It will be a showdown for first place in women’s hockey on Jan. 22 and 23 when the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds come to Rutherford Rink to take on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

UBC will enter play with 35 points, while Saskatchewan is hot on their tail with 33. With only eight games remaining on the schedule, these are crucial points in the standings that the Dogs can’t afford to let slip away. After a disappointing pair of road games that saw the Huskies earn just one of a possible six points versus last-place Calgary, the team will look to get back in the win column at home.

Head coach Steve Kook liked what he saw from his team this past weekend, despite the negative outcomes.

“We didn’t play bad, but that’s the way the conference goes. Saturday I actually thought we outplayed them and we deserved a better fate. We are in a good spot, we just have to continue doing what we’re doing,” Kook said.

These teams have met twice before this season, with UBC sweeping the prior contests. Both matches were extremely competitive, with the Huskies losing a pair of one-goal games — one of which came in double-overtime.

The green and white only managed three goals in the two previous games, so look for them to try and create more offence and utilize their lethal powerplay. UBC won’t make it easy though, as they feature the top goalie in the Canada West. Danielle Dube leads the conference in both save percentage and goals against average, and has suffered just two losses in her nine starts this season.

Generating quality scoring chances will be important and was something Kook said would be a deciding factor in the games.

“We have to get pressure on the net — and something we didn’t have a whole lot of this weekend. We have to get offensive chances,” Kook said. “This is a hard place to play and UBC realizes that.”

So much of the Dogs’ game is centered on speed, as they feature arguably the fastest line in the entire league — as well as the fastest player in Kaitlin Willoughby. Joining her on the top line is Marley Ervine and Lauren Zary and the combination accounts for three of the team’s top four scorers.

Utilizing their team speed has been one of their main points of emphasis this year, and Kook hopes it will continue in the pivotal weekend games.

“This year we’ve been really good on big ice and our trademark is being able to use our team speed. We’ve been doing that every weekend and we just have to make sure we do it against UBC too,” said Kook. “They like to pressure a lot, we just have to figure out a way to get past their initial wave of pressure and if we can do that, we’ll get a chance to really use our speed.”

The other leading scorer is Julia Flinton, who is the league’s highest scoring defenceman with 20 points in 20 games. She uses her outstanding mobility to set up the offensive attack, and is also an excellent defender. Her hard shot from the point has helped her tally 17 assists, which is top in the league. Flinton will need to have a good weekend to not only help the Huskies offence, but also to help keep pucks out of their own net.

Between the pipes, the Huskies will turn to Cassidy Hendricks, who has been solid all season. Although her stats have her sixth in the conference in GAA and save percentage, Hendricks has faced the third most shots, and gives the squad a consistent winning effort each and every night. She will need to bring her A-game against the top team in the conference.

The Huskies are 7–2 at home this year and that could end up being a big factor in the two games. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on both Jan. 22 and 23 at Rutherford Rink.

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Image: Jeremy Britz / Graphics Editor