First-half review
Men's hockey in Canada West during the 2010-11 season showcases one of the most tightly contested drives for the playoffs in memory. Six points separate second and seventh place, as a half dozen teams must battle for their post-season lives every time they take the ice.
For the UBC Thunderbirds, a .500 record lands them in sixth spot heading into the winter break, but just two points out of third place, and four points out of second spot. They've beaten Alberta, the no. 1 team in the CIS, and swept their series with Manitoba, the second place team in Canada West and a top ten team in the country. But in a conference this competitive, there's still more work to be done.
The T-Birds opened up the regular season with an impressive win over the Golden Bears, handing that team one of their only two regulation losses through 14 games. UBC settled for a split that weekend before welcoming Calgary, against whom the Bird's narrowly lost both games, including one in a shootout.
Following a pair of splits against Regina and Lethbridge, the T-Birds dropped a pair to the Huskies in Saskatchewan, gaining a single point in an overtime loss for the weekend. The Blue and Gold would go on to sweep the no. 5 Bisons at home, only to close out the season with a pair of losses to Lethbridge on the road, including one overtime heartbreaker.
In addition to the dogfight in the standings, exactly half of the Thunderbirds' games have been decided by one goal, all but one of those in overtime or a shootout. It's been high-stakes, high-pressure hockey in 2010-11 so far, and the winter break offers a chance for head coach Milan Dragicevic's squad to catch their collective breath before making a final push for the post-season.
Goaltender
Jordan White has been one of the team's brightest spots. In the summer, White was expected to act as the T-Birds' back-up netminder, but was thrust into the starting role at the 11th hour. Since then, White has appeared in every regular season game, the only goalie in Canada West to do so. He's played more minutes and faced more shots than any other goalie in the conference, but has been a solid performer every time he steps on the ice.
The Thunderbirds' top line of
Justin McCrae,
Max Grassi, and
Marc Desloges has led the way with strong two-way play, with McCrae and Grassi also finding themselves among Canada West's top 10 scorers at the break.
Rookie forward
Ben Schmidt has been an all-purpose performer for the 'Birds, starting the year as an energy player on the fourth line, and since then ending up on the first and second lines, as well as on the point on the power play. Along with McCrae, Schmidt leads the team in goals.
On defence, NHL recruit
Nolan Toigo has eaten up a ton of minutes carrying and moving the puck with confidence. Meanwhile
Matt Pepe has been the epitome of a hard-nose competitor, battling every shift and making his presence felt and causing trouble for opposing forwards.
Q&A with Milan Dragicevic
Q: You've showed you can compete with every team in the conference this season, but your position in the standings must be disappointing given the battles you've been in.
A: Yeah, we're not happy being in sixth spot – that's the negative part of it. On the positive, we're only a few points out of second place, and we've managed to get points in every weekend. We've had some players step up beyond the regular expectations of being good and consistent. We've told our players that this is the process. We have to get better, and we want to peak in the second week of February, and put ourselves in a position to not only make the playoffs, but make a statement there as well.
Q: The second half of the schedule might be even tougher than the first half. How does that play into your mindset coming out of the break?
A: We just look at each individual game. We can't look at who we're playing a month down the road. The players understand now that in every game we've got to get points. We've got to give ourselves a chance going into February and it doesn't matter who we play. We have to focus on ourselves and not the opposition. And if we focus on the things we really need to get better at, we'll have success.
Q: Every game this year has playoff implications. Can you recall a season where the standings have been so tightly packed?
A: Never. I told the players, I've never seen this in nine years - where everything is as tight from second to seventh. You could really pick names out of a hat of who's going to make the playoffs. That's a credit to all the schools, and we want to be one of the teams to make the playoffs. That's been our goal since day one. And we've put ourselves in a position to do that.
Q: Does playing a season like this prepare you better for the pressure of the playoffs, or ultimately is it just taxing?
A: No, it's not too taxing. You play 28 games to get yourselves into the playoffs, and in the playoffs anything can happen in a best-of-three. If you're mentally tough – and one of the things we have to work on is mental preparation for individual players – you hope that there's a good balance between being physical on the ice and being mentally ready for the challenge ahead.
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