CALGARY – Both Calgary squads will try to end the regular season in grand fashion as the No. 10 University of Calgary Dinos and Mount Royal Cougars clash in Crowchild Classic action this weekend, with Game 1 taking place at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
 
The two-game set gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 7, hosted by the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome at 7:45, following play by the two women's teams at 5 p.m. Tickets are free and are available at both campuses and at the Flames ticket office. The final game of the season will take place at the Flames Community Arenas at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8.
 
Coming into the final weekend of the regular season, the Dinos find themselves caught in the middle of teams who have home ice advantage and those who are on the outside looking in. Right now, Calgary sits in fourth with a record of 16-10-0 and holds down the final home playoff spot for the opening round. The Dinos have a slim chance at climbing up one spot into third, but the team that currently holds that spot, the Saskatchewan Huskies, wraps up its season against the lowly Lethbridge Pronghorns and are comfortably three points ahead.
 
The UBC Thunderbirds are one point behind Calgary and would like the chance to jump the Dinos into fourth. However, the T-Birds face the hard task of playing their last two games against the No. 2-ranked Alberta Golden Bears, against whom they have lost the two previous meetings this season.
 
If the standings stay the way they are heading into this weekend, then there will be a rematch of last year's Canada West Quarterfinal series between the Dinos and Thunderbirds in Calgary.
 
Thursday's game at the Scotiabank Saddledome marks a special opportunity for the four Dinos' seniors to play one of their final CIS games in the city's iconic arena. Both team captain Brock Nixon and defenceman Ryan Gillen dressed at the Saddledome as members of the Calgary Hitmen during their junior careers. Corey Banfield is in his first season with the Dinos after playing at St. Thomas in the AUS. As a Calgary native, though, Banfield almost certainly has fond memories of games at the 'Dome. Butler, the 2011 CIS Goaltender of the Year, will round out his career as one of the top netminders in Dinos history and will have a good chance of making the start on Thursday.
 
The Dinos are 7-3-0 since the beginning of the second half and are coming off a two-game split against the Huskies in Saskatoon. In the opening game against Saskatchewan, Calgary hanged onto two first-period goals on route to a 2-1 victory at the Rutherford Rink. The following night through, the Huskies provided all the scoring as they knocked off the Dinos 3-0.
 
Last weekend, Mount Royal took on Lethbridge in a battle of the two non-playoff teams in the conference. Jeff Barrett netted the overtime winner in game one of the two-game set in Lethbridge to give Mount Royal a 4-3 triumph. The Pronghorns turned the tables the next night as they picked up their own 4-3 win in an extra session as defenceman Tim Campbell's goal dumped the Cougars.
 
While this weekend's match-up won't change their standing, expect a very determined Cougars team when they take the ice against the Dinos. In their first meeting before the Christmas break, Mount Royal stunned Calgary with a 3-2 win before the Dinos rebounded with a 4-1 victory, which started a seven-game win streak.
 
Calgary has already won the inaugural Crowchild Classic series with a record of 8-3-2 against their crosstown rivals. The classic is also played in men's and women's basketball, soccer and volleyball.