CALGARY – A motivated University of British Columbia Thunderbirds team will arrive at Father David Bauer Arena this weekend looking to take some shine out of the No. 7-ranked University of Calgary Dinos' perfect start to the regular season.
The two-game set begins Friday night with puck drop at 7p.m., with the second game going the next night at 6 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on CanadaWest.tv.
UBC doesn't have to think too long to remember its last trip to Calgary. After going up 1-0 in the best-of-three quarterfinal match-up against the Dinos, the Thunderbirds watched as the home side came back to win the series with a 3-2 victory in the Sunday finale. While Calgary eventually went on to the conference final, UBC had their season, which saw huge strides, come to an end.
“They are going to be coming out for us. It always leaves a sour taste in the opposition's mouth when you knock them out of the playoffs, we expect them to come out hard and we're going to prepare for that,” explained second-year forward
Kevin King.
Apart from asserting some revenge on last year's playoff opponent, UBC will attempt to improve on a 1-0-1 mark to start the campaign. The season began for the Thunderbirds with a 4-3 win over the Regina Cougars, but the team came up short the next evening in a 5-4 shootout setback. UBC comes in off an impressive summer of recruitment as they picked-up WHL graduates Joe Antilla of the Kootenay Ice, Brad Hoban of the Swift Current Broncos and former Vancouver Giants captain Neil Manning. First-year Hoban has already made an impact with two goals and an assist in two contests, while Manning also posted three assists to date.
“I think that we will see a lot of what we saw last year from UBC,” said head coach
Mark Howell. “They're a team that has really good discipline on defence, a real strong work ethic, and I don't think that will change. They had success with it last year and will continue to grow and get better.”
Calgary enters this weekend's series satisfied with their 2-0-0 start, with both wins coming against the new-look Lethbridge Pronghorns. King's overtime winner in the season opener erased what could have been a tough first match of the year, but the squad regrouped the following night to put together a near-perfect 3-0 triumph on Sept. 28.
As the Dinos enjoyed an early bye-week after their two wins against the Pronghorns, the Thunderbirds have been busy taking on opponents south of the boarder. UBC traveled down to Colorado where they played three different schools, University of Denver, Colorado College, and Air Force Academy. The trip produced a tie, loss and a win in non-conference action and keeps the team fresh as they come into Calgary this weekend. The break was also benefit to the Dinos as they were able to get some of their laboring bodies some rest. The opening weekend saw Calgary only play five defencemen with guys suffering from injuries.
With an injury-plagued 2011-12 season,
Tyler Fiddler seems ready to take his game to the next level this year. Limited to just six games last season, Fiddler was able to only to score three goals in a short amount of time. The Price Albert, Sask., native was back healthy come playoff time were he added another three goals, including Calgary's lone marker in Game 3 of the Canada West Final against Saskatchewan. Fiddler has been paired up so far this year with
Brock Nixon and
Taylor Stefishen on the Dinos' top offensive line and has already matched his point production from the previous season.
“I think last year was really frustrating for him,” thought Howell of Fiddler's injury woes. “He started off really well for us, had a lot of energy, but had a concussion and missed almost the entire season. He is really excited to be back playing now, he is taking everything to heart and not for granted and is making the use of his time on the ice.”
Next weekend the Dinos travel to Regina where they will battle with the Cougars in a two-game set Oct. 19-20. The team returns home the following week as they play host to the Manitoba Bisons on Oct 26-27.
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