In a rare opportunity for fans of what our neighbours to the not-too-far-south affectionately call “cawlidge hawkey,” the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds men's hockey team will open their pre-season playing host to a top-flight NCAA Division 1 program in a weekend series.

Starting Friday night, the T-Birds and the storied Wisconsin Badgers will face off at Father David Bauer arena for the first of two games held over the Labour Day long weekend – the first time in six years UBC has taken the ice with an NCAA team, let alone a Division 1 squad.

UBC’s head coach and former Vancouver Canuck Sven Butenschon realizes it will be a tough, but great test to begin their season and expects the pace of play to be elite.

“It's super exciting. It's unique, its going to be one of the coolest things we've done around here in a while," Butenschon told CTV News over the phone Wednesday. "It's a great way to get the guys' attention early. It's a great test so right from day one there's a sense of urgency."

"I'm expecting them to play a skilled, fast game so we're going to have to be able to handle their offensive speed and creativity," the coach said. 

The Badgers, who also make their exhibition debut Friday night, feature two 2019 NHL first round draft picks in Alex Turcotte and Cole Caulfield, selected 5th overall by the L.A. Kings and 15th overall by the Montreal Canadiens respectively; both of whom will make their collegiate debuts as well.

And that doesn’t include K’Andre Miller, who was nabbed 22nd overall by the New York Rangers in the 2018 NHL draft – another one of the 12 NHL-drafted players lacing up the skates for the Badgers this year.

“They have some potential NHL superstars so it’s going to be really cool to see them at this part of their career,” added Butenschon.

Butenschon says a lot of the team's firepower from the previous season is returning, including Richmond, B.C. native Carter Popoff, Tyler Sandhu, Austins Glover and Vetterl and Matt Revel. 

As far as the upcoming 2020 NHL draft is concerned, projected first round pick and Wisconsin centreman Dylan Holloway is expected to draw a lot of attention this weekend, coming off a tremendous season as the current 2019 Canadian Junior Hockey League Player of the Year.

This will be the fourth season for former NHLer and head coach Tony Granato who is looking to add another NCAA championship title to the Badgers already impressive collection of six. 

But that doesn't mean Coach Butenschon expects the T-Birds to roll over. If anything he says, it's lit a fire under him and his team.

"It's a bit of a pride issue too, right? We want to show the world how good our league is," said the former NHLer. "We play in an underrated league, a little bit more unknown and we don't do a good job of getting our athletes and our game out there to the hockey community. So this is a great way to showcase the league, our players and hopefully we can get some momentum out of it." 

And while the opponents may be tough, it wouldn’t be the first time the Thunderbirds have shocked an opponent. 

“UBC played North Dakota and Princeton here in the Lower Mainland and actually came out with victories in both,” said UBC Athletics Jeff Sargeant, referring to the 2013-2014 season, the last time the T-Birds played an American collegiate school.

Puck drop for the first game against the Badgers is 7 p.m. Friday at UBC’s Father David Bauer arena, with admission by donation.

The second game of the weekend series is set for Sunday, Sept. 1, at 3 p.m.

Who says it’s too early for hockey?