CALGARY – Following their second trip across time zones in three weeks in last weekend's trip to Saskatoon, the No. 2-ranked Dinos women's hockey team welcomes the comforts of home – and the return of a legend – as they get set for this weekend's Crowchild Classic match-up with the Mount Royal University Cougars.

The Thursday-Friday series opens Thursday night at Father David Bauer Arena before shifting south to Flames Community Arenas on Saturday. Both games face off at 7 p.m.

With 12 games in the bag and 16 more to go, this weekend will mark the halfway point of the longest season in conference history, 28 games – and the defending conference and national champions will look to extend their lead atop the standings as they face the Cougars. Of the Dinos' final 16 games, 14 will be played in the province of Alberta – with a Jan. 11-12 road trip to Regina the only exception.

The Dinos will benefit from the return of Hayley Wickenheiser to the lineup this week after nearly a month away from the team due to national team commitments. She has played just six of the Dinos' 12 games, yet she sits sixth in the conference in scoring with 13 points – just three back of teammate Iya Gavrilova's conference-leading 16.

With the addition of Wickenheiser, however, the Dinos lose the services of Gavrilova as she is on loan to the Russian national team.

This weekend marks the first of two Crowchild Classic home-and-home sets between the Dinos and Cougars, with the second one scheduled to close the season Feb. 7-8. And while teams in every other Dinos sport are facing the Cougars for the first time in real competition this year, there's a history between the two teams in women's hockey.

The Dinos spent seven years in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference women's hockey league before making the jump back up to CIS in 2009-10. Before that, however, the crosstown rivalry was a fierce one – and one that ended with a five-game ACAC championship series in 2009 where the Dinos captured their lone conference title thanks to a 1-0 win in the deciding fifth game on home ice at the Olympic Oval.

Rookies in that 2008-09 season are now in their fifth years of eligibility, and they've added Canada West and CIS titles to their resume. Melissa Zubick, Sinead Tracey, Elana Lovell, Tanya Morgan, and Erin Davidson were all part of that ACAC championship team and will renew their old rivalry with the Cougars.

The Dinos have stumbled slightly in the last couple of weeks, splitting their last two series with second-place Alberta and last place Saskatchewan. In last week's action, Calgary needed an overtime goal from Stephanie Ramsay to salvage a 4-3 extra time victory in Saturday's game after falling 2-1 Friday night.

Ramsay is one of four Dinos in the top seven in conference scoring, joining Wickenheiser and Jenna Smith along with Gavrilova with at least a dozen points each through 12 games. Calgary netminder Amanda Tapp once again leads the way in the conference with her 8-2 win-loss record and 1.60 goals-against average, allowing just 15 goals in 10 games with a sparkling .934 save percentage.

Mount Royal has held its own in the new league, posting a respectable 6-4-2 record through 12 games and sitting comfortably in a playoff position through the first half of the season. They come into the weekend after a sweep of Lethbridge, with a 2-1 shootout win at home Friday followed by a 2-0 shutout win on the road Saturday night.

The Cougars are led by Chrissy Hodgson's nine goals and 12 points, while Tanika Dawson has matched that point total thanks to three goals and nine assists.

Calgary wraps up the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule next weekend when they face the Lethbridge Pronghorns in a home-and-home series. Action begins Friday, Nov. 30 in Lethbridge before shifting back to Bauer on Saturday, Dec. 1.

-UC-