Lethbridge – With only two games remaining in the opening semester of the 2012-13 Canada West season, the Lethbridge Pronghorn men’s hockey team (1-11-2 CW) faces southern Alberta rival Calgary Dinos (7-7-0 CW) in a home-and-home series.
 
The weekend set begins in Calgary Thursday night at Father David Bauer Arena, with the back half of the series in Lethbridge Saturday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena. Puck drops each night at 7:00pm and both games will be webcast on www.canadawest.tv .
 
The opening half of the conference schedule has not gone the way the Pronghorns had planned and they find themselves at the bottom of the conference.  With 14 games remaining in the season, the ‘Horns are 10 points out of the final playoff spot and will need to begin their push now if they hope to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
 
While three of their last four losses have been by only one goal, the ‘Horns continue to struggle at both ends of the rink, ranked last in both goals for and goals against in the conference. Through 14 games the ‘Horns have scored 31 times, while allowing 68 goals against.
 
‘Horns freshmen Chase Schaber continues to be a bright spot for the team and is the leading freshman scorer in the conference with six goals and eight assists.
 
After only registering one point in an eight game stretch, captain Dan Iwanski has four points in his last three games and now sits second behind Schaber in Pronghorn scoring with three goals and seven assists.
 
For the Dinos it has been a roller coaster first half of the season; after being ranked in the CIS top ten for the first five weeks, the Dinos dropped out the ranking two weeks ago and have split five of the teams’ seven weekend series this season. Since opening the season with two straight wins over the ‘Horns, the Dinos have not been able to win consecutive games since.
 
The Dinos have allowed the third fewest goals in the conference so far this season with 38 goals against but have struggled at times offensively. While the Dinos have scored 45 goals for, 15 of those goals have come in two games and they’ve scored two or fewer goals in six of the team’s 14 games.
 
Former Calgary Hitmen forward Tyler Fiddler leads the Dinos in scoring with eight goals and seven assists and team captain Brock Nixon sits second with 14 points in 14 games.
 
The ‘Horns will return to action in the New Year on the road January 4^th and 5^th in Regina, before returning home the next week to host the UBC Thunderbirds.