T-Bird Tandem Take Honours:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

T-Bird tandem take honours

By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star

Published: May 20, 2010

Vernon’s Ryan Kakoske and Matt Schneider were two bright spots in an otherwise gloomy year for the UBC Thunderbirds men’s hockey team.

After a successful CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) playoff run in 2008-09 – the T-Birds surprised the Lethbridge Pronhorns in the first round before falling to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the second – Kakoske, a Vernon Viper grad who earned Most Improved Player with the T-Birds, said UBC was looking forward to riding that momentum into this season.

But after racing out to a 3-1 start that saw UBC reach No. 9 in the national rankings, they plummeted, finishing last in Canada West at 8-20-1.

“On a personal level, I was happy with my performance. As a team, it was a little bit of a letdown. We just ran into trouble and never really recovered,” said Kakoske, a stay-at-home blueliner whose younger brother, Bryce, recently helped the Vipers win back-to-back Royal Bank Cup titles.

On his award, Kakoske, a second-year commerce student added: “I guess the Most Improved award stems from us struggling earlier in the season and I tried to modify my game to be a little more offensive.”

Schneider, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound pivot in his fourth year with the T-Birds, earned both the MVP and Most Inspirational Player awards. On a personal level, he says it was a bit of a turnaround season that reinvigorated his passion for the game.

“I started off not playing much and then a guy got injured and I got bumped up to the second line and I just kind of ran with it,” said Schneider, 24. “It gave me some enthusiasm back for hockey.”

Kakoske wasn’t surprised to see Schneider, who posted 18 points in 28 games while serving as an alternate captain, haul in those awards.

“He put up some good numbers in the Western League (52 goals for 91 points in 199 career games with the Tri-City Americans), and the boys just really respect him.

“He’s a big body and he uses his size well up the middle. And he’s probably our best student athlete,” said Kakoske, who recorded 1-3-4 and 34 penalty minutes in 28 games.

In 151 games with Vernon, Kakoske had 27 points and 136 penalty minutes.

Schneider, who will graduate with a biology degree next spring, is hoping to land a summer internship doing infrared spectroscopy at PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) in Richland, Wash. Schneider’s former billet dad in Tri-City works there and is helping him set it up.

“Just to get a degree is a step in the right direction for later on. If I didn’t play hockey, I don’t think I would have got into UBC with my high school grades. Since I’ve been there I’ve been doing fine though,” said Schneider.

The Thunderbirds had their sights set on landing Schneider’s little brother, Stefan, but an amateur tryout with the Vancouver Canucks put an end to that. After he bowed out of the WHL playoffs with the Portland Winter Hawks, the Canucks assigned Stefan to the AHL Manitoba Moose, where he practised with the team but did not play.

“It kind of came out of nowhere,” said Schneider, adding Stefan had interest from the San Jose Sharks earlier in the season, but heard nothing from the Canucks until they approached him in March. “Within a week he got signed.”

Schneider went to Pacific Coliseum to watch Stefan, a two-way centreman, play in the Western Conference semifinals against the Vancouver Giants (Vancouver won the series 4-2). He hadn’t seen his brother play for three years.

“He played a big role on that team. It’s weird seeing your little brother all grown up. I’m very proud of him,” said Schneider, who played in the Western semis with the Americans in 2004.

n Former Viper defenceman Cameron Brodie, who won an RBC title with the Snakes last May, joined the Thunderbirds partway through the season. The White Rock native posted 2-1-3 and 22 PIM in 12 games.