LETHBRIDGE – With only two weeks remaining in the Canada West regular season, the Lethbridge Pronghorns are in a battle for a playoff spot and travel to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Bisons for a pair of important games.
 
The Pronghorns and Bisons will hit the ice in Winnipeg Friday night at 7:00pm and Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm Central Time. Catch all the action on www.canadawest.tv.
 
The two teams faced off in Lethbridge earlier this season with the Pronghorns skating to back-to-back 4-3 wins in overtime.
 
A Look at the Teams:

With only four games remaining, the Pronghorns (8-13-3), who have lost six games in a row, are in a battle with the Mount Royal Cougars and Calgary Dinos for the final two playoff spots in Canada West. The Pronghorns and Dinos are tied with 19 points, while the Cougars are five points up on both teams for fifth.
 
Good news for the Pronghorns is that they control their own fate, win four games and they are in as they hold the first tie breaker on Calgary which is head-to-head record on the strength of a 4-0 record vs the Dinos.
 
The Bisons (14-8-2) have clinched a playoff spot but are fighting off the UBC Thunderbirds for third place. The Thunderbirds are only one point back after sweep Saskatchewan last weekend.
 
Entering the weekend, the Bisons are riding a three game winning streak, but had lost their previous three games before that.
 
Key Players:
 
Captain Mitch Maxwell continues to lead the Pronghorns in scoring with eight goals and 17 assists but points have been hard to come by for Maxwell in the second semester, recording one goal and three assists in his last eight games. However, Maxwell picked up six points in two games versus the Bisons in November.
 
Garret Hughson continues to see the bulk of the action in the Pronghorns crease and despite the losing streak has recorded a save percentage of .900 in seven of his last nine games. On the season, Hughson holds a 3.39 goals-against average and a 0.908 save percentage.
 
For the Bisons, Michael St. Croix leads the way with nine goals and 20 assists, good enough for fourth on the Canada West scoring list.
 
Between the pipes, Byron Spriggs has played in 22 of 24 games and leads Canada West goalies in minutes played this season. He also leads Canada West in total saves with 720. This season, Spriggs holds a 12-8-2 record with a 3.01 goals-against average.
 
Up Next:
 
The Pronghorns will host the last place Regina Cougars next weekend to conclude the Canada West regular season.