Lethbridge – After narrowly missing the post-season the past two seasons, the Lethbridge Pronghorns open up the 2017-18 Canada West season looking to take that next step and push for a playoff berth for the first time since 2012.
The Pronghorns kick-off the season this weekend with a home-and-home series versus the Calgary Dinos, beginning Friday night in Calgary, with the back half of the weekend set going Saturday night in Lethbridge at Nicholas Sheran Arena at 7:00pm. Both games will be streamed live on
http://canadawest.yaretv.com.
"Coming off our strong non-conference schedule, we are excited to get things going with Canada West play," said head coach Spiros Anastas. "We learned a lot about ourselves over the nine non-conference games and believe there are a lot of positives about our team."
"There are no easy games in Canada West. This is the strongest league in U SPORTS from top to bottom, so we can't take anything for granted."
Last season, with a 11-14-3 record, the Pronghorns missed the post-season by a mere two points for the second straight season and looking back, a six game losing streak to start the New Year cost the Pronghorns that berth.
"After finishing just short for the last two seasons, it's hard not to have a chip on both shoulders," continued Anastas. "My staff and I believe in this team and we think there's a real sense of self belief in our locker room."
"Calgary always proves to be a tough opponent, they have good size and some key shooters up front. We're down a couple guys right now to injury but we are confident that whatever 20 we play, we will be able to match up well with the Dinos."
The Pronghorns and Dinos split their two games in pre-season this year with each winning convincingly on their home ice.
Entering the 2017-18 season, the Pronghorn have a strong returning core with 18 returning players, highlighted by new captain Mitch Maxwell and Justin Valentino. Maxwell led the team in scoring with 29 points last season and Valentino finished third in the conference in goals last season with 16.
In the crease the Pronghorns look to have one of the better tandems in the conference. Garret Hughson who played 23 games last year as a freshman returns and looks to build off a solid first season. The addition of former Prince George Cougar Ty Edmonds provides the 'Horns with another quality goaltender and is expected to push Hughson for significant playing time.
Other key additions for the Pronghorns this season are defenceman Dallas Valentine and AJHL leading goal scorer Tyler Maltby.
The Dinos enter the new season, coming off a third place finish with an 18-9-1 record and were beaten in the Canada West Semi-Finals by the eventual Canada West Champion Alberta Golden Bears, two games straight.
This season's version of the Dinos will look quite different than last year's squad. Gone are leading scorer Elgin Pearce, Dylan Walchuk, Parker Bowles and goaltender Steven Sanford. Pearce finished second in Canada West scoring with 35 points, while Walchuk was third on the team and Bowles recorded 12 points in 12 games last year.
Joining the Dinos this season are 13 new players, including long time WHL goaltender Jordan Papirny and former Lethbridge Hurricane Matt Alfaro.
The Pronghorns will be on the road next weekend, traveling to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Huskies.
