Lethbridge – Coming off a bye last weekend the Lethbridge Pronghorn men's hockey team returns to action this Friday and Saturday night, traveling to Edmonton to face the CIS second ranked Alberta Golden Bears for a pair of games.
 
While the season has not gone as planned for the 'Horns (2-17-3), the team can take some positives from the effort they have put forth the past two Saturday's the team was in action. Versus the nation's top ranked team the Calgary Dinos and the conference's third place Saskatchewan Huskies the following week, the 'Horns earned points in a pair of 2-1 overtime losses.
 
Conversely, the Bears (19-2-1) are chasing the Calgary Dinos for top spot in the conference and home ice throughout the Canada West playoffs. With three weeks left in the season, the Bears trail the Dinos by three points for top spot and the Bears and Dinos will face off in a home-and-home series to close out the regular season.
 
Earlier this season the Bears swept the weekend series with the 'Horns in Lethbridge, winning by scores of 6-3 and 8-1.
 
In a tale of teams at the opposing ends of the spectrum, the Bears have scored the second most goals (101) and allowed the second fewest (44) in the conference, while the 'Horns have scored the fewest (36) and allowed the most (116).
 
That trend doesn't end with specialty teams either as the Bears sport the top penalty killing unit (90.7%) and the second best power play (29.6%), whereas the 'Horns are last in both categories.
 
Individually the 'Horns do not have anyone in the top-20 in conference scoring but are led by freshman Ryon Moser who has four goals and nine assists. For the Bears, they have seven players in the top-20 in conference scoring and are led by Torrie Dyck and Jordan Hickmont who each have 23 points on the year.
 
In the crease, the Bears have two of top four goalies in the conference in Luke Siemens and Kurtis Mucha. The tandem has split the goaltending duties down the middle with both making 11 appearances but Siemens has the superior numbers with a 1.80 goals-against-average and a 0.926 save percentage.
 
Puck drops Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday at 6:00pm at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton and both games will be streamed live on http://canadawest.tv.