon added after opening the new year with a disappointing 6-1 loss, snapping an eight-game win streak. "Friday was not good, we got a real slap in the face and a rude awakening there. And then on Saturday, it was almost like, we knew the team was going to look different, you got to find a different way to win those games, other guys have to step up and we did."
The 'Birds will still be without their two leading scorers,
Sasha Mutala and
Sam Huo, as well as All-Canadian defenceman
Jake Lee, all of whom remain in Torino, Italy, competing with team Canada's FISU games squad. The team found a way to get a big two points without them last Saturday, an effort that not only keeps UBC in the division race but also may bode well down the stretch in terms of personnel deployment.
"Mutala and Huosy and Leezer, they've done a lot of heavy lifting for us over the years and those impactful moments, they're usually on the ice. So it was just really awesome and really cool to see other guys elevate their game and be the difference makers. It looked a little bit different out there but we were just so pumped and proud of the guys for how they responded."
The 'Birds have had their way with the Spartans (3-16-1) so far this season, outscoring TWU by a combined 24-9 margin while sitting a full 20 points ahead in the standings. But the Spartans gave UBC a run for their money in their most recent meeting back on December 6, the 'Birds holding a 3-2 edge after two periods before breaking out for the eventual 6-3 win.
"They went into Manitoba last week and put six past them on the Friday night, they've played other teams in our league really tough this year. They played that game against us, it felt so different than all the other games we've played against them. They were doing all the little things, they were gritty and they weren't sitting back, it was really impressive. I'm seeing more of that from that group. They've added four players in the second half, so they've injected their unit with four fresh faces that look like they're very good hockey players. So, it's going to be another tough challenge and when you're playing a cross-town rival like that, there's always a little more juice in the game."
But regardless of their opponent and the situation week-to-week with regards to player availability, the 'Birds remain intently focussed on simply picking up as many points in the standings as they can, ensuring they can enter the post-season playing the way they want to.
"Second half of the season, it always seems to be like that. You've got the perennial powerhouse teams that are always a point or two separated so you need the points, you got to do whatever you can to get the points. We almost need a little bit of help too around the league to make up for some of the points we left on the table early on in the season."
Puck drop for Winter Classic 2025 is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Saturday the 'Birds will head to Langley for the back half of the home-and-home.
Tickets for the biggest indoor party of the campus calendar are on sale now!
