For UBC Men’s Hockey, their January has been a bit of a gauntlet, to say the least. Coming out of the December break, the T-Birds were immediately faced with the toughest part of their schedule, facing two teams — Mount Royal and Calgary — who were ranked in the top 10 nationally. After dropping the first two games in that stretch to Mount Royal, UBC’s otherwise immaculate season was starting to show cracks in its foundation. While a difficult matchup, it was the kind of game they’d need to win in the playoffs. They’d need to turn it around, and fast.
Flying out to Southern Alberta, they did exactly that. With two dominant, multi-goal wins against the second-ranked team in Canada, the Calgary Dinos, the ‘Birds were back. Coming back to campus for a matchup against the Trinity Western Spartans (TWU) on Jan. 23, they were welcomed home with a party.
Following a tradition that started in 2015, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams packed out Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for the tenth Winter Classic, a celebration akin to football’s Homecoming or basketball’s Courtside, with plenty of supplementary entertainment and spectacle, bringing fans out in droves. It is typically the highest attendance that both hockey teams see throughout the year — and this year’s crowd did not disappoint.
“I thought that was probably the best energy in a Winter Classic I've seen in a few years,” said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon.
With the crowd engaged, the T-Birds came out and delivered not just their most dominant beatdown of the season, but of the past few years.
In delivering a 9–1 walloping to their cross-town rivals, the ‘Birds secured their largest margin of victory since Jan. 28, 2023, where UBC beat MacEwan 9–0 — a mark that would have been matched by the ‘Birds on Friday, had the Spartans not spoiled goalie Cole Schwebius’ shutout by scoring their lone goal with 17 seconds left in the game. This eight-goal victory also marked UBC’s largest Winter Classic win in the event’s history, extending a five-game winning streak in the team’s marquee event.
While Friday’s result may have been shocking in magnitude, however, it was not a surprising outcome. Trinity Western, while feisty at points — including their game against UBC the day before Winter Classic, where they kept within a goal of the T-Birds to lose 5–4 — has not been a very good hockey team this season.
Following Friday’s action, the Spartans dropped to 3–21 on the season, the second-most losses in Canada, only behind the moribund Dalhousie Tigers. Their three wins have all come against the Alberta Golden Bears — they are 0–18 against every other team. They have a -67 goal differential this year. They have, historically, never beaten the Thunderbirds, who are now 39–0 in the nearly 10 years the two teams have faced off.
Needless to say, it would have been a tough task for the Spartans to come into Doug Mitchell and upset the No. 1 T-Birds. And that was before the crowd kicked in.
Even before puck drop, the fans in the stands were raucous. In conjunction with the Winter Classic festivities, the ‘Birds also gave a special welcome to their graduating seniors, with each of the eight players getting their moment in the spotlight coming out of the tunnel.
“I kind of liked having the seniors’ night because it gave the fans 20 extra minutes to get into their seats and maybe have one more beer to get louder,” said Butenschon.
“I guess our early success really got the fans into it too.”
With the roar of the crowd at their backs, the T-Birds came into this one on fire. Throughout the entire opening frame, UBC barely let the Spartans have the puck — let alone have any offensive chances. The ‘Birds could set up in the offensive zone with nearly no resistance, and on the rare occasion that they did turn it over, their forecheck and aggressive, attacking defence left TWU with no options.
This domination of the puck was the epitome of this team’s winning formula: control the puck, and in doing so, limit scoring chances. When this puck possession-focused style of play works as well as it does on Friday, not only can UBC beat teams — they can demoralize them.
This happened on Thursday against TWU, where, despite the Spartans playing one of their best games of the season — again, only losing 5–4 — they faced an onslaught of shots, a UBC program-record 68. And then, it happened again on Friday, where UBC’s relentless hogging of the puck limited the Spartans’ offence to the point where even a one-goal lead felt impenetrable.
“You always hear in the NHL: ‘puck management, puck management’. Well, tonight was a really good display of puck management,” said Butenschon.
Another good thing that can happen when you have the puck: you can just get lucky. After an opening three minutes spent almost entirely in the Trinity Western zone, UBC’s cyclical passing game found an open Scott Atkinson, who worked his way to the point and threw a low, unassuming shot towards the Spartans’ goal. From the release, it didn’t exactly look primed for the twine. But with a fortuitous bounce off the leg of a TWU defender in front of the net, it slid past Spartans goalie Leon Sommer, just inside the right post.
It was a lucky goal. But considering that UBC had been stopped 63 times in their prior matchup against TWU — perhaps they were owed one. Or two. Or three.
Atkinson’s goal was only the beginning. A little more than a minute after the opening tally, the ‘Birds caught another break as a stray TWU stick rode up into the face of Josh Williams, drawing a high-sticking penalty. Considering that the UBC offence had already looked like they were on the power play for most of the game, this was a bad sign for the Spartans.
It didn’t take long for the T-Birds to capitalize on the man advantage. Just over a minute into the power play, Williams found a wide-open Jake Lee, who was winding up for a one-time slapshot from distance. With a cannon of a shot, Lee sent the puck right through Sommer’s five-hole to open up a 2–0 lead six minutes into the game.
Apparently not learning from their mistakes, the Spartans took another penalty a few minutes after Lee’s goal, a slashing call that sent defenceman Eduard Wruck to the box. He didn’t have to be there long. Off the ensuing offensive zone draw, the ‘Birds quickly got the puck to forward Nathan Sullivan in front of the net — who almost scored with his initial shot. With Sommer unable to corral the rebound, however, the puck bounced free, giving Sullivan a few quick whacks at it — one of which went in.
Before the first ten minutes of the game had passed, the T-Birds were already up three, having more goals (3) than the Spartans had shots on net (2). It was a nightmare cycle for TWU. They couldn’t get the puck, which led to chances, and, eventually goals for UBC, which led to the near-capacity crowd to get even louder, making it even more difficult for the Spartans to get back into it. For UBC, they couldn’t have been any better if they tried.
“We talked about creating energy early to get the fans into it,” Butenschon said. “I didn't really expect us to be that sharp and confident with the puck. The execution was on point — it was a really incredible start and it kind of set the tone for the whole game.”
Things continued to go downhill fast for Trinity Western. Still before the ten minute mark of the period, defenceman Tristan Serrao laid a nasty, unnecessary hit on T-Birds forward Logan Doust behind the TWU net, almost diving on top of Doust as he fell to the ground, hitting Doust’s head with his shoulder. This play earned Serrao a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for hitting from behind.
With that penalty, things could get out of hand really fast for the Spartans — even more than they already had. Because the penalty was a major, even if the T-Birds scored on the power play, the Spartans would remain down a man, meaning the ‘Birds could score at will, with an extra player, for a full five minutes. Considering how lethal the ‘Birds power play — which, at this point, had been 2/2 on the night — had been, this blowout was approaching historic levels.
Yet, somehow, the Spartans held… mostly. It may not have been their doing, however.
The T-Birds kept up their pressure, but didn’t find much luck with the puck on their stick. Not for a lack of trying. Almost immediately, the ‘Birds started getting a barrage of quality scoring chances. A Sasha Mutala shot was almost deflected in by Atkinson. A great pass from Chris Douglas behind the net to Atkinson was saved. A one-timer by Williams forced Sommer to quickly slide across the crease to get the stop. The Spartans weren’t challenging the passing lanes with any sense of urgency, essentially helpless to UBC’s relentless attack, praying that their goaltender could come through for them.
In those early moments, Sommer did — and then came some good luck. Off a shot from just outside the high slot, a broken stick stymied UBC’s second shift on the power play. Then, with the first power play unit back on the ice, another broken stick, in the exact same spot on the ice, ended another chance.
Yet, UBC kept trying that spot. A few moments later, the ‘Birds let off another one-timer, again, just outside of the high slot by the left faceoff circle — only to be denied by Sommer’s glove.
Fourth time’s the charm. On the ensuing faceoff, UBC forward Ty Thorpe slid a precise pass over to Jake Wright, who, this time, left no doubt, wiring home a shot in the top left corner to put the T-Birds up four.
While the T-Birds had to be a bit disappointed that their first power play goal on the major came with only 21 seconds left in the infraction — which they wouldn’t capitalize on — their power play had still proven to be dangerous, even when they couldn’t score.
They finished that period a near-perfect 3/4 on the power play, and would end the game an impressive 5/8 — a number made even more spectacular considering that all three missed opportunities were truncated, either by an offsetting UBC penalty, or the final 21 seconds of the major that counted against the T-Birds’ record. For Butenschon and his team, this is a particular point of pride.
“They'll sit in a hotel room on a Friday night after the Calgary game and watch the power play for an hour and everybody will talk and chime in,” he said. “There's a real deep connection, there's a real passion and care. They understand that getting on the power play is a real honor and they don't want to waste any of their opportunities.”
Going into the break after one, UBC couldn’t have been more dominant, outshooting the Spartans 23–4, and leading 4–0. It wasn’t just about the stats, though. It was about how they played. It was the fact that, looking at Trinity Western’s opportunities, even if they started getting incredible puck luck and sneaking shots past Schwebius in net, it still would feel like they didn’t have a chance. They didn’t have the puck enough to have a chance. So, when the puck dropped to start the second, there was 40 minutes of hockey left. But in reality, the game was over.
The avalanche of UBC goals kept coming. To start the second, Reilley Kotai scored an impressive goal from behind the net, looking to emulate the “Michigan” by picking up the puck on his stick and tucking it over Sommer’s shoulder. While he didn’t quite get the puck through cleanly on the initial attempt, it eventually snuck in through the midst of some netfront chaos. Two minutes later, Kotai set up another goal, with a pass to graduating senior Matthew Smith on a three-on-two, with Smith sneaking it five-hole on a shot Sommer probably should have had. It was 6–0 ‘Birds almost exactly at the halfway mark of the game. Double-digits was a distinct possibility.
Fortunately for TWU, however, they mostly held up until the end of the period. The teams traded penalties, with the Spartans finally getting some pressure on UBC — but it was for nought. As the period came to a close, the T-Birds snuck one more in before the whistle, as Wright created a chance with an admirable solo effort in front of the net, sliding the puck across to Cyle McNabb while being dragged to the ground. McNabb made quick work of the opportunity, and UBC went into the locker room with a 7–0 lead, outshooting TWU 41–10.
For the Spartans, Sommer’s night was over after goal seven. They pulled their third-year goalie going into the final frame. It was a waving of the white flag.
The ‘Birds notched a couple more to end the game, both on the power play — with Liam Kindree getting one off a brilliant passing play, and then Kotai grabbing his second off a gorgeous behind-the-net pass by Mutala. The Spartans grabbed a goal to prevent the shutout with 17 seconds left, but it didn’t soften the blow at all.
9–1 T-Birds. A total, utter whipping of an inferior team that, quite honestly, was not as close as the score indicated. While TWU’s goal felt like a lucky bounce at the end of a game with no chances, UBC had countless near-misses. It was unforgiving. It’s what champions do.
Men’s Hockey will finish the season by facing the other two teams in the CW West division: the MacEwan Griffins next weekend, then the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton to close things out. In an exceedingly disappointing division — with MacEwan and Alberta having less wins than UBC combined — the T-Birds should cruise into the playoffs.
Yet, despite both a playoff spot and the division title being locked up, for these final four games, Butenschon is keeping his team dialed in, and considering what happened on the ice Friday night, their opponents should be worried.
“There's still a lot of hockey coming up, a lot of important games coming up,” he said. “You [have] got to stay sharp, stay focused and don't ease up at all just because you had a big night.”
