CALGARY – Sitting tied at the top of a crowded Canada West, the No. 8-ranked University of Calgary Dinos will take on a new-look University of Regina Cougars in a two-game set at the Co-operators Centre.

Last weekend saw Calgary split two games against the UBC Thunderbirds thanks to a big third period on Saturday night. The Dinos now sit with a 3-1-0-0 record, which is the same mark that three other teams in the conference have, including the Cougars who swept the Lethbridge Pronghorns in their past two contests. In 2011-12, Calgary was 3-1-0-0 against Regina, with their only loss coming on the road.

“Our league is so tight any given year, they have a new coach, a new identity, so they are going to be well prepared to play hard,” said head coach Mark Howell. “They get good goaltending, and one thing they are doing well is generating turn overs, and turnovers create chances, so I don't think it's a surprise they are off to a good start. It's early in the year, and you have to recognize teams that are ready to play.”

Calgary arrives in Regina looking for some consistency from its special teams and some scoring depth. Prior to Saturday's third period, the Dinos had only one power play goal, but with some slight improvements now sit second in the conference in the man advantage. Calgary was a dominant penalty killing squad last year, but despite only allowing 11 goals so far, four of them have come with a man in the penalty box. Along with special teams, the team will look to get some secondary scoring depth. Of the Dinos' 16 markers, nine of them have come from the dynamic scoring duos of Tyler Fiddler and Brock Nixon. The remainder of the team's tallies has come from Walker Wintoneak, Cory Pritz and Kevin King.

“We were struggling for a bit trying to find chemistry on the power play,” said Pritz. “I think both of our lines got it figured out in the third period on Saturday when it counted.”

“The thing with the power play is that guys have to be ready to execute,” explained Howell. “I thought we were a little bit passive on it before changing some things in the third which let them see some different options. What we are going to need is more offence generated from everybody; eventually the top guys are going to have a weekend that they don't produce.”

With a new bench boss pulling the strings, Regina looks to improve on the 5-20-3 record they had in 2011-12 which placed them dead last in the conference. Todd Johnson took over as the head coach after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice, where he coached Kevin King and Jesse Ismond who now skate for the Dinos. The Calgary connections don't end there for Johnson, who spent five seasons as a player for the Dinos and was named the Canada West's MVP during the 1996-97 campaign. So far this year, the Cougars have received two things they didn't get a lot of last season, goals and saves. Troy Hunter (3g, 5a), Tyler Henry (4g, 3a) and Matt Strueby (3g, 3a) have been the team's top scorers, with Strueby currently on a three-game goal streak. Goaltenders Andrew Hayes and Lucas Gore have both been strong between the pipes.

“There is no team you can take lightly in our league, we have to go in with our minds set that we are going to play a full 60 minutes in Regina,” stated fourth-year blueliner Pritz.

As it always seems to be in hockey, goaltending could become a story this weekend. After losing their opening game last weekend, Dustin Butler was given the night off on Saturday, allowing Jacob DeSerres the opportunity to get his first CIS win. While Butler has been strong and will likely continue to be a workhorse for Calgary in his final colligate year, the DeSerres start gives the team a look at what they have going forward. Third-year netminder Kris Lazaruk has yet to see action this year. Like a number of the teams in Canada West, Regina doesn't have a declared No. 1 goaltender between Gore and Hayes so far in 2012-13. While Hayes has won both his starts and has the better of the numbers, Gore played 22 games last season and picked up all five of the teams wins during his rookie season last year. Gore had a 30-save performance on Nov. 11 against Calgary in a 4-1 victory last year.

The Dinos return home next weekend as they take on the Manitoba Bisons on Oct. 26-27 at Father David Bauer Arena. Regina will see Mount Royal come to town next weekend in the battle of the Cougars on Oct. 26-27.

-UC-