CALGARY – Calgary Hitmen co-captain Tyler Fiddler is among the recruits set to join the University of Calgary men's hockey team this fall, CIS coach of the year Mark Howell announced Tuesday.

Fiddler, who was key to the Hitmen's 2010 WHL Ed Chynoweth Cup championship run, joins fellow Western Hockey League graduates David Robinson (Chilliwack), Max Ross (Lethbridge), and Taylor Stefishen (Prince George) as the first wave of Howell's recruiting class for the 2011-12 season.

The Dinos enjoyed their best season since 1997 last year, finishing second in Canada West and making their first appearance at the CIS University Cup in a decade. In addition to Howell's coach of the year honour, goaltender Dustin Butler was honoured as the top netminder in CIS and a first team All-Canadian – and Howell is confident his latest crop of recruits will help continue the winning tradition.

“It was important for us to get some top-end forwards after graduating some guys last year,” said the third-year bench boss. “All of these guys fit in to what we want to do – they have talent, character, and they're guys that will complement what we have here already.”

TYLER FIDDLER • 6'0” 187 lbs. • Forward • Open Studies • Calgary Hitmen (WHL)

Tyler Fiddler makes the trip across town to suit up for the Dinos, joining former Calgary Hitmen teammates Brock Nixon and Ryan Gillen at the University of Calgary.

A native of Prince Albert, Sask., Fiddler joined the Hitmen in the 2007-08 season and appeared in 173 regular season games for Calgary, accumulating 100 points. His most productive season came in 2009-10 when he scored 58 points in 68 games, recording 30 goals – tied for third best on the team – and a +24 rating. He also racked up 12 points in 22 playoff games as the Hitmen captured the WHL Ed Chynoweth Cup championship.

Fiddler was named the Hitmen's 2010 Most Sportsmanlike Player award winner with just 49 penalty minutes in the 2009-10 season. He attended the Phoenix Coyotes training camp in September 2010 and was a co-captain with the Hitmen in his 20-year-old season.

He plans to study either business or kinesiology.

Coach Howell: “Tyler is a proven winner and has proven he can play on the top two lines. He can score, play physical, and has a strong game in front of the net.”

DAVID ROBINSON • 5'10” 185 lbs. • Forward • Open Studies • Vernon Vipers (BCHL)

Another captain, this time of the BCHL champion and RBC Cup runner-up Vernon Vipers, Dave Robinson will be reunited with former teammate Colton Grant in Dinos colours next season.

Robinson and Grant played together with the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins in 2009-10 at the tail end of a two-and-a-half-year stint for Robinson in the WHL. He returned to his hometown of Vernon, B.C. to rejoin the Vipers late that season, helping the franchise to its fourth RBC Cup national title.

In 56 games last season with the Vipers, Robinson scored a team-leading 32 goals and added 17 assists to earn the team's MVP award. He maintained that pace of nearly a point per game through the playoffs, chalking up 11 points in 16 games as Vernon came within one game of repeating as national champion, instead settling for second place following a 2-0 loss to Pembrooke (Ont.).

In 169 career WHL games with Chilliwack, Robinson scored 23 goals and added 20 assists along with 265 penalty minutes.

Coach Howell: “David won back-to-back championships in Vernon as team captain. He has the ability to fill a variety of roles for us, and he gives us flexibility in how we make up our forward group.”

MAX ROSS • 6'2” 205 lbs. • Forward • Science • Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)

Following a three-year career with his hometown Lethbridge Hurricanes, defenceman-turned-left-winger Max Ross heads up Highway 2 to join the Dinos and will enter the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary this fall.

Ross joined the Hurricanes for the 2008-09 season, recording one goal and six assists in 32 games on the blue line in his first WHL campaign. Early the following year he moved up to the left wing, leading to his career-best season in 2010-11 with 15 goals and 30 points in 70 games with the Hurricanes.

Prior to his WHL career, Ross had stints in the AJHL with Brooks and Olds.

Coach Howell: “Max is a big-body forward that can make people around him better due to his size. He'll fit in nicely with how we play, as he's competitive on the forecheck, physical, and good on the wall.”

TAYLOR STEFISHEN • 6'0” 185 lbs. • Forward • Open Studies • Prince George Cougars (WHL)

Perhaps the most intriguing name on Howell's initial recruiting list is left winger Taylor Stefishen out of North Vancouver, B.C.

A fifth-round pick (136th overall) by the Nashville Predators in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Stefishen's rights were traded to Washington last month for a conditional draft pick in 2013 and attended the Capitals' developmental camp last week in Arlington, Va.

Stefishen reported to Prince George last season after spending two years with the Ohio State Buckeyes. While studying in Columbus, he appeared in 40 games, recording eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points.

In his lone WHL season with the Cougars, he put up impressive numbers with 24 goals and 43 assists in 68 games. Before enrolling at Ohio State, he spent two seasons with Langley of the BCHL, where he put up even more impressive numbers: in 116 career games he scored 58 goals, adding 79 assists for 137 points.

After spending two years at Ohio State, Stefishen will have three seasons of CIS eligibility remaining.

Coach Howell: “Taylor is a proven, highly-skilled forward that will help replace some of the scoring we've lost. He'll be counted on to play on the power play and the penalty kill.”

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