CALGARY - The Calgary Dinos, who at 6-11-1 are in sixth place in Canada West, can create some much needed separation between themselves and the Regina Cougars, who are currently fifth, when they travel to the Queen's City for a pair of matinees this weekend. Currently only one point separated in the standings, a weekend sweep for either team will provide a nice cushion as both look to secure playoff spots in the coming weeks.
Both squads share similar season storylines, where fast starts were both brought to jarring halts and mid-season struggles continue to flummox the two schools. With 5-2 and 3-2 records to start the season respectively, the Dinos and Cougars have plodded along with 1-9-1 and 3-10-2 records since, watching most teams surge ahead while leaving only the UBC Thunderbirds below them in the standings.
If either team has an advantage heading into the weekend, it might still be the Dinos, regardless of their current spot below the Cougars in the standings. With two games in hand in the schedule, and an early season sweep of the Cougars in the books, the Dinos have the edge both in positioning as well as in the way of confidence. The latter is something that both teams will certainly need to find and hold onto as the season progresses.
In both victories against the Cougars, it was Calgary forwards Brett O'Malley and Teegan Moore who carried the load, each notching three points over the October weekend. O'Malley, who currently sits 12th in Canada West scoring, and Moore, who is consistently underrated amongst Calgary's main snipers, would both love nothing more than to continue their success against Regina.
In their two most recent losses to the Alberta Golden Bears, the Dinos also got solid contributions from Reid Jorgensen, who seemed to shake off a mid-season scoring slump with two goals on the weekend. The second year forward, along with forwards such as Torrie Wheat and Brock Nixon, will need to continue to flaunt their offensive skills in order to take care of the Cougars and other teams to come.
The Cougars are led by their goalie Brant Hilton as well as their top forward Kyle Ross, who are both headed to Harbin, China as Regina's representatives on the Canadian hockey team at the upcoming 2009 Winter Universiade Games.
Despite the lowly 3-8 record in games played, Hilton has been able to keep his Cougars squad in games right until the end, as judged by two shootout losses as well as holding the conference leading Alberta Bears to two goals on two separate occasions. With a 2.58 GAA, the Cougars will be relying heavily on their second year goaltender again this weekend against the Dinos.
Ross is currently the only Cougar in the top 20 in scoring, and has led the way in only his second year in the CIS. Ross has potted seven goals to go along with nine assists to lead Regina.
The weekend series is a matinee affair, with a 1 p.m. start on Saturday followed by a 2:30 p.m. face-off Sunday (all times MT).
On the weekend of Jan. 30, the Cougars will stay at home to host the No. 1 ranked Alberta Bears while the Dinos will return to Calgary, where they will invite the no. 4 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies to the Father David Bauer Arena.
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