CALGARY - Sitting fourth in the Canada West standings as the second half of the season gets underway, the University of Calgary Dinos have a major opportunity to move up those rankings with eight of their final 12 regular season games at home and a pair of new faces set to join the roster from the professional ranks.

After already receiving great contributions from first-year players Dylan Hood and Teigan Zahn through their first 16 games, the Dinos will be joined by former Western Hockey League players Kevin King and Spencer Edwards for the second half of the season. King will suit up right away for the Dinos, while Edwards is sidelined with an injury.

As the calendar rolls over to 2012, Calgary's 9-7-0 record has them four points behind third-place Manitoba and just two ahead of fifth-place UBC. The Saskatchewan Huskies and Alberta Golden Bears are tied for the conference lead with 24 points – six ahead of the Dinos – but the Huskies have a game in hand.

These newest Dinos will be relied upon as Calgary continues to push for its second straight trip to the University Cup in Fredericton, N.B. Last year's appearance was the Dinos' first time at the nationals since 2001.

The Dinos re-open the regular season this weekend with an important home-and-home series against the Alberta Golden Bears, beginning Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena. The series shifts to Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton Saturday night.

All Calgary-area minor hockey players will be admitted to Friday's game free of charge if wearing their team jersey. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

The Dinos swept the Golden Bears in their first meeting of the season, taking a 4-3 overtime decision in Edmonton followed by a 2-1 win at Bauer back on Oct. 21-22. More recently, Calgary upended Alberta 3-2 Monday night in the opener of the SAIT Challenge Cup tournament, where the Dinos captured the title thanks to a 2-0 record.

Here's a look at the two additions to Calgary's lineup:

KEVIN KING • 6'0” 185 Ibs. • Forward • Syracuse (AHL) / Elmira (ECHL) • Calgary, Alta.

After a five-year career in the WHL with the Kootenay Ice, King returns home to Calgary. King began this season splitting time between the American Hockey League (AHL) and the ECHL.

In his final season of junior hockey, King scored 76 points, including 33 goals as the Ice captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions. Appearing in the Memorial Cup, King never got to face new teammate Jacob DeSerres in the tournament as DeSerres served as back-up as Kootenay defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs 5-4 in overtime. King's Ice would eventually fall in the semi-finals of the Memorial Cup, while DeSerres and the Sea Dogs went on to take the title.

During the summer King signed with the Syracuse Crunch to a one-year AHL contract. King spent the first half of the year in between Syracuse and the Elmira Jackals in the ECHL. With the Crunch King went pointless in five games, but was able to post five points in eight games with the Jackals.

King joins former junior teammate Kris Lazaruk on the Dinos. The two played together in Kootenay from 2006 to 2008.

In his first action with the Dinos, King had a goal in the Dinos' 5-3 win over SAIT Tuesday night. He will wear No. 25 in the Calgary lineup for the remainder of the season.

SPENCER EDWARDS • 5'10” 175 Ibs. • Forward • Allen (CHL) • Coquitlam, B.C.

Following an injury-plagued stint to start the season with the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League (CHL), Edwards joins the Dinos in the next part of his hockey career.

While serving as team captain last season of the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL, the native of Coquitlam, B.C. collected 66 points along with 27 goals. In his WHL career, Edwards suited up for 173 games and recorded 110 points with Moose Jaw, Seattle and Red Deer. Edwards also played for the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the BCHL, where he had 37 points in 62 contests.

Following his junior career, Edwards signed on to play for the Americans in the CHL as he pursued a professional hockey career. After playing in two games with Allen, Edwards was injured and struggled to get healthy again.

Edwards was teammates in Moose Jaw for two seasons with fellow Dinos forward Hood. In his short time in Seattle, Edwards was also teammates with DeSerres. In 2010, Edwards received the Humanitarian Award in the Canadian Hockey League for his community efforts in Moose Jaw.

-UC-