Huge hockey weekend for Trinity Western!

By Olivia Lawrence

RP Show Intern

This is the first year the Spartans hockey program from Trinity Western University (TWU) in Langley B.C. have been elevated to the Canada West USports Hockey League. The hockey teams had success in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), which allowed both teams to jump to the highest league in the country. This means Spartans hockey will be playing against teams like the Saskatchewan Huskies and the Regina Cougars. 

The elevation has also created a new rivalry, the Thunderbirds hockey team in Canada West is also B.C. based. Thursday night the Men’s teams played each other, and they will play again Saturday night at the Langley Event Centre. The Spartans were not able to come out with the win losing 0-4, but Spartans head coach Barret Kropf sees the potential in his team. 

“We took the loss but it was one of our better games of the season,” said Barret on Friday’s episode of The Rod Pedersen Show. “UBC is ranked number two in the country, so for a young team to be able to have that kind of confidence to skate with the second ranked team in the country, I think gives us some momentum going into tomorrow night as well.”

The Spartans Men’s team has 17 Saskatchewan players on their roster. The players are either from Saskatchewan, or played in Saskatchewan based teams either in the Western Hockey League (WHL) or the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). 

“In the hockey world,” said Rod Pedersen. “They say if a player comes from a place that starts with an ‘S’, you can rely on him or her: Saskatchewan or Sweden.”

The competition has been tough for the Spartans so far this season, but the Men’s team was able to clinch their first Canada West win on Nov. 27 against the MacEwan Griffins in Edmonton. 

“It was a pretty emotional night,” said Barret. “It’s been a nine year journey for us to be able to build the program here and have some success in the college ranks, and then to be able to put a team together and staff together to be able to go into Edmonton last weekend and get that win was really special. Even when we got the empty net to make it 4-6, I was still nervous with 30 seconds left.  Pretty emotional locker room afterwards. We got the puck and actually three of our players got their first goals of the season, so it was a real team effort.”

TW strives to provide great support to all of their athletic programs. The university is known for their small class sizes. This is particularly great for hockey players coming out of Junior Hockey who have maybe been out of school for three or four years. The professors know who you are, unlike a lot of other universities.   

“All of our teams find success,” said Barret. We got number one ranked, top 10 ranked teams in the country. The women’s soccer teams lost in the national final in penalty kicks, our men’s volleyball coach got poached to go coach the national team, so our athletes aren’t just hanging out with some of the best coaches in the country but also with the best athletes. It’s an environment of excellence and pursuing excellence.”