CALGARY – In Canada West men's hockey, all roads to a championship seem to run through Edmonton. 2014 will be no different as the No. 3 University of Calgary Dinos get set to wage war with the No. 1 University of Alberta Golden Bears for the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

The series will take place in Edmonton at the Clare Drake Arena with action getting underway on Friday, March 7 at 7 p.m. The series continues with a 6 p.m. puck drop on Saturday night and if necessary will conclude with a deciding Game 3 on Sunday at 6 p.m.

It has been a match-up previewed in both cities and across the conference since the end of November. Back then, the Dinos and Golden Bears were the only undefeated teams in the country and sat Nos. 1 and 2 in the rankings. Calgary got the better of Alberta in that first regular season meeting and eventually stole the top ranking as their northern rivals lost twice in two weeks – a rare setback in what was a dominant season. The Dinos ran with first place in the conference until the end of January when the young Calgary squad's campaign went off-road. Despite securing a top-two finish in Canada West and an opening-round bye in the post season, the Dinos lost five of their final six games.

Last weekend, Calgary had a chance to answer for their late-season falter in the conference semi-final versus the Manitoba Bisons. In Game 1 on Friday night, the Dinos looked like the group that had won 21 games in conference-play with a convincing 5-1 victory. Manitoba put up a fight the rest of the way, scoring a 3-2 overtime decision in Game 2 to push the series to a deciding game. On the brink of having their best season since 1997 come to an end, Calgary fought hard and claimed a 2-1 win in overtime, booking them a date with Alberta.

"We learned how consistent period-to-period you have to be in the playoffs," explained Dinos head coach Mark Howell when asked about his team's first series. "We learned how hard you have to play. Manitoba played a really hard, physical game, they skated, and they made every shift a battle. You recognize and respect how hard it is to be successful."

Third-year defenceman Alex Dzielski was a key player for the Dinos in their series win over the Bisons. He and partner Kodie Curran were assigned the tough task of shutting down Manitoba's top scoring unit and did exactly that in all three games. Dzielski was also responsible for clinching the series as his goal on a deflection won Game 3 at 5:41 of overtime on Sunday.

"I think our mindset is great coming off an overtime win in the semi-finals," said the Rochester, N.Y. product. "We got to stay on pace, keep building and get better every day and hopefully we will come out on top."

This weekend's trip to the Canada West final will be Calgary's third in four years, all under Howell who has been with the program for five years. Three years ago, the Dinos were in this exact spot, preparing to take on the Golden Bears for the Hardy Cup – a series they would lose in two straight. A year later it was heartbreak again in the final for Calgary as they fell a goal short to the Saskatchewan Huskies in a triple-overtime Game 3 in Saskatoon. Conversely, Alberta is after their second-straight Canada West title after taking the crown in 2013 for the 50th time in program history.

The Golden Bears won the season-series against the Dinos, taking three of the four meetings, including one at home in overtime. They are coming off a rather easy series win in the semi-finals against the UBC Thunderbirds where they picked up victories of 5-1 and 6-2 over the underdogs from the west coast. Alberta has not lost a game since an overtime setback versus Mount Royal on January 24. A regular season finale 5-4 win over the Dinos is the only one-goal game the Golden Bears have played in since their last defeat as they have outscored their opposition 62-14, including last weekend's series against UBC.

"Every time you go in [to a series] you believe you have a chance to win," noted Howell. "Because of our success this year so far, it gives us confidence in how we need to play. We have beaten U of A this year and we have had a lead up in Clare Drake Arena.

"Our guys' expectation right from the start was to win a championship and they are very determined to do that."

The winner of the title series will advance to Saskatoon for the 2014 University Cup. The national championship will be held at the Credit Union Centre where the conference champion will join the host Huskies.

-UC-