CALGARY – It's do or die time in Canada West men's hockey, and for the Calgary Dinos and the Saskatchewan Huskies, there is far more to fight for then the right to play for the conference championship next weekend.

The winner of this weekend's best-of-three series at Father David Bauer Arena will not only get a shot at taking home a Canada West banner for their home rink next weekend but will also punch a ticket to the CIS University Cup in Fredericton, N.B., where national bragging rights will be on the line.

The second-place finish is Calgary's best since the 1996-97 season when the Dinos posted a sparkling 22-3-3 record to win the pennant. The Dinos have finished third seven times since 1997, but this will be the first semi-final series hosted at Father David Bauer Arena in 14 years.

Two Canada West teams will get a shot at the six-team tournament this year, with the other being the winner of the Alberta-Manitoba series in Edmonton this weekend. Host UNB is already in and will be joined by two from the OUA and one more from the AUS.

The Dinos last participated in the national tournament in 2000 and have nary a red-and-white banner to their name, while Saskatchewan was last a part of the dance in 2008. The Huskies have to look all the way back to 1982-83 for their last (and only) CIS title, when former Calgary Flames head coach Dave King was at the helm and current Huskies coach Dave Adolph was in the Saskatchewan line-up.

Calgary (17-8-3) has not won a Canada West title in 15 years, and this weekend's battle with Saskatchewan (17-11-0) at home gives them an opportunity to change that in the comforts of their own Olympic-sized rink.

Saskatchewan will certainly be a tough out, as the Huskies gave Calgary the most trouble of any Canada West squad this season. The Dinos went 1-3 against the Huskies, taking the lone victory by a tally of 4-1 at Bauer in November.

The Huskies made it look easy against Calgary in the second semester, defeating them twice in Saskatoon while ignoring the fact the Dinos were the hottest team in the conference. Calgary eventually finished with a 10-3-1 post-Christmas record – with two of those losses coming to Saskatchewan. The Dinos wrapped up the season 6-0-1 in their final seven games – and a 3-0 loss to Saskatchewan Jan. 28 was the last regulation defeat suffered by second-place Calgary.

Reid Jorgensen finished in a tie for third in the conference in scoring with 33 points, tying for the league lead in goals with 17. Walker Wintoneak, who was picked up over the Christmas break after trying his hand in the CHL, has been terrific, notching 16 points in 14 games which is just six points shy of the lead in the rookie race.

Brock Nixon has posted eight of his 23 points in the month of February and finished 16th in the conference in scoring, while second-year blueliner Cory Pritz has proven to be an outstanding two-way defenceman, with his 18 points the best among all Canada West rearguards.

Dustin Butler has been sensational for Calgary in his third year, finishing the regular season atop Canada West with a remarkable 2.12 goals-against average as well as a .926 save percentage over 21 games. Rookie Kris Lazaruk has been admirable as well in relief efforts of Butler, posting similar numbers in nine games, where he is 4-3.

Saskatchewan counters with David Reekie, who went 12-8 over the season, stopping 92% of the shots that came his way.

Kyle Bortis leads the way in scoring for the Huskies, finishing the season with 27 points in 28 games. Steven DaSilva and Andrew Bailey each finished with 24, while Kyle Ross had 23.

Game 1 will go on Friday at 7 p.m. at Father David Bauer Arena, with Game 2 a day later at the same time. Should it be necessary, Game 3 will be on Sunday at 7 p.m. The winner of this series will battle for Canada West supremacy next weekend against the winner of the Alberta-Manitoba semi-final – a series the Dinos would host if they beat Saskatchewan and the Bisons upset the Bears.

-UC-