VANCOUVER – With zero wins and just one point in their last four games, the UBC Thunderbirds (3-4-1) are looking for some home cooking to boost them back into the win column as they host the Alberta Golden Bears (4-4) Friday and Saturday, November 13 and 14 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
The Bears head to Vancouver for the only time this season fresh off a sweep of the Calgary Dinos last weekend, but both programs currently find themselves far further down the standings than they would expect of themselves.
Alberta sits third in the East Division, just one point back of cross-town rival MacEwan while the T-Birds are three points behind third-place Regina in the West.
The season may still be relatively young but when points in November matter just as much as they do in February, neither team this weekend can afford to drop even more.
"You don't want to panic and be desperate or shake things up too much because we're instilling confidence and belief in the group," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon. "Every game is a one goal game pretty much, so we just need to shut that down by one goal and find a way to get one more. Defensively we're fine, goaltending – all that stuff's been fine, we just have to limit those big mistakes and try to find a little offence here."
It's certainly true UBC's underlying numbers aren't bad. Three of the team's five losses have been by a single goal, one of them in overtime, while last Saturday's 3-1 loss at Mount Royal included an empty netter with 16 seconds on the clock.
The 'Birds' overall goal differential is -1 while the power play remains strong at 21.6 per cent.
"It's the timeliness of things – you're up 3-1 and get a power play, can you make it 4-1. You're down 2-1 in the third and get a power play, can you tie it up – those crucial moments is what we've missed this year," Butenschon lamented. "This isn't the standard here to be a .500 team. It's not the standard no matter how many new guys or rookies you have or how many injuries you have. There's a standard set here by the
Conner McDonalds and Matt Revels…
Chris Douglas and
Sasha Mutala, the list goes on and on – those guys really changed the program here and it's up to this group now to follow."
Top end scoring hasn't been a big issue for the 'Birds thus far with second-year transfer
Brayden Schuurman and fifth-year
Josh Williams tied for the team lead with identical six goal, six assist performances, the latter currently working on a seven game point streak. Captain
Ty Thorpe is also better than a point-per-game with four goals and six assists.
It's depth scoring that will need to come through as the 'Birds' season progresses. The horses are there, the feeling is it's just a matter of time.
A good weekend against Alberta would be precisely the tonic UBC requires, but as with anything, it won't come easy.
"I think it's going to tell us a lot about the group we have but it will also tell us a lot points wise, standings wise what we're looking at. With the divisional format, other teams are getting points and you can't lose too many or fall behind too much. We need to stop the bleeding here and get points this weekend because we go to Regina next weekend and that's a team we're trying to catch."
"Alberta's record is similar to ours, but I feel like they're pretty locked in and dialed right now. What we've seen from clips from last weekend against Calgary is they're playing well, they're playing with speed and pace and tempo and look as good as they have all year."
Puck drop Friday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is set for 7:00 p.m. with Saturday's final regular season meeting vs Alberta scheduled for 3:00 p.m. next door at Father Bauer Arena.
Tickets for both games are available online or at the door with
streaming also available live on Canada West TV.
