Vancouver, BC - Vancouver, BC – The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team is on pace for the program's best season in 22 years. At times, this year's group has shown flashes of being a legitimate contender, but still strives for consistency on a week–to-week basis as they look to break the cycle of mediocrity and join the elite teams in the Canada West.
Since 1971, UBC has had just nine winning seasons and won just a single Canada West title. In fact, 1971 was the last time the Thunderbirds were crowned Canada West champions. However, after bringing in the best recruiting class of his 11 seasons at the helm, head coach Milan Dragicevic believes this year's team has the potential to make some noise come playoff time.
“This is the best start after 16 games in 22 years,” said Milan Dragicevic. “It is a credit to our players and the competitive atmosphere we have created here. We want our players to have to work hard each and every practice to earn their way into the line up and because of the depth we now have guys are pushing each other to be better and that is one of the major reasons for our success so far.”
The Thunderbirds currently sit in fourth place in the Canada West conference with a record of 9-6-1. They are just two points behind third place Manitoba (9-4-3) and one point up on fifth place Calgary (9-7-0). Alberta and Saskatchewan hold down the top two spots as both have been ranked number one in the country at some point this season. UBC is a combined 0-4 against the Golden Bears and Huskies this year, while going 9-2-1 versus the rest of the conference.
“Our goal is to finish in the top three and have home ice in the opening round of the playoffs,” said Dragicevic. “Our identity is a hard working team that cycles the puck, takes the puck to the net, and shoots from everywhere. That is our strength and unfortunately we got away from it in the final four games of the year, but I'm confident our guys will be able to re-establish themselves when the regular season resumes in January.”
Max Grassi (North Vancouver, BC) leads the team in scoring so far this year with 15 points in 16 games.
Cole Wilson (White Rock, BC) and
Scott Wasden (West Kelowna, BC) share the team lead for goals with eight, while rookie blueliner
Neil Manning (Nanaimo, BC) is tops on the team with 13 assists.
Manning is one of eight players from this year's recruiting class that has come in and made an immediate impact.
“We have managed to put all of our first year players in situations where they have had success,” said Dragicevic. “
Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC) and
Neil Manning have been key additions on the power play. Both are very intelligent players and slow the pace of the game down, while having the ability to find open ice.
Scott MacDonald (Surrey, BC) and
Joe Antilla (Madeira Park, BC) utilize their speed and work ethic, while both contributing on the power play and penalty kill.
Kevin Smith (North Vancouver, BC) has seven points from the blueline so far,
Jessi Hilton (Sherwood Park, AB) adds size and speed on the wall, and
Dillon Wagner (Keephills, AB) has progressed nicely on the penalty kill and as an energy guy. Everyone of these guys brings something to the table and has played a specific role in helping us win games.”
Jordan White (Surrey, BC) has played 10 of the 16 games in net, sporting a record of 6-4 with a 2.55 goals against average and a save percentage of .917.
Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) is 3-3 with a 3.12 goals against average, .896 save percentage, and one shutout.
The Thunderbirds hope to see the return of captain
Justin McCrae (Cochrane, AB) in January, as he has been out of the line up since late October with a concussion.
UBC will play a pair of exhibition games between Christmas and New Year's at the SFU hockey club's Great Northwest Showcase event. The 'Birds will take on Arizona State University December 28 and the University of Oklahoma on December 29. Both games will be played at Bill Copeland Arena in Burnaby at 4:00 pm.
The Canada West regular season resumes the first weekend of January as the Thunderbirds will play host to the Calgary Dinos Friday January 4 and Saturday January 5 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop is 7:00 pm both nights.
