CALGARY – With only two games remaining for the Dinos men against the last-place UBC Thunderbirds, they are left with two choices. Win both, and they're in the Canada West playoffs. Lose, and hand over the reigns of their post-season destiny as they sit out the final week of conference play.

In splitting their series this past weekend against the Saskatchewan Huskies, the Dinos (11-9-6) managed to put themselves in a position to control their own playoff fate, which was of the essence with a Lethbridge team making a serious push from the fifth spot.

The Pronghorns have been nothing short of fantastic in the second half of the season, going 8-2 including big wins over top-place Alberta and second-place Manitoba. However in going 4-9-3 in the first semester, Lethbridge will be forced to watch with crossed fingers this weekend, hoping the Dinos give up at least one of four points in the standings.

Should the fourth place Dinos be less than perfect at home against the UBC Thunderbirds this weekend, they will give the 'Horns one last chance on Feb. 26-27 against the Huskies to overtake them for the final playoff spot. The Pronghorns hold the luxury of owning the tie-breaker over the Dinos if they are even in the standings after 28 games, and will force Calgary to sit and wait as they take a bye during the final week.

Not out of the question is a third-place finish for the Dinos as well, but a sweep of the T-Birds and further outside help will be needed for that to become a reality. With a sweep this weekend, the Dinos could advance into third if the Manitoba Bisons finish the season 1-3, courtesy of the tie-breaker swinging in Calgary's direction, or if the Huskies finish 0-4. Saskatchewan and Manitoba meet this weekend in Saskatoon before finishing up on the last regular season weekend against Lethbridge and Regina respectively.

The Dinos are 8-3-1 at Father David Bauer Arena this season, while UBC is 3-8-1 on the road. The T-Birds (8-17-1) did manage an impressive 4-1 victory over Alberta in Edmonton last weekend, part of a four-game Alberta road swing to finish out their season with the Winter Olympics forcing them out of Vancouver.

Calgary will need another strong home performance from the likes of Brock Nixon, who has scored eight of his ten goals at Bauer, and# Torrie Wheat#, who also has eight goals at home. Teegan Moore has quietly moved up into a tie for third in the team scoring race with 18, and scored the lone goal in Calgary's crushing overtime loss to Saskatchewan on Saturday.

Reid Jorgensen, eighth in the conference and the leading scorer for the Dinos with 28 points, notched the overtime winner against the Huskies this past Friday, and will be leaned upon heavily to create chances like he has all season. Jorgensen has 22 assists on the year to go along with his six goals.

Having been solid overall this season for the Dinos in net, Dustin Butler carries a 2.71 GAA and .908 save percentage into the final weekend, and will need to be on his game for the Dinos to come away with success.

UBC is led by the forward duo of Tyler Ruel and Brandon Campos, who lead the team with 21 points each, while Matthew Schneider is close behind with 17.

Craig Linekar leads the 'Birds on the blue-line, having played in all 26 games and has 11 points to show for it.

The T-Birds have given equal time to both rookie Jordan White and veteran Francois Thuot between the pipes, and have seen very similar results. Both have been credited for four of the teams' eight victories, while White edges Thuot in GAA (3.98) and save percentage (0.875) while playing 60 less minutes.

While both the Dinos and T-Birds wrap their regular seasons up this weekend, only Calgary can advance into post-season play. The T-Birds will be playing for pride after a disappointing 2009-10 season, and have an outside shot at sixth, depending on their result against Calgary and how Regina finishes the year.

Prior to Saturday night's game, four fifth-year seniors will be recognized by the Dinos: goaltender Jeff Weber, defenceman Dustin Hatlelid, and forwards Brett O'Malley and Paul Gentile.

-UC-