CALGARY – It's old money versus the newly wealthy, the upstart against the old-timer, and the new kid taking on the wily veteran.

The University of Calgary Dinos, in search of their first-ever Canada West championship, take on the conference's most storied women's hockey program in the University of Alberta Pandas this weekend with provincial bragging rights on the ice at stake. The best-of-three Canada West final opens Friday night at 7:30 p.m., with Game 2 set for Saturday evening at 8 p.m. If necessary, Game 3 will go Sunday at 6:15 p.m.

All games will be played at WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park, and CanadaWest.tv will have live coverage of the series.

The Pandas are 11-time conference and seven-time CIS champions, by far the most decorated program in the relatively short history of Canadian university women's hockey. And they come to Calgary this weekend to face an old – and new – rival for the conference banner. Two of those Canada West titles came at the expense of the Dinos, back in 1999 and 2000, both by 3-2 scores in the one-off championship game that was in place at the time.

After those heady early days, though, the Dinos struggled through seven years in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. With the hiring of Danielle Goyette, however, a remarkable turnaround began in 2007, and the program has taken steps forward each season. An ACAC final appearance in 2008 led to a provincial title in 2009, followed by a return to Canada West competition in 2009-10. Last season, the Dinos made their first playoff appearance since the league format was adopted, and the 2011-12 edition finished first overall for the first time ever. Now, the program gets the chance to take another step forward as they face the Pandas for the conference title this weekend.

Both teams are already assured of spots at the national tournament March 8-11 at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, where the Pandas will play host to the nation's best while Calgary makes its first appearance since hosting it in 2001.

In four games between the provincial rivals this season, the Dinos emerged with a 3-1 record.

Here's a look at the two teams:

No. 3 CALGARY DINOS
Conference record: 20-4-0 (40 pts)
Conference standings: 1st
Last week: defeated Lethbridge 2-0 in best-of-three semi-final (3-0, 7-1)

The Dinos scored their first-ever playoff series win last weekend in a rout, shutting out the Lethbridge Pronghorns 3-0 in Game 1 before rolling the Horns 7-1 in Game 2.

Iya Gavrilova was named Canada West female athlete of the week for her performance, which included four goals and two assists over the two games. Hayley Wickenheiser added four assists, while Amanda Tapp gave up just one goal in 120 minutes of action as the Dinos booked their tickets to the CIS championship and drew the Pandas for the conference final.

It's the first time that the conference championship will be handed out in Calgary since the very first year of Canada West women's hockey, 1997-98.

The Dinos enter the weekend on a 13-game winning streak, one that started back on Jan. 7 when Calgary defeated Alberta 5-4 in overtime after a spectacular tying goal late in the third by former Panda Stephanie Ramsay set up the OT winner by Jenna Smith. Calgary's last loss came at the hands of the Pandas a night earlier, when Alberta took a 4-2 win at home.

Calgary was easily the highest-scoring team in the conference this year, averaging four goals per game and scoring 30 more than their next-closest competition. The Dinos were also the best team defensively, allowing just 40 goals in 24 games – two fewer than second-place Alberta's 42.

Wickenheiser was the Dinos' leading scorer on the season with 32 points, leading the conference with 17 goals, while Gavrilova lit the lamp 15 times and scored 27 points. Ramsay was easily the highest-scoring defenceman in Canada west with 25 points on the year.

No. 5 ALBERTA PANDAS
Conference record: 14-3-7 (35 pts)
Conference standings: 2nd
Last week: defeated Saskatchewan 2-0 in best-of-three semi-final (4-2, 5-2)

After surging late to take second place away from the Saskatchewan Huskies, Alberta hosted the Dogs in a best-of-three semi-final last weekend in Edmonton and skated away with a pair of come-from-behind victories by scores of 4-2 and 5-2. Alannah Kedra and Nicole Pratt sparked Alberta offensively, with Kedra scoring four goals and adding an assist while Pratt scored once and recorded a trio of helpers along the way.

Sarah Hilworth finished third on the conference scoring leaderboard with 29 points, but the rest of Alberta's scoring was relatively spread out. Eight players scored between eight and 15 points on the year, with Pratt and Karla Bourke each potting 15 while Monika Moskalski added 14 points.

Alberta's 5-4 OT loss to the Dinos on Jan. 7 was followed by a 1-0 loss at Saskatchewan, but after that the Pandas were virtually unstoppable. Alberta closed the season with a 6-0-1 record, the lone blemish coming in a 3-2 shootout loss at Lethbridge on Jan. 20.

The Pandas were the queens of overtime in 2011-12, recording seven losses in extra time over the course of the season.

-UC-