It's a ferocious way to kick off 2026 with a battle between the two hottest teams in the Canada West, as the No. 1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds host the No. 8 Mount Royal Cougars Friday and Saturday, January 9 and 10 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Entering the New Year with a program record 17-game point streak and having already clinched a playoff berth, the T-Birds face one of their toughest home series of the season in their first action in over a month.
"It's going to be a tough start, we got four games against top teams with Mount Royal coming in here, then we go to Calgary next week," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, who has long been preparing his squad for the fierce upcoming schedule immediately out of the December break. "The guys have come in really motivated and pretty sharp. We had a mini-training camp starting last Friday already, came in and worked really hard on Saturday, on Sunday and pushed them as hard as you can. When you have a tough opponent coming out of a break like this, I think it's really good for you, it just adds a little more seriousness and a sense of urgency."
With only 10 games remaining in the regular season, there's almost a palpable sense of the height of the moment for the T-Birds who thus far have backed up their belief as a serious national championship contender.
As the drive to secure a home playoff berth continues, UBC leads the conference in goals (95), goal differential (+54) and regulation wins (15) along with a power play clicking at a deadly 30 per cent.
But there's also no one about to sleep on the Cougars who after a mediocre start to the season have put together a nine-game point streak of their own and are within striking distance of the east division leading Dinos, currently six points back of their city rivals.
"We watch Mount Royal and they've been trending the right way, they've been getting better every week. They've added guys and they're healthy, it's an impressive group," said Butenschon. "Going back to last year, they were in our division, we played them six times. Calgary's in that division so we all kind of beat up on each other and then in the other division it was (Saskatchewan) kind of rolling. Mount Royal I thought throughout the year was the best team in the league even though Sask ended up with home ice in the final. They got everybody back, they got everybody committed."
It should come as no surprise that MRU's resurgence has coincided with the return of last season's U SPORTS Player of the Year, defenceman Clay Hanus, who made his season debut November 7 and has since put up nine points in eight games.
Fifth-year forward Josh Tarzwell leads the Cougars with 12 goals and 26 points while Connor Bouchard rounds out the conference's top ten in scoring with 21 points.
Fans this weekend could certainly be in for a treat as the T-Birds boast three skaters in the conference top ten, fourth-year
Sasha Mutala's team-leading 30 points just three off the pace set by Calgary's Adam Kydd.
While UBC holds a healthy 13-point lead over the Alberta Golden Bears atop the west division, the T-Birds are just two up on the Dinos for the overall Canada West lead, leaving little to no room for error in the race for home ice throughout the playoffs.
"It's a lot of fun, the second semester, because it happens quick. A lot of it is rest, regeneration, having tons of energy because you put in so much work in the first semester in the gym and the grind of training camp. We played 18 games, so lots of work, lots of meetings and then after Christmas it's just about coming out on a Friday night feeling great, having good legs, being connected with your teammates and then trying to keep that momentum going into the playoffs."
Puck drop Friday to kick off MRU's only visit to Vancouver this year is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre with Saturday's final regular season meeting with the Cougars scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are available online and both games will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
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