British Columbia Thunderbirds Overview . " Thunderbirds " is the name of the sports teams of the University of British Columbia ( UBC ) , which is located in Vancouver , British Columbia . Their home arena is the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre , one of the venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics . They are members of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association ( CWUAA ) and Canadian Interuniversity Sport ( CIS ) , now known as U Sports . UBC started play in the senior and intermediate levels of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association . In fact , they won the 1921 Savage Cup for the provincial senior title . UBC did not play top tier university hockey until they joined the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union ( WCIAU ) in 1961 - 62 . In 1962 - 63 the conference was re - named the Western Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( WIAA ) . When the WIAA split in two following the 1971 - 72 season , the University of British Columbia became a founding member of the CWUAA , along with the University of Saskatchewan , University of Victoria , University of Calgary , and University of Alberta . Victoria has since departed and a GPAC merger and new programs have added new CWUAA opponents at the University of Manitoba , the University of Regina , University of Lethbridge , and Mount Royal University . In addition , from 1950 to 1968 , the Alberta Golden Bears and UBC Thunderbirds played an annual series for the Hamber Trophy . The two teams were in the same conference for five of those seasons . UBC also represented British Columbia in the 1967 Canada Winter Games Hockey Tournament . They received a silver medal after losing the championship game to the Alberta Golden Bears , 4 - 1 . Senior Seasons . As with the other major western universities , UBC competed in local senior competition in their pre - university days . They competed in the Vancouver City Senior League ( VCSL ) in at least 1920 - 21 . Results from BC hockey in the early days are sketchy . Here are the results available : 1920 - 21 VCSL : 1920 - 21 British Columbia Senior Playoffs : 1921 - 22 British Columbia Intermediate Playoffs : 1945 - 46 British Columbia Intermediate Playoffs : More information : University Seasons . UBC entered the old WCIAU in the 1961 - 62 season . They played for three seasons before departing for two , citing travel costs . The squad returned in 1966 - 67 and remain there today . The team has won two WIAA conference titles , in 1963 and 1971 . They qualified for the University Cup in those two seasons , and in 1977 . They lost the 1977 CWUAA final to Alberta , who were slated to host the University Cup that year . 1963 was the first season where the CIAU ( forerunner of the CIS ) held a national hockey championship . The ` Birds went 8 - 1 - 1 in the regular season . At the U - Cup they beat Sherbrooke 6 - 2 in the semi - finals before losing the final to McMaster 3 - 2 . In 1971 the ` Birds placed second to Manitoba in the regular season . However , they defeated Calgary in the semi - finals and Manitoba in the final to return to the U - Cup . In a five - team tournament , they lost 3 - 2 to Toronto , beat Loyola 6 - 4 , then lost the third place game 7 - 4 to Laurentian . By 1977 the west was split into the CWUAA and the GPAC . UBC placed second in the CWUAA and then lost to Alberta in the final . In the U - Cup they lost a 2 - game semi - final series to Toronto 11 - 10 on aggregate . As the 70s became the 80s the Thunderbirds never had a return to glory . They lost the 1978 final to Alberta and then finished either 3rd or 4th in the 4 - team era of the CWUAA . Once the CWUAA merged with the GPAC , UBC never saw the playoffs until the field was expanded to 6 teams . UBC ' s 4th place finish in 2014 - 15 was their first finish in the top four seeds since 1989 - 90 , when they placed 3rd . In between they always placed 5th or lower . Also in that period , they won three playoff series , all in the quarter - final ( or division semi - final ) round . In 2007 and 2009 they beat Lethbridge , and in 2014 they beat Saskatchewan . In all three series they were the lower seed . The 2014 win over Saskatchewan was their first series win over a " Big Four " team since they beat Manitoba in the 1971 WIAA final . Their 2015 series win over Manitoba was their first home playoff series since the 1971 championship season . In 2013 - 14 the program was put in doubt by UBC administration . However , efforts of the Vancouver Canucks and WHL owners appear to have saved the program , for the immediate future at least . Season - by - Season Records Table . 1985 - 86 to present : CWUAA Unified Era . Notes : Championships . SENIOR UNIVERSITY Hamber Trophy . From 1949 - 50 to 1967 - 68 , the Alberta Golden Bears and the UBC Thunderbirds played an annual series for the Hamber Trophy . From 1961 - 62 onwards , UBC was often in the WCIAU or the WIAA and in those seasons the teams ' conference games counted towards this Trophy . International Games . 1973 Tour to China and Japan . Dec 7 @ Beijing 5 - 0 China 2010 Pre - Olympic . Feb 10 Norway Olympic Team 4 UBC 1 Game Story Canada West Team Sites . Current Teams Also see . National links : Western links : Atlantic links : Ontario - Quebec links : College links :