CALGARY – The Dinos women's hockey team will close out its season with a bang in the first-ever CIS women's game at the Scotiabank Saddledome Thursday night when they take on the Mount Royal Cougars in the last installment of the Crowchild Classic.
 
Finishing at the top of the conference for the second year, the Dinos have nothing to worry about in terms of playoff seeding, but will want to defeat cross-town rival Mount Royal for the third time this season on the same ice that the Flames play on. They will go at it on 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Saddledome, followed by a 7 p.m. puck drop Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena in their last game of the regular season.
 
It's a story of David vs. Goliath in the final weekend of play, as the Dinos (21-4-1) have already clinched first place two weeks back, while the Cougars (8-15-3) are in last place in the conference and out of playoff contention.
 
Last weekend, Calgary split with the Saskatchewan Huskies with a Friday night 2-1 loss, followed by a decisive 5-2 win on Saturday. Mount Royal had a home-and-home series last weekend with the Lethbridge Pronghorns who also sit tied for last place in the conference. They split the weekend matches, losing the first game 2-1, but redeeming themselves the next day with a 4-2 win.
 
Hayley Wickenheiser still reigns supreme in scoring in the league. She has held that coveted spot for the majority of the season and currently has a total of 38 points on the season with 15 goals and 23 assists. Teammate Jenna Smith comes in at No. 2 on the scoring list with 29 points with 12 goals and 17 assists for the Dinos.
 
Also making the top 10 in scoring in Canada West is Russian national team member Iya Gavrilova and defenceman Stephanie Ramsay, both with 23 points on the season thus far, good for a tie for No. 7.
 
Goaltender Amanda Tapp ranks first on the goaltending leaders list. She has accumulated 17 wins and just three loses all season, has played 1158:44 minutes and has a goals against average of 1.50.
 
The last time the two played this season was at the end of November in a home-and-home series. Calgary won both games, the first in their home arena when they defeated the Cougars 3-1 with goals from Smith, Elana Lovell and Erika Mitschke. The following night in Mount Royal's home arena, Ramsay scored the only goal of the game on a power play in the opening 10 minutes. Tapp made 25 saves in the win.
 
The Dinos will get back in action two weeks later on Feb. 22 in the first game of a Canada West semi-final playoff series at Father David Bauer Arena. Having finished first in the league, they earned the bye in the first round and will await their opponent who will be determined the previous week in the quarterfinals.
 
A semi-final series win would guarantee Calgary's spot at the CIS championship to defend their 2011-12 title as Canada West has two berths at the national tournament hosted by the University of Toronto on Mar. 8-10.