Ranked number one in U SPORTS for the first time in program history, the UBC Thunderbirds head into the final week of conference play in 2025 with a head full of steam, kicking off a home-and-home series with the Trinity Western Spartans Thursday, December 4 at the Langley Events Centre.
With a 12-point lead atop the west division standings and a 15-game point streak – the longest regular season string in program history – the T-Birds have every reason to be feeling good about themselves, particularly coming off last weekend in Saskatoon where they picked up three out of four possible points including a convincing 7-4 win over the Huskies Saturday evening at Merlis Belsher Place.
But as confident as UBC is with just two games remaining in the calendar year, the Spartans are riding high themselves having just swept the Alberta Golden Bears last weekend, including a 7-3 win Friday night.
"They're going to be confident, they're going to be flying and they're going to come out really hard. We're going to have to be ready right off the hop," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, whose team has yet to lose to the Spartans in 31 previous Canada West meetings. "It's in their rink, they're playing really well at home…they're really relying on their top guys to score and then the rest of the group to shut us down. We have to be aware of their top-end guys and obviously their goalie is playing at a ridiculous level. Great goaltending, some top players there, it's going to be another really good test for the group."
It's not hard to imagine, though, the Spartans are just as concerned about the T-Birds' threats up and down the lineup. Led by fourth-year forward
Sasha Mutala who put together 17 points in nine games in the month of November and now just five points off the conference scoring lead with 28 on the season, UBC boasts four players in the top eight in Canada West. Captain
Chris Douglas,
Scott Atkinson and
Ty Thorpe have all also now surpassed the 20 point mark.
Leading the conference with 85 goals scored, the T-Birds also boast the best team defence with 38 goals against for a plus-47 goal differential.
All told, the new number one ranking is certainly well-deserved.
"There's a lot of work to do still but it sure feels good to see that, especially because we've kind of hovered around that area over the last few years at times," Butenschon said. "Even the year we won Canada West we didn't get to number one, so this is a new thing, a new experience for the program. It's a feather in the cap for the boys and it's just a result of their day-to-day attention to details, coming to the rink with a purpose and a drive. This is the most driven, focussed, motivated group I've ever coached."
Now past the halfway mark of the regular season, the T-Birds are already closing in on clinching a playoff berth which would be possible with a sweep of the Spartans this week.
While the team has navigated a particularly tough recent schedule extremely well to get to this point, to a man, the 'Birds know they can't let up on the accelerator, especially given the Spartans' recent success.
"You see the Scotty Atkinson line putting up a lot of points, so (TWU) will really focus on being defensive against those guys and digging in to shut them down. Well, what is Thorpy's line going to do, what is (
Josh Williams') line going to do, our fourth line whether it's (
Logan Doust) or whoever, those guys need to step up and be ready to chip in."
Puck drop Thursday at the Langley Events Centre is set for 7:00 p.m. The back half of the home-and-home and final game of 2025 goes down Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, also starting at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets for Saturday's semester finale are available now and both games can be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
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