Vancouver, BC - Entering his 11
th season as head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team, Milan Dragicevic believes this year's group is the most complete team he has ever had. However, with that comes expectations and Dragicevic is not shy to set big goals for his team.
“Our goal from day one of training camp is to win a CIS Championship,” said Dragicevic who won a national title with Acadia in 1993. “Last year it was simply to make the playoffs, but this year we believe we have the right mix to be legitimate contenders. It's a long journey, but we have players here who have won championships and national titles before and we will be relying on them to show our other guys what it takes to be a champion.”
The Thunderbirds are coming off a season in which they finished 12-12-4 during the regular season and lost in three games to Calgary in the opening round of the playoffs. 21 players from that team are back and will be joined by an impressive group of recruits.
They include, defencemen
Neil Manning (Nanaimo, BC),
Kevin Smith (North Vancouver, BC), and
Linden Saip (White Rock, BC) and forwards
Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC),
Joe Antilla (Madeira Park, BC),
Dillon Wagner (Keephills, AB), Scott Macdonald (Surrey, BC), and
Jessi Hilton (Sherwood Park, BC).
“We really identified our needs this offseason by bringing in puck moving 'd', more depth up front, and bigger guys along the walls,” said Dragicevic, who was named the Canada West Coach of the Year in 2011-12. “It's been our best recruiting class that we have had ever had and we expect all these guys to be impact players. With these additions, we feel we have improved our team the most of anybody in the Canada West. Now it's a case of starting the process off right and showing our guys the importance of creating a culture of winning from the very first day. ”
This team is built from the net out and it starts with last year's 2
nd Team Canada West All-Star goaltender,
Jordan White (Surrey, BC). White was 11-11-2 in 2011-12 with a 2.54 goals against average to go along with a .912 save percentage and two shutouts. He will be challenged by
Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) who is completely healthy after an injury plagued first year and
Kraymer Barnstable (Kelowna, BC) who handled the back-up duties last season.
The blueline will be anchored by shutdown defenceman
Mike McGurk (Hamilton, ON) and smooth skating
Ben Schmidt (Campbell River, BC). As well, Manning and Smith are expected to see a lot of action in their first year, joining the likes of last year's rookie of the year
Jason Yee (Victoria, BC) and sturdy, stay at home defenceman
Ilan Cumberbirch (Vancouver, BC).
“We are a very balanced group on the back end,” said Dragicevic. “I expect our guys to be tough to play against, keep everything in front of them, and when the opportunity presents itself to jump up in the play.”
Up front the Thunderbirds will be relying on
Max Grassi (North Vancouver,BC), who was the fifth leading scorer in the Canada West last season, and captain
Justin McCrae (Cochrane, AB) to provide the offensive spark. Others expected to be in the top six include 1
st year players Hoban, Antilla, and Macdonald, and fourth year veteran
Scott Wasden (West Kelowna, BC).
The responsibility of shutting down the opposition's top line will go to
Wyatt Hamilton (Cochrane, AB),
Nate Fleming (St. Albert, AB), and Wagner. These are the type of guys willing to play gritty, hard nosed hockey, cycle the puck, and take away time and space from the other's team go to guys.
“The Canada West is the toughest, hardest hitting league in the Canada West and it is very demanding on every player,” said Dragicevic. “We feel we are ready for the challenge. This group is solid in every position and all of our guys understand their rolls and responsibility; however, we can ill afford to take a night off. Any team can win on any given night in this league and we must be willing to work hard every single day to achieve our ultimate goal.”
The Thunderbirds open the 2012-13 season this Friday in Regina for a pair of games versus the Cougars. Regina finished last in the Canada West last year with a record of 5-20-3. UBC was 3-1 against the Cougars in 2011-12.
UBC's regular season opener will be October 19-20 against Lethbridge at the Doug Mitchell Sports Centre.
