CALGARY – It's back to where it all began for the University of Calgary Dinos as they prepare to play their final games of the regular season against the same team they started the year against, the University of Manitoba Bisons, this weekend at Father David Bauer Arena.
Puck drops at 7 p.m. both nights.
The Dinos entered this season with high expectations after making a trip to the University Cup the previous year. Inconsistent play along with the injury bug, however, have left the Dinos with a 14-11-1 record and in a battle for fourth place in the Canada West standings. The Dinos hold a two-point edge on the UBC Thunderbirds, but have two fewer games to play.
To lock in to that fourth place position, Calgary will require some help from some other teams. While the Dinos take on the Bisons, the Thunderbirds will be taking on the Saskatchewan Huskies in Vancouver. Calgary will sit idle the following week as UBC plays Manitoba to close out their season. Whoever lands in fourth place will likely host the other in the first round of the playoffs.
Coming into this week's games on a four-game win streak, Calgary is the hottest team in the conference at the most crucial time. Needing to pick up as many points as possible to catch up to the Thunderbirds, the Dinos first swept the Lethbridge Pronghorns before heading to Saskatoon where they won two straight against the Huskies.
Cory Pritz picked up his second over-time winner of the year on the Friday before
Dustin Butler picked up his third shutout of the season the following night to complete the two-game sweep. The two victories gave the Dinos a perfect 4-0-0 record against the Huskies this year, and Butler was named CIS male athlete of the week for his efforts.
Manitoba travels to Calgary as the top team in the conference with a record of 17-5-2, including 4-0-0 against the Dinos. Last week the Bisons did the Dinos a huge favor by winning two straight against the Thunderbirds. Game one came in a shootout, which was followed up by a come-from-behind 5-3 on the Saturday. The last time Manitoba was in town, Joe Caligiuri recorded back-to-back shutouts which were the first two of his CIS career. Another player who will be closely watched this weekend will be Blair Macaulay. The third-year forward leads the conference this year in goals with 21 and also sits in third with 29 points.
Saturday night's contest will mark seniors' night at Father David Bauer as Calgary prepares to honor their fifth-year players. The night will be special for these players as it marks the final regular season home game of their Dinos' career. This season's fifth-years are
Joel Eisenkirch,
Teegan Moore, and team captain
Reid Jorgensen.
Eisenkirch joined the Dinos in 2008-09 after transferring from Mount Royal and has posted 26 points in 82 career games from the blue line. After five seasons in the WHL, Moore played all five of his eligible years in Calgary. In 116 games, the Thompson, Man., native has had 25 goals and 53 points. Jorgensen will go down as one of the top players to take the ice for the University of Calgary since Jason Krywulak. The former Kamloops Blazer has had 124 points in his career and if he plays in both games this weekend will move into a tie for fourth all-time on the Dinos' all-time games played list.
Calgary will await its playoff destiny as the final week of the season is played out. Manitoba will host UBC on Feb. 17-18 to close out their campaign.
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