CALGARY – The No. 4 University of Calgary Dinos will have their hands full this weekend as they return from the holiday break and ring in 2015 against the defending CIS champion University of Alberta Golden Bears.

No. 1 Alberta (15-3-0) will host the first game of the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton with a 6 p.m. puck drop. The Dinos (13-5-0) will travel home that night and will welcome the Golden Bears to Father David Bauer Arena on Sunday, Jan. 4 with another 6 p.m. start.

Sunday's game is Minor Hockey Night, and all Hockey Calgary teams wearing their jerseys will receive free admission to the Battle of Alberta at Father David Bauer Arena.

While no one would have been surprised to hear of Alberta and Calgary at the top of the Canada West standings, what is a surprise is the way they got there and the competitor on their tail. The UBC Thunderbirds put the national champs on their heels to open the regular season when they earned a split against Alberta at home. From there, the 'Bears reeled off 12 wins in a row to put themselves comfortably atop the conference.

While that was happening, the Dinos opened the year with a 2-0 record – but that didn't last long. A week two matchup with the Mount Royal Cougars stunned the conference as the team in blue swept their inner city competitors. Calgary struggled to find their groove following those losses to Mount Royal until they met the Golden Bears in mid-November. It was not always pretty, but the Dinos picked up a pair of hard fought victories by scores of 5-3 and 2-1 to bring themselves within striking distance of their provincial rival.

"This has been an up-and-down season and we haven't been happy with how we have played in a while," said Spencer Edwards back in November after the Dinos swept the Golden Bears. "The games we had are more of a step in the right direction than we have had in a long time."

After a loss to UBC in the final weekend of play before the break, Calgary trails Alberta by four points. Keeping pace and in the hunt for a first round bye in the playoffs, Mount Royal sits two points behind the Dinos with another Crowchild Classic clash at the Scotiabank Saddledome on the horizon.

With only a month until the regular season ends, the Dinos are aiming for a repeat performance with the Bears. The sweep in November was the first against Alberta since 2012 and the first by Calgary against Alberta since 2011. The Dinos will have to find a way to once again shut down the pairing of Jordan Hickmott and T.J. Foster. The last time these two teams played, the deadly duo were held to just two assists combined.

"We had guys blocking shots, but it wasn't just a couple guys it was the whole team," noted Dan Gibb on Calgary's last win at Alberta. "You have to have everyone committed to keeping the puck out and it helps to have good goaltending. We have two of the best."

Elgin Pearce's five-point performance in November was the difference maker last time against Alberta, but the Dinos will need to continue to work on their scoring to clinch a first round bye in the second half. While they did not allow many goals in the first half, they also did not score as many as they would have expected. The Dinos are still awaiting the return of fifth-year sniper Walker Wintoneak, who is yet to hit the ice since the preseason.

Next weekend, the Dinos travel to Saskatoon for a pair of games against the Saskatchewan Huskies from Jan. 9-10. The Golden Bears will host a pair of games from Jan. 9-10 when they take on the Regina Cougars.

-UC-