CALGARY – Tied for second place in Canada West after a strong first half start, the University of Calgary Dinos (9-5-2) are set to ring in the New Year with a challenging two-game home-and-home series against the conference leading University of Alberta Golden Bears (14-1-1).

First year head coach Mark Howell has positioned his Dinos well, with 20 points in the standings – just two points off of their final tally from last season, when they missed the playoffs for the first time in 24 years. Calgary is tied with the Manitoba Bisons for second in the conference and the Dinos knocking on the door of the CIS Top 10, having received votes in the second half of the fall semester.

Led by the strong offensive push of Reid Jorgensen (16 points), Torrie Wheat (15) and Brock Nixon (14), who all occupy spots amongst Canada West's top 20 scorers, the Dinos have been able to provide support for a youthful defensive core that showed tremendous signs of promise throughout their first 16 games.

Kyle Annesley and fifth year forward Brett O'Malley, who missed some time due to injury in the first half, are potent scoring weapons as well for the Dinos, while Teegan Moore has continued to excel with 13 points on the year.

Calgary can take credit for one of the blemishes on Alberta's record this year, with a season-opening 3-2 shootout victory over the Bears proving one of the early highlights for the Dinos. However, Calgary struggled to contain the Bears' tremendous offensive firepower in their three other meetings, all at Clare Drake in Edmonton, and will take their latest attempt at doing so this weekend.

The Bears return from a holiday break where they twice came from behind to beat the No. 5-ranked McGill Redmen, with a stunning go-ahead goal from Kyle Fecho with under a second left in the first game standing out as the highlight from the entertaining exhibition tilts. Calgary managed a solid holiday exhibition schedule as well, winning the SAIT Challenge Cup with victories over Lethbridge and SAIT last weekend.

The top five, and seven of the top 10, Canada West point-getters all don the evergreen and gold for Alberta, with fifth year forward Chad Klassen easily leading the way with 28 total points. Rookie Sean Ringrose has taken no time at all getting used to the competitive Canada West, sitting fourth with eight goals to go along with 13 assists.

Another rookie, Travis Yonkman, has been equally as impressive in net for Alberta, going 8-0-0 in split duty with incumbent goaltender Real Cyr. Yonkman leads the conference in goals against (2.11) and sports an impressive 0.926 save percentage.

Second year goaltender Dustin Butler has shown strong growth for Calgary this season, accounting for eight of the team's nine wins, while fifth year Jeff Weber had his best game of the season right before the break. It was Butler who was able to backstop the Dinos to their early victory over the Bears, making 37 saves.

The Dinos will travel to Edmonton to kick the series off on Friday night before both teams head back to Calgary for the second leg on Saturday night. Following their series, Calgary will have another home-and-home series with their southern rivals, the Lethbridge Pronghorns, while Alberta will enjoy a bye-week.

-UC-