CALGARY – Having clinched a playoff spot for the second straight season in Canada West, the No. 3 University of Calgary Dinos will look to solidify their grasp atop the conference standings as they face the No. 8 Saskatchewan Huskies this weekend, returning home from a five-game road trip with all 10 points in tow.

The series moves to the brand-new Athletics and Ice Complex at Canada Olympic Park this weekend with the Dinos' regular home, Father David Bauer Arena, otherwise occupied this weekend. Friday night's opener is set for the main Arena A at the new WinSport complex, while Saturday night will mark the Dinos' first-ever conference game on the rink named after their most significant benefactor, Joan Snyder. Face-off both nights goes at 7:30 p.m. MT.

It's an early preview of the 2015 CIS women's hockey championship, which the Dinos will host in the same venue, and the series will go a long way toward deciding home ice advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs.

Calgary comes into the weekend riding a seven-game win streak, climbing to the top of the heap in Canada West women's hockey with a sparkling 16-4 record and four games remaining. Their quest for top spot will come down to this series with the Huskies, and a sweep either way would virtually guarantee home ice to the victor.

The Dinos enter the weekend with a two-point lead on the Huskies (14-4-2) for first place, with Alberta (12-3-7) sandwiched in the middle with 31 points. However, the Pandas have played 22 games where the Dinos and Huskies have played just 20.

Calgary and Saskatchewan met twice earlier in the season, Nov. 18-19 at Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon. In the opener that weekend the Huskies jumped out to a 5-3 victory, but Calgary roared back with a 6-2 triumph a night later – backed up by a four-point night from Hayley Wickenheiser, who hadn't been in the lineup in the opener.

Wickenheiser opened 2012 in 15th place on the Canada West scoring leaderboard. After one month and eight games, however, she has vaulted all the way into a tie for the lead with 26 points in 13 games, knotted with Saskatchewan sharp-shooter Julie Paetsch for the conference lead.

Wickenheiser is joined among the Top 20 scorers in the conference by no fewer than six teammates. Iya Gavrilova continues to lead Canada West with 14 goals on the season, while defenceman Stephanie Ramsay has had multiple-point nights in five of her last seven games and has 24 on the year, good enough for fourth place in the conference and the runaway lead among blueliners. The injured Elana Lovell remains ninth with 18 points, while Tanya Morgan, Melissa Zubick, and Erika Mitschke sit 18, 19, and 20 on the leaderboard. Morgan is riding a five-game goal scoring streak, with nine points overall in that span.

The Dinos are by far the highest-scoring team in the conference with 80 goals in 20 games – 20 more than second-place Saskatchewan. Backstopped by Amanda Tapp, Calgary has been outstanding defensively as well, giving up just 32 goals on the year – again, leading the conference. The Dinos have given up just one goal in their last 12-plus periods of hockey, dating back to the first stanza back on Jan. 14 against Lethbridge. Only a UBC power play marker has found the back of the Dinos' net as Calgary has recorded shutouts in three of its last four games – all of them on the road.

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, features the explosive trio of Paetsch, Cara Wooster, and Danny Stone, who all sit in the Top 11 in scoring. . The Huskies have not lost in regulation in their past 10 games, dating back to that 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Dinos. Saskatchewan earned three of a possible four points last weekend at home against Manitoba, winning 3-2 in the opener before falling 4-3 in a shootout Saturday.

Calgary closes the season next weekend in Manitoba. Should they finish in the top two in the final standings, the Dinos will host a best-of-three Canada West semi-final series Feb. 17-19, also at the WinSport complex at Canada Olympic Park.

-UC-