Lethbridge – The 2012 portion of the Canada West season is one the Lethbridge Pronghorn men’s hockey team would like to forget. The Horns will get a chance to turn the page this weekend, traveling to Regina to face the Cougars in a pair of games to open the New Year.
 
The ‘Horns (1-13-2 CW) sit at the bottom of the standings and are 12 points behind the Cougars for the final playoff spot in the conference with 12 games to play, so the time is now if they are going to make a move up the standings.
 
It has been a struggle at both ends of the rink for the ‘Horns through the first 16 games. The ‘Horns rank last in both goals for and goals against, scoring only 32 times, while allowing 82 goals against. While it has been a trying first half of the season, it has not been all doom and gloom, 36 of the 82 goals allowed have come in four games and of their 13 losses, the ‘Horns have lost six time by two goals or less, with two of those losses coming in overtime.
 
Freshman forward Chase Schaber has also been a bright spot offensively for the ‘Horns, Schaber is tied for the conference scoring lead among freshmen with six goals and nine assists.
 
For the Cougars (7-7-2 CW), transition under first-year head coach Todd Johnson has relatively smooth and while they are sitting at 500, they have already surpassed their win total from last season. The Cougars finished the 2011-12 season in last place with a 5-20-3 record.
 
The Cougars have scored the second fewest goals in the conference with 37 but they have relied on solid defense to be successful, allowing 51 goals against. While the 51 goals allowed places them sixth in the conference, it is a bit miss leading as 13 came in one weekend and have allowed three or fewer goals in nine of their 16 games played.
 
Offensively, the Cougars do not have anyone in the top 20 scoring in Canada West and have relied on a balance attack with 15 players scoring at least once. Sophomore Tyler Henry leads the Cougars in scoring with eight goals and five assists.
 
Earlier this season, the Cougars swept the ‘Horns in Lethbridge with 4-3 and 5-2 victories.
 
Puck drops both nights in Regina at the Co-Operators Centre at 7:00pm CST and live stats can be found at http://www.leaguestat.com/canadawest/mens/en/stats/schedule.php?season_id=30.
 
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