CALGARY – It's an exciting time for women's hockey at the University of Calgary. Embarking on the 2010-11 season, just their second back in CIS competition, the Dinos are looking at one of their most experienced rosters ever.

The most obvious improvement was announced in September when Team Canada captain and female hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser joined the squad. Wickenheiser brings six world championships and three Olympic gold medals over a 17-year career on the national team.

However, head coach Danielle Goyette believes her team will be better than the squad that finished 7-15-2 last season, Wickenheiser or no Wickenheiser.

“The new players we brought in will bring our skill level higher, and they're mostly going to play on the first and second lines,” said Goyette, a Canadian legend herself who enters her fourth season as head coach of the Dinos. “We know as a team that we've improved, and then you add Hayley to that mix and we'll definitely be better.”

Of course, Wickenheiser is among the most significant recruits in any sport in CIS history, and Goyette says just her presence has already improved the players around her.

“One player does not make a team, but she has raised the level of play for everyone when she's out on the ice,” Goyette said. “The fact that she's there gives the team confidence, and they really believe they can make the playoffs and make a run this year. I tell the players every week that she (Wickenheiser) isn't going to be the one who will make the difference. We will make the difference as a team, and it's been fun to watch so far.”

Another significant addition to the team is goaltender Amanda Tapp, a long-time Western Women's Hockey League veteran who led the Calgary Oval X-Treme to a national championship in 2007 and was named the tournament's top goaltender the following season.

“She loves to play, and she'll bring some great experience in goal for us,” Goyette said of her netminder. “At the same time, she'll be there to help the young kids to show them what they need to do on and off the ice to be successful.”

Tapp is joined by fellow newcomer Kiersten Giesbrecht along with returnee Jennifer Mallard between the pipes.

The other aspect of the team's strength comes from their leadership core. Three of the players that have anchored this team – Cait O'Hara, Beccy Niehaus and Shannon Davidson – are all in their fifth and final year of eligibility and are sure to be hungry to win with their CIS careers coming to a close.

They're joined by an exciting group of newcomers, including forwards Kira Sonnenberg, Erika Mitschke, and Chelsea Peterson.

The Dinos were pegged to finish fourth in the Canada West pre-season coaches' poll. Defending CIS champion Alberta tied with perennial powerhouse Manitoba in top spot, while Saskatchewan was projected to finish third.

In their inaugural CIS season last year the Dinos emerged with a 7-15-2 record, finishing four points out of the playoffs. The season started off well with a win against UBC but went downhill quickly with a 13-game losing streak that was only snapped with a late season rally.

This time around the Dinos will look for a much stronger start, beginning with this weekend's opening series against the Cougars in Regina. Calgary opens at home next Friday night in the front end of a home-and-home series with the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Face-off is 7:30 p.m. at the Olympic Oval on Oct. 15.

-UC-