Photo courtesy Saskatoon Blades

CALGARY - With only six points separating second place and last place to start the winter semester, the Calgary Dinos and the Lethbridge Pronghorns will both be playing with a type of urgency normally unexpected at such a juncture of the season as they ring in 2011 with a home-and-home series this weekend.

Head coach Mark Howell was able to shore up the Calgary offence over the break, getting good news when 2009-10 captain Aaron Richards was cleared to play the second half and adding forward Walker Wintoneak (pictured) to the lineup.

Wintoneak will join the Dinos after spending half of the year with the Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League. He posted 133 points for the Saskatoon Blades in his final two years in the WHL, a scoring tally that earned the Thunder Bay, Ont. native a spot on the Boston Bruins training camp roster this past fall.

With Alberta nursing a comfortable five-point lead from their perch in first, all six of the other Canada West teams are in a heated battle for playoff positioning, with no team sitting far away from that key fourth position. The parity between the Canada West teams will make the second semester a pressure-filled one for everyone, including the Dinos and Horns – who sit right in the middle of it all.

Both teams will get a shot at hosting this weekend, with the first game going at Father David Bauer Arena on Friday, followed by the Saturday rematch at Nicholas Sheran Arena in Lethbridge.

Calgary (7-5-2) and Lethbridge (6-5-2) are separated by only one point in the standings in their fourth and fifth places respectively, and the provincial rivals would be thrilled to create some much needed breathing room in the standings by sweeping the home-and-home set.

The Dinos swept the season-opening series between the clubs, winning the first game 5-4 in the shootout and the second 2-1 in overtime. Forward Reid Jorgensen led Calgary with three goals in the opening weekend, while the 'Horns got two goals from Dustin Moore. The two teams recently played a holiday exhibition game as well in the SAIT Challenge Cup tournament, with the Dinos coming out on top by a score of 3-2. Calgary wrapped up that tournament Tuesday night with a convincing 5-1 win over the host Trojans.

Calgary's Friday hosting duty will be the first of ten home games scheduled for the second half of the season after only four in the first semester, including six straight to finish the regular season.

Jorgensen leads Calgary with 17 points through 14 games, which is good for a tie for fourth in Canada West, while Moore and Winston Day Chief lead the Pronghorns with 12 points apiece, where they are tied for 11th in the conference.

Calgary relies further on their talented forwards Brock Nixon and Torrie Wheat, who have combined for five goals and 16 assists, while Cory Pritz leads all Dinos defencemen with eight points.

Goaltender Dustin Butler has had a terrific season in his third year in Calgary red and white, where despite a 4-4 record he leads Canada West in GAA with a 1.74 mark. The Calgary native has also stopped 95% of the shots directed his way, a clip that easily leads the conference as well.

Daniel Iwanski has been solid for Lethbridge in his rookie season, notching eight points as well as a goal against the Dinos in the second game of the year. Brian Matte and Nicholas Hotson have contributed to a well-rounded Lethbridge attack, with 11 points each thus far.

Following the weekend series between the two clubs, Lethbridge will host the first place Alberta Golden Bears, while Calgary will host the UBC Thunderbirds.

Notes: The Dinos alumni team will face-off against the Calgary Flames alumni team on Friday afternoon at Father David Bauer.

-UC-