CALGARY – Making their first appearance at the CIS University Cup men's hockey championship in more than a decade, the University of Calgary Dinos will be thrown into the fire right away.

Calgary will open the tournament against the host University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds on Thursday, March 24 at 4 p.m. MT (7 p.m. local/AT). The Atlantic conference champion Varsity Reds are the number one overall seed in the tournament, the CIS office announced Sunday.

Calgary, UNB, and Western Ontario make up one pool, while McGill, Alberta, and St. Francis Xavier are on the other side. Each pool plays a two-game round robin, and the team with the best record in each pool will advance to the national championship game Sunday night.

The remainder of the Dinos' schedule will depend on their Thursday night result. A Calgary win would give them Friday off and a date with Western Ontario on Saturday, while a UNB victory would pit the Dinos against Western on Friday.

The entire tournament will be webcast at www.ssncanada.ca, while both Saturday games as well as Sunday's championship tilt will be broadcast nationally by Rogers Sportsnet.

While it's the first-ever University Cup meeting between the two teams, it's not the first time the Dinos have seen the Varsity Reds this season. UNB made a western swing in mid-September, dominating the Dinos and the Alberta Golden Bears in their three games in the province. Calgary took the brunt of the assault, falling 10-2 in the first game and 6-1 in the second.

Plenty has changed since September, however – Calgary netminder Dustin Butler has rounded into form and is the Canada West nominee for CIS goaltender of the year, while the team in front of him wrapped up the Dinos' best conference record since 1997, home ice advantage for the conference semi-final, and the program's 11th trip to the national championship tournament – the first since the 1999-2000 season.

The Dinos depart for Fredericton Monday afternoon to prepare for the tournament start on Thursday. The 2010-11 CIS major awards and All-Canadians will be handed out Wednesday night prior to the start of competition.

2011 CAVENDISH UNIVERSITY CUP
Fredericton, N.B. – University of New Brunswick

Tournament seedings
1. UNB Varsity Reds (AUS champion, host)
2. McGill Redmen (OUA champion)
3. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champion)
4. Western Ontario Mustangs (OUA runner-up)
5. StFX X-Men (AUS runner-up)
6. Calgary Dinos (Canada West runner-up)

Pools
Pool A
1. UNB
4. Western Ontario
6. CALGARY

Pool B
2. McGill
3. Alberta
5. StFX

Tournament Schedule
(all times MT; all games at the Aitken University Centre)

Thursday, March 24
11 a.m.      Game 1: McGill vs. StFX
4 p.m.        Game 2: UNB vs. CALGARY

Friday, March 25
11 a.m.      Game 3: Alberta vs. Loser Game 1
4 p.m.        Game 4: Western vs. Loser Game 2

Saturday, March 26
11:30 a.m.  Game 5: Alberta vs. Winner Game 1
4:30 p.m.    Game 6: Western vs. Winner Game 2

Sunday, March 27
5 p.m.         Championship Final (winner Pool A vs. winner Pool B)

-UC-