CALGARY – After a convincing home win over their southern rivals last Friday, the University of Calgary Dinos will continue their quest for separation from the middle of the pack within the confines of Father David Bauer Arena, this time against the UBC Thunderbirds.

Calgary won their first game of 2011 over the Lethbridge Pronghorns by a score of 5-2, with three goals coming in the last seven minutes. Calgary was scheduled to play the back end of the home-and-home set against the Pronghorns on Saturday, but harsh winter travel conditions in Southern Alberta forced a postponement of the match, with the game to be made up mid-February in Lethbridge.

Their Friday victory put the Dinos in a tie for third in Canada West at 8-5-2, two points behind second place Saskatchewan with a game in hand.

The victory also kept the Dinos two points ahead of fifth place, currently inhabited by their upcoming opponents, the Thunderbirds.

The T-Birds (6-6-4) have had fairly remarkable success against the Canada West-leading Alberta Golden Bears, over whom they collected their second victory of the season on Saturday night in a 3-2 shootout victory. UBC enjoyed a season-opening win over the Bears as well, beating them by a score of 4-2.

In their weekend series earlier this year, the Dinos swept the Birds, with the highlight of the weekend being a 2-1 shootout victory courtesy of 40 Dustin Butler saves in goal. Calgary is 5-2-1 at home in the past three years against UBC.

Leading scorer Reid Jorgensen led the Dinos with two goals and an assist during the UBC sweep, while Torrie Wheat added a goal and three assists. Jorgensen ranks fifth in Canada West with 17 total points, while Wheat has added 11.

Aaron Richards and Walker Wintoneak didn't disappoint in their debuts for Calgary in 2010-11 this past Friday, with Richards converting on a Wintoneak assist. Both players seemed to gel quite well in tandem, a scoring punch that will significantly support a strong Jorgensen-Wheat-Brock Nixon attack.

Goaltender Dustin Butler continued his terrific play in Canada West last Friday, allowing only two goals to keep his GAA at a conference-leading 1.77 as well as an outstanding 94% save percentage.

UBC looks to forwards Justin MacRae and Max Grassi for their scoring support, with the two combining for 27 points through 29 games. Rookie Ben Schmidt has been impressive as well, contributing five goals and five assists.

Goaltender Jordan White has seen nearly all of the playing time in net for the Thunderbirds and has posted a 3.37 GAA to go along with a 88% save clip.

With 18 and 16 points respectively, Calgary and UBC both remain right in the thick of the race for second place in Canada West, currently inhabited by Saskatchewan, which possesses 20 points in the standings. With Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which is tied for third with Calgary, facing off twice this weekend, much movement in the top half of the standings could occur with sweeps in either series.

Following the home series against UBC, Calgary will face off in a home-and-home series against Alberta, whom they've struggled with this season at 0-3-1, while UBC will return home to host the Regina Cougars.

-UC-