CALGARY – After sweeping the No. 8-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies with 5-3 and 5-1 victories this weekend, the No. 3 University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team has clinched top spot in the Canada West standings and will enjoy home ice advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

Calgary will host its first-ever best-of-three women's hockey playoff series Feb. 17-19 at WinSport Canada's Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park, when the top-seeded Dinos play host to the fourth-place team in the conference. Should the Dinos win that series, they will host the Canada West championship series – marking the first time the conference title would be awarded in Calgary since the inaugural year of Canada West women's hockey, 1997-98, when the Dinos hosted the first-ever championship tournament.

The puck will drop on the International Rink A Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 will follow Saturday night at 8 p.m., and if necessary, Game 3 goes Sunday, Feb. 19 at 6:15 p.m. Calgary's opponent is yet to be determined, though the most likely visitors are the Lethbridge Pronghorns or the Manitoba Bisons.

The Dinos (18-4-0) have won nine straight games and lead the league in virtually all offensive and defensive categories, scoring 90 goals in 22 contests while giving up just 36. Led by reigning CIS player of the year Hayley Wickenheiser, who has 30 points in 15 games, the Dinos feature three of the top five scorers in Canada West (Wickenheiser, Stephanie Ramsay, Iya Gavrilova) and have seven players in the top 18 in conference scoring.

Calgary finished first once previously in Canada West, back in the 1998-99 season – but that was short campaign with only two tournaments, and this season's record is already the best ever by a Dinos team in Canada West league competition. The Dinos head to Winnipeg this weekend to close out the regular season Feb. 10-11 against Manitoba. The Bisons knocked the Dinos out of the playoffs in the first round last season, and Calgary will look for a little revenge this time around: Manitoba sits three points out of the playoffs heading into the final weekend, and the Dinos will look to knock them out of the post-season altogether.

It's another step in the development of the Dinos women's hockey program, which rejoined Canada West in 2009-10 after a seven-year stint in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. After winning the 2009 ACAC title, the Dinos returned to CIS play and have improved each season under Danielle Goyette's tutelage, all the way to at least an 18-win season this year. And with the generosity of philanthropist Joan Snyder, whose $500,000 donation last spring created the Joan Snyder Program of Excellence, the Dinos women's hockey team is well-positioned to continue to make strides as they search for their first-ever CIS championship.

The Canada West champion will join the University of Alberta at the 2012 CIS tournament in Edmonton March 8-11, with the Dinos looking to make their second appearance all-time at the championship after hosting it in 2001. Calgary will host the national tournament for a second time in 2015 at the Markin MacPhail Centre.

Stay tuned to goDINOS.com for the latest Dinos playoff news and schedules.

-UC-