Richmond native Tyler Sandhu had a goal and two assists to lead the UBC Thunderbirds to a 4-0 win over the Denmark U20 national team on Tuesday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
With the Danes getting set to compete at the upcoming 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver/Victoria, the team faced its first pre-tournament contest against the Thunderbirds in an historic meeting that both sides had been looking forward to for some time.
After being badly outshot through a scoreless 40 minutes, UBC finally got rolling in the third when Sandhu set-up Michael Stenerson during a 5-on-3 power play. The hosts then scored three more times during a two-and-a-half minute span to break the game wide open, including a pair from Sandhu.
The Seafair Minor Hockey product enjoyed a productive four-year career in the Western Hockey League and captained the Tri-City Americans in his final season when he produced 83 points and 23 goals in 72 games.
The 22-year-old is in his second-year at UBC and leads the team in scoring with 13 points.
“It was awesome," said Sandhu of the international hockey experience . “To have those guys in town, they're a great team, super fast and skilled. For us to be able to play with them was awesome, it was a good experience for us too and I'm happy we were able to get the win.
“It’s a good way to go into the break. All the guys are tired from their exams and happy those are coming to an end here. We are going to have a good time at home and come back ready for the second half of the season.”
The Thunderbirds will take a 10-6-0 conference record into 2019 and will be back in action Jan. 4-5 with a pair of games against Mt. Royal in Calgary.
Sandhu is one of three Richmond hockey products on the UBC roster.
He is joined by forward Carter Popoff and defenceman Shaun Dosanjh. They are also WHL alumni with Popoff playing four seasons for the Vancouver Giants.
