CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos have been waiting for this match-up since March and they will finally get it this weekend as they host the defending Canada West champion and No. 3-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies at the Father David Bauer Arena.

The series starts on Nov. 16 with a 7 p.m. puck drop and will conclude the following night with the game time at 6 p.m.

The Dinos are coming off their toughest weekend of the season as they failed to pick up a single point for the first time this year against the Alberta Golden Bears. The two-game set began in Edmonton where the home side notched a 5-2 win. Things didn't get any better at Father David Bauer Arena as the Golden Bears won their sixth straight game 4-1. The two losses dropped Calgary's record to an even 5-5-0.

“We're coming off a big weekend against Alberta where we didn't play very well,” explained head coach Mark Howell. “The task coming up is still a big one against Saskatchewan, who is one of the top teams in the country, so we have got to get better because this is an opportunity for us to regroup here.”

Saskatchewan comes to town with an 8-2-0 record and a line-up just as potent as last season. Kyle Ross, who set a career high with 33 points in 2011-12, and Shaun Vey who tallied 15 points are the biggest losses from last year's championship Huskies team. Set to host nationals in 2012-13, Saskatchewan restocked with the addition of former member of the Calgary Hitmen Jimmy Bubnick. A Saskatoon native, Bubnick had 36 goals and 77 points in his final year of junior and has already made an impact at the collegiate level with eight points in 10 games.

This weekend will be Calgary's first chance to play Saskatchewan since the conference finals last year. In a series that will go down as one of the most epic in Canada West history, the Huskies were crowned champs, earning their trip to nationals. The Dinos took Game 1 in front of a rowdy crowd at the now 84-year old Rutherford Rink as Luke Egener buried the overtime winner. The best-of-three series was knotted up the next evening with a 4-1 win by Saskatchewan. Game 3 would bring forward one of the most memorable games in Canadian university hockey history. It took until 6:33 of the third overtime for the spirited contest to be ended and for the championship to be decided as Brett Ward netted the series winner in the longest game in conference history.

“We talked about it already this week,” said head coach Mark Howell of last year's Canada West Final. “That series showed what hard work can get you, as disappointed as we all were, I think we can all be proud of our effort, grateful for the experience and it will be something we always remember.”

“It will be exciting to play those guys again, obviously we had a hard fought battle last season; this will be our biggest weekend of the year and we need to come up strong,” added goaltender Jacob DeSerres.

Even following a tough weekend against arch rival Alberta, one player that continues to progress in a limited role is back-up goaltender Jacob DeSerres. Now in his second year, DeSerres is starting to get the opportunity he had hoped for when he joined the Dinos following a Memorial Cup championship with the Saint John Sea Dogs in his final year of junior.

“It is nice; last year was an adjustment coming out of junior where even as a 16 year old I played more games than most starters do in this league, but I put a lot of attention into school and was able to stay focused that way,” revealed DeSerres.

The Calgary native got his first home start back on Oct. 13 against UBC and would collect his first win. Two weekends later DeSerres would get another start and picked up a second victory 3-2 in a shootout over Manitoba. Sitting behind starter Dustin Butler in the depth charts alongside Kris Lazaruk, the two back-ups give the Dinos a couple of options going forward as Butler plays his final year of eligibility.

“I've always said I am confident in our guys, we have Butler here who is someone we can always count on, and this year DeSerres has also proven himself to be a guy we can lean on as a goaltender to get us wins,” spoke Howell of his goaltending. “Lazaruk, although he is hurt, is another guy, so with both of them, we now have two goaltenders that we have confidence in if Butler ever needs a night off.”

Next weekend the Crowchild Classic hits the ice for the first time this season as Calgary and Mount Royal play a home-and-home set from Nov. 22-23. The action will start at the Flames Community Arenas before shifting to the Dinos' friendly confines at the Father David Bauer Arena.

-UC-