CALGARY – A veteran University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team opens its 2019-20 Canada West campaign this weekend with a two-game set in Regina.
Head coach
Mark Howell will have the luxury of experience on his roster with nine players in either their fourth or fifth year of eligibility. That group will be looking to challenge the perennial contenders, the Alberta Golden Bears and Saskatchewan Huskies, who both lost significant names over the summer to graduation and pro opportunities.
Coming off a 2018-19 season that saw them finish with an 18-7-2-1 record, the Dinos have handed the captaincy to fourth-year forward
Logan Fisher, who takes over from graduated defenceman
Dylan Busenius.
A native of Red Deer, Alta., Fisher posted career highs a year ago with six goals and 16 assists for 22 points. Beyond the offence he provides, Fisher is a player that Howell relies on in all situations and is likely to play a key part any success the team has.
Up front, the Dinos are without last year's leading scorer
Riley Sheen and graduated forward
Cain Franson.
Matt Alfaro,
Logan Fisher, and
Coda Gordon are all coming off 20-point seasons in 2018-19 but will need support in the goal scoring department.
Some of that scoring could come from first-year winger
Kaden Elder who arrives on campus after wrapping up his junior career with the Calgary Hitmen. Elder, who won a WHL Championship with the Swift Current Broncos in 2018, potted 26 goals with the Hitmen last year.
The Dinos have also added University of Alaska-Anchorage transfer
Jordan Xavier and former Detroit Red Wings draft pick
Lane Zablocki to their forward group.
On the blue line the Dinos are balanced by a collection of stay-at-home defencemen and mobile puck movers. An experienced forward,
Dane Gibson was second on the team last season with 10 goals but spent the majority of his time playing on a defensive pairing, while
James Shearer was named to the conference's all-rookie team.
The 2019 recruiting class includes a pair of defencemen who are WHL graduates with
Dallas Hines and
Sahvan Khaira.
Hines spent the majority of his junior career with the Kootenay Ice before joining the Vancouver Giants on a deep playoff run to the league final. Khaira won the Ed Chynoweth Cup with Elder in Speedy Creek and spent all of last season with the Everett Silvertips.
Coming off a stint at Tampa Bay Lightning Development Camp, fourth-year goaltender
Matt Greenfield could be in for a heavier workload. The Dinos goalie union features four men with pads this season, but Greenfield comes in as the only netminder with significant playing experience in Canada West.
Tyler Gutenberg is back for his third year with the program and has shared the pipes during non-conference play with rookies
Brodan Salmond and
Adam Marcoux.
The Dinos came in third in the
annual preseason coaches poll, which was released Wednesday ahead of the conference's opening weekend. The Golden Bears, who downed the Saskatchewan Huskies in last year's CW Final, topped the poll and earned all seven possible first-place votes.
Calgary hosts their first home game on Friday, Oct. 11 when they play the first of two games at Father David Bauer Arena against the UBC Thunderbirds.
