VANCOUVER – Following yet another historic season, UBC Thunderbirds forward
Grace Elliott has repeated as Canada West Women's Hockey Player of the Year.
The first back-to-back winner of the conference's top award in program history, Elliott is joined on the honours list by
Jaylyn Morris who has earned Defenceman of the Year while their head coach,
Graham Thomas, has been named Canada West Coach of the Year for the second time, but first since 2013.
Leading the conference in goals with 24 and points with 37, Elliott finished her outstanding Canada West career with 132 regular season points while setting a new conference record with 25 career game winning goals. 12 of her 24 goals this season served as game winners, obliterating the previous Canada West record of seven set by Hayley Wickenheiser.
The GOAT of UBC Women's Hockey, Elliott's hold of the Thunderbirds' program record book likely won't be shaken any time soon as she now boasts the all-time high water mark in UBC career goals, points, plus/minus, and shots on goal.
Winning the conference scoring race by a five-point margin over her linemate,
Annalise Wong, Elliott's back-to-back point titles makes it three straight years a Thunderbird has claimed top spot and four times in the last five seasons.
The White Rock, B.C. product is the first winner of consecutive Player of the Year awards since Calgary's Iya Gavrilova did so in 2015 and 2016.
"It's all well deserved and we're really proud of her, she's so humble," said Thomas. "The first thing when you talk to her will be about her linemates and teammates and her giving credit to the people who have helped her along the way. It's been amazing to watch her grow as a person, as a leader. But at the end of the day, she's a competitor, she wants to win. She's happy if she doesn't get a goal in a game as long as we win. We have a lot to accomplish here in the playoffs in the next few weeks but it's also going to be fun to watch her go on to compete professionally in the future. It'll be exciting to follow her journey. She's amazing."
Setting new career highs in goals with 9, assists with 13, and points with 22, third-year
Jaylyn Morris becomes just the second Thunderbird in history to be named Canada West Defenceman of the Year.
No stranger to the conference honour roll, the Maple Ridge, B.C. product was named Canada West Rookie of the Year in 2023-24 and has now earned back-to-back first team All-Star selections.
Morris' total of 22 points was seven clear of the second highest scoring defender in the conference this season and good for fourth among all Canada West skaters. Morris' plus-20 rating tied her with teammate
Presley Zinger for tops among all blue liners.
"She's had a lot of pressure placed on her, she's an alternate captain now, but despite so many new things put on her plate she's managed to meet all of them head on," Thomas said of Morris' spectacular season. "She's coachable, she works hard, does all the little things right and has really expanded her role which is exactly what our team needed this year. She has logged huge minutes on special teams and five-on-five. Whether we need her to play a shutdown role or go create offence, her versatility has been absolutely key for us. I'm super proud of her."
Leading the UBC Thunderbirds to a record-breaking regular season with 26 wins and 52 points, Thomas' Coach of the Year award is his first since 2012-13, his first season at the helm of the blue and gold.
2025-26 saw the Thunderbirds finish first in conference wins, points, goals (85), goals against (24), power play (19.5%) and penalty kill (92.8%). UBC has lost just 13 of 112 regular season games over the past four seasons and has now advanced to a fifth straight conference final series after sweeping the Trinity Western Spartans in last weekend's semifinal.
The native of Calgary has amassed 254 career regular season wins, now fourth all-time in Canada West history.
Over the course of his previous 13 seasons with the T-Birds, Thomas has won six Canada West championships along with a U SPORTS silver and two national bronze medals.
"Since he arrived at UBC, Graham has transformed Thunderbirds Women's Hockey into one of Canada's premiere programs," said UBC Managing Director of Athletics,
Kavie Toor. "It's not by mistake he has put together an elite on ice product that has set the standard for what Thunderbirds excellence is all about. Aside from his team's accomplishments, Graham continues to guide his athletes to become their best selves and has helped set them up for success well beyond their time at UBC. Graham continues to be a true leader in growing Women's Hockey, actively working to open up new possibilities far beyond our local community. We're so proud of what Graham has built and this award is a testament to all that he has accomplished with much more success still to come."
Elliott, Morris, Thomas and the rest of the T-Birds open up the Canada West Final Friday, March 6, looking to add a seventh conference championship banner to the rafters of the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
2025-26 Canada West Women's Hockey Major Awards
Player of the Year
Grace Elliott, UBC
Top Defenceman
Jaylyn Morris, UBC
Rookie of the Year
Isa MacPhee, Mount Royal
Goaltender of the Year
Amelia Awad, Calgary
Top Scorer
Grace Elliott, UBC
Coach of the Year
Graham Thomas, UBC
Best Team Goals Against Average
UBC - 24 goals against
Sportsmanship and Athletic Ability
Abby Soyko, Alberta
Student-Athlete Community Service Award
Tessa Stewart, Alberta
