T-Birds bow out of playoffs after second loss to Calgary Dinos

Men’s hockey’s season has ended in unceremonious fashion.

With a 4-2 loss to the Calgary Dinos in game three of the Canada West quarterfinals on Sunday night, 2018 has come to an abrupt halt for the T-Birds. This year’s playoff exit was the second in a row to come by Calgary’s hand.

It was a season of two halves for the Thunderbirds, as the team struggled to find a cohesive identity — losing seven games in a row before the winter break. The annual Winter Classic was the team’s coming out party and a first step in a seven-game win streak that included defeating the division topping Saskatchewan Huskies twice.

A final weekend split with league-best Alberta showed that this UBC team could truly play with anyone in Canada.

Like Saturday night’s match, the Dinos were first to strike on Saturday as Robbie Fisher got enough of his shaft on the puck to direct a slow, floating wrist shot past Matt Hewitt.

The ability to bounce and some luck were two things UBC’s 6-3 loss on Saturday desperately needed, but the T-Birds first goal on Sunday had both in spades. As Tyler Sandhu skated up centre ice, the defender in front of him tripped over air, allowing Sandhu a perfect opportunity to beat Dinos’ starter Matthew Greenfield over his glove, evening things up at 1-1 through the first.

Play would remain even for the rest of the first with shots tied at 8-8.

Things would shift UBC’s way through the start of the second period. Zone time, shots and the forecheck allowed the Thunderbirds to apply pressure on Calgary. Even after a hooking penalty allowed Calgary a little momentum, UBC was able to kill the penalty and pick back up right where they left off as Nick Buonassisi spun around from behind the net and no-look passed to Sandhu for his second of the game — a truly beautiful goal at 10:26.

As the whistles came out for penalties, 4-on-4 hockey created the space necessary for Calgary’s second goal. Dryden Dow, entering the zone, shot the puck that was knocked in the air by starter Matt Hewitt. Dino Brayden Sherbinin found the loose puck and sent it into the back of the net, putting the teams at an even 2-2.

Going into the third, no one wanted to make a mistake and both teams played it safe, adopting dump-ins for transitions which limited Calgary’s defensemen in particular from joining in on the rush. Things would remain tied until the 10:50 mark, as a pass from the corner would land on the stick of Dino Riley Sheen. His slap shot from five feet out beat Hewitt five-hole.

From there, time became UBC’s worst enemy as their season began to slip away from them. To make matters worse, Calgary’s goal momentum had made it very hard for UBC to get out of their own zone. Giveaways and turnovers in the last five minutes would culminate in an empty-net goal with less than a second remaining — a disappointing end for UBC, especially after a strong second half of the season.

Looking forward, three seniors — Hewitt, Buonassisi, and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen — are the only players to be graduating this year. Though it seems like a low number, they are three crucial players whose roles — starting goaltender, assistant captain and captain respectively — will need to be filled, creating room for current players to step up to the plate or for new recruits to show their worth early.

And, with offensive talents like Sandhu and Matt Revel still eligible to return and backup Rylan Toth getting a few wins under his belt at the end of this season, next year promises to be full of potential.

This was not the end to 2018 that anyone on men’s hockey had hoped for after a well fought series, but there is lots to look forward to for future seasons.

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