CALGARY - With a tough weekend in Edmonton now in the past, the University of Calgary Dinos have their sights set on the UBC Thunderbirds, with whom they will finish the first half of the Canada West season with four consecutive games.

The Dinos and 'Birds will play the first two of their games this upcoming weekend at the Father David Bauer Arena before turning back around and heading to Vancouver two weekends from now to finish out the fall semester. They will be the only two teams playing during the first week of December, with both games victims of re-scheduling.

While Calgary was able to stay with, and hold a lead against, the Golden Bears during both of their games in the first two periods, it was two poor third period efforts that did the Dinos in. Calgary let Alberta score three goals in the third period on both nights, with the Bears' Saturday comeback effort hurting the most.

Regardless, the Dinos will simply need to regroup for a weekend set with the T-Birds, who come off of a weekend split against Lethbridge and currently occupy the sixth spot in Canada West at 4-7-1.

Calgary (6-4-2) still boasts many explosive offensive weapons in its line-up, with many tending to do their best work in the friendly atmosphere at Bauer.

Kyle Annesley has scored six of his nine points at home this season, while Torrie Wheat has seven in only five games in front of his home crowd. Reid Jorgensen and Brock Nixon have 11 and 10 points on the year respectively, with 11 points between them coming in Calgary as well.

In a welcome burst of secondary scoring for the Dinos, Matt Isbister and Jerrid Saue had big Saturday nights despite the loss. Matt, the younger brother of assistant coach Brad Isbister, scored two goals for the Dinos on Saturday night, while Sauer added two assists. For the sake of being less predictable on the ice, Calgary would certainly welcome more of such well-rounded scoring.

And in a true test of mental toughness, it will be how Calgary goaltenders Dustin Butler and Jeff Weber can shake off their rough weekend in time for a well-rounded UBC offence that should prove the difference this weekend. Both goaltenders saw their statistical outputs drop significantly, but are both much more concerned with adding to the team's victory total against the 'Birds.

UBC has three players with nine points or more so far this season, and have a host of others in the half-dozen range. Justin McCrae and Brandon Campos, who scored the shootout winner in Lethbridge, each own 11 points on the year, while Matt Pepe had a big weekend against the Pronghorns, netting three points from his defensive position.

The Thunderbirds have relied on fourth year netminder Francois Thuot to handle the majority of the goaltending work, and have seen mixed returns thus far. Despite a rather sub-par 3.97 GAA, Thuot has been fairly good in shoot-out games, with a 4-3 victory over the second place Manitoba Bisons proving the highlight.

With Calgary no stranger to the shootout (three victories in five games), this could prove to be an interesting side-plot should the occasion present itself.

The Dinos and T-Birds face off on Friday and Saturday nights at the Father David Bauer Arena, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m. MT for both evenings.

-UC-