CALGARY - Last season, the Calgary Dinos were able to do something that the rest of Canada West could not do: beat the Alberta Golden Bears in the unfriendly confines of the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.
Not only were the Dinos successful in Edmonton, but were able to take two more from the Bears on their own international ice at Bauer. This weekend, the Dinos will get two more cracks at the Bears in both venues, playing a home and home series in Edmonton and Calgary respectively.
Make no mistake; the Dinos are well aware that these big victories in 2007-08 meant nothing in the end as Calgary, with their top player Jared Aulin lost to injury late in the season, bowed out in Canada West semifinal action to Saskatchewan.
Adding insult to injury, the Dinos sat at home as they watched their arch-rival Bears lift the CIS University Cup over their heads following a thrilling Alberta win over the New Brunswick Varsity Reds in the gold medal game.
The Dinos (1-1) head to Edmonton on Friday as the first regular season opponents for the Bears. Confidence gained in last year's regular season success, solid newcomers on board, and big Alberta personnel losses has the Dinos primed and ready to get a fast start on their northern opponents early in the season.
Last season five of the top ten Canada West scorers were Dinos, and Calgary looks thus far unfazed in their mission to repeat this offensive output, as they have scored 13 goals in two Canada West games. This, with the task of trying to replace the output of the league's top two scorers, Ryan Annesley and Jared Aulin, is all the more impressive.
Returning winger Torrie Wheat (3rd, Nanaimo, B.C.) will look to add to his already stunning goals tally, after potting six in the Dinos' regular season opening weekend versus the University of British Columbia T-Birds. For his efforts, Wheat took CIS male athlete of the week honours for the week of Sept. 26.
Along with Wheat, newcomer Brock Nixon (1st, Russell, Man.) had a solid Calgary debut, scoring four points over the weekend, while Reid Jorgenson (2nd, Vancouver) followed up his 2007-08 Canada West All-Freshman Team selection in fashion, having scored four points for the Dinos to open the season.
The Dinos may have an front-runner in their goaltending competition as rookie Dustin Butler (1st, Calgary) was solid in first outing, letting in only one as his team went on to annihilate the T-Birds 10-1 in the second game of the weekend set. Jeff Weber (3rd, Ottawa) and Nathan Deobald (3rd, North Battleford, Sask.) will continue to compete with Butler for playing time.
The Bears will put a fairly new lineup on the ice, as they have several key losses of their own to deal with, as former captain and Canada West MVP Harlan Anderson as well as dynamic winger Dylan Stanley are gone from the team, amongst others.
However, the Bears will have no problem remaining competitive in Canada West action, as they return their second team Canada West goaltender Aaron Sorochan, Canada West freshman of the year Eric Hunter, CIS University Cup MVP Ian McDonald and a solid veteran leadership core as they look to repeat last year's CIS championship run.
The Dinos have looked good so far, most specifically on offence as they fired 84 shots on goal in the two games against UBC, making good on 13 of them. Whether the Dinos and get this type of pressure on a solid Alberta back end, as well as how their goaltending can match up to skilled Bears forwards will likely prove to predict the outcome of both games.
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