CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos will look to continue moving up the standings and extend their five-game winning streak when the University of Regina Cougars visit for the first home games of 2013 at Father David Bauer Arena.

The two-game set goes Jan. 11-12 with puck drop on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Prior to the Christmas break, Calgary managed to notch victories in three of four games as they rounded out the first half against the seventh and eighth placed Mount Royal and Lethbridge. Instead of coming back to action with their mind still on the holidays, the Dinos were as hungry as ever and swept the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver with 6-2 and 2-1 overtime decisions and sit at 11-7-0. Walker Wintoneak, Taylor Stefishen and Kodie Curran all had three point nights in the opener versus UBC before Jesse Ismond netted the game-winner on Saturday to seal all four points on the weekend against the Thunderbirds.

Coming into the weekend on a winning streak of their own, Regina has taken their past three contests and opened the second half with back-to-back wins over Lethbridge. Proving to be benefits of a change behind the bench, the Cougars have been the conference's most improved team and sit two points behind the Dinos coming into the two-game set. The last time Regina took the ice at Father David Bauer was in January last year and was sitting at a lowly 4-14-2; the Cougars are now 9-7-2 after 18 games in 2012-13.

In the two sides' first meetings of the season on Oct. 19-20 in the Saskatchewan capital, the Cougars continued their surprising ways. In the first game, new head coach Todd Johnson – himself a former Dinos player – saw his club shutout Calgary 2-0 in a strong defensive battle. However, the next night the Dinos got their offence going and beat Regina 4-1, led by a two-goal effort from Wintoneak.

The top scoring threats in green this weekend will be Tyler Henry, Troy Hunter and Matt Strueby who have a combined for 40 points. Another forward to keep an eye on, Brock Appleyard, who had just one point before the holiday break, was named Canada West Male Athlete of the week in the first week of January and has four points (2g, 2a) in his past two games. A low-scoring defence backs two second-year goaltenders, Lucas Gore and Andrew Hayes who will each likely see time between the pipes this weekend.

Carried through most of the first half by their top forwards, the Dinos will hope secondary scoring continues to develop during the stretch run leading into the playoffs. A graduate of the WHL's Kootenay Ice, Ismond has now eight points (2g, 6a) on the campaign, while the line of Blake Clement, Colton Grant and Max Ross has proven to be dangerous at times in a supporting role. A very mobile and offensive set of blue liners will be looked upon for more steady production with Curran and Cory Pritz rank second and third in defenceman scoring to date. In net, Jacob DeSerres emerged as a top goaltender in the first half and has split time with veteran goaltender Dustin Butler in recent series.

After battling the Cougars, the Dinos will travel to Manitoba where they will play two games against the Bisons on Jan. 18-19. Regina will be back in Calgary next weekend for games on Jan. 18-19 against Mount Royal.

-UC-