CALGARY – It's a home weekend on the schedule, but both the Calgary Dinos and Regina Cougars will experience a feeling-out process in the unfamiliar surroundings of Max Bell Arena in Calgary.
With Father David Bauer Arena otherwise occupied this weekend, the Dinos will pack their equipment and head east to the home of the AJHL's Calgary Canucks, where they will attempt to keep the ball rolling against the Cougars after a week's break from action.
With the weekend off, No. 8 Calgary had a chance to watch Canada West results fall into place in real-time, in one of the tightest playoff races in recent memory.
Of the results, the biggest upset was a Saskatchewan Huskies' triumph in overtime over Alberta on Friday. The Huskies would then falter on Saturday, ending a six-game winning streak which made a dent in the top half of the standings. The UBC Thunderbirds pulled themselves closer to playoff contention with a 5-2 victory over Manitoba, while Lethbridge lost ground in a shootout loss to Regina.
Alberta remains in first place, albeit by a slim margin of three points over Saskatchewan, with the only clinched playoff spot in hand. Within two points of the Huskies are the Dinos in third place, while the Bisons are another two points back in fourth. UBC and the Lethbridge Pronghorns are right in the thick of the race as well, both tied for fifth.
Calgary played Lethbridge on Wednesday night in a make-up game from January 8, and they made no mistake in retroactively sweeping the Pronghorns in a home-and-home series, riding two
Brock Nixon goals to a 4-2 victory.
The victory was of special importance in the Dinos' quest for home-ice advantage in the playoffs, as they now sit only two points out of second place Saskatchewan with four games to go for each squad. The Huskies are in Lethbridge this weekend.
While a variety of different scenarios will get the Dinos to where they want to be – the postseason – one thing is for certain: victories will get them in. With Regina and a season-ending series against Lethbridge left on the docket, the Dinos can only focus on what they can control.
In an offence loaded with veteran scoring threats, it has been a trio of Dinos' rookies that have made the biggest impact of late. In only nine games in the red-and-white,
Walker Wintoneak sits sixth on the team with 11 points, while fellow first-year
Kodie Curran has nine assists from his defensive position in the past 14 match-ups. Forward
Colton Grant scored the game winning goal in a tightly contested match-up against Manitoba two weeks ago, putting his yearly point total to nine in the process.
Reid Jorgensen remains the centrepiece, sitting fourth in Canada West in points, while
Brock Nixon's two-goal night Wednesday improved his season total to 20 points.
Dustin Butler continues to post terrific numbers between the pipes for the Dinos, where he is just points behind Saskatchewan's David Reekie and Alberta's Real Cyr in statistical categories atop Canada West.
Regina's (8-16-2) season struggles have had much to do with their inability to generate consistent offence. The Cougars sit in last place in scoring, potting 14 less goals than the sixth-ranked Dinos in that regard, and their top-scorer, Dillon Johnstone is only 23rd in the conference with 17 points over 26 games.
Johnstone is aided by Terrance DeLaronde, who has 14, while Lucas Isley is the next best goal scorer with five on the season.
Goaltender Adam Ward has played the majority of the time for the Cougars in net, stopping 90 percent of the opposition's shots while posting a 3.37 goals-against average.
Following the weekend series, Calgary will stay at home to round out the regular season against Lethbridge, while Regina will head home only to clean out their lockers, as their season ends on a bye week with the Cougars out of playoff contention.
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