NEW WESTMINSTER, BC – The University of Alberta Golden Bears will host the Calgary Dinos in the Canada West men's hockey championship beginning tonight, March 5 at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton. The conference championship is a best-of-three series, but both participating teams will advance to the CIS University Cup tournament, March 12-15, at St. Francis Xavier University in Halifax.

Alberta finished first in the 2014-15 regular season, thanks to a stellar 24-3-1 record. After an opening round playoff bye, the No. 1 Golden Bears began their playoff march with a 2-0 series sweep over the UBC Thunderbirds in a best-of-three semifinal series in Edmonton. Alberta won the opening game 3-1, thanks to a pair of third period goals, and then closed out the series with a come-from-behind 4-3 win in game. The Bears trailed UBC 3-1 midway through the third period in the second game, but scored three goals in the final 10 minutes, including the game winner with 33 seconds left, to win the game 4-3 and take the series.

Team captain Kruise Reddick, a fourth-year centre from Manor, Saskatchewan, leads Alberta in playoff scoring with two goals and three points, including the game two winner against the T-Birds. Jordan Hickmott, Jamie Crooks, Levko Koper, Jordan Rowley and Brett Ferguson all picked up two points in the two game series as well.

Sophomore forward TJ Foster was the team's leading scorer in the regular season, finishing with 42 points in 28 games to win the Canada West Most Outstanding Player award, as well as the Dave "Schweeny" Schriner trophy as the top scorer in Canada West.

The No. 4 University of Calgary Dinos will look to end a 19-year championship draught as they head to the Canada West Final for the fourth time in five years.

Calgary enters this weekend with a shot at some unfinished business. As the top two teams in the conference in 2013-14, the Dinos and Golden Bears met last year in the Canada West Final with a young Calgary squad going up against a formidable foe. In the first game of last season's series, Alberta jumped all over Calgary to secure an 8-1 win. The Dinos brought a strong effort the next night, but the Golden Bears were too much to handle in a 2-1 season-ending loss.

With the core of their team a year older, the Dinos feel they are better set for a shot at the defending National Champs. The provincial rivals split their season series with each team sweeping the other in weekend home-and-home sets.

The Dinos (20-8-0) advanced to the conference final following a thrilling series against their cross-town rival the Mount Royal Cougars. Calgary took the opening game of the series in double overtime after Dylan Walchuk scored the game-winner. A third-period comeback by Mount Royal forced a decisive Game 3, but the Dinos prevailed with a 6-3 decision.

Facing the UBC Thunderbirds in the semi-finals for the second year in a row, the Golden Bears (24-3-1) once again booked their ticket to the final in two games. Jordan Hickmott led the way for Alberta in Game 1 with a pair of goals, while team captain Kruise Reddick was clutch in Game 2. With the T-Birds leading by two goals, the Golden Bears tied the game to set up a heroic tally by Reddick to win the game with 33 seconds left.

All games will be webcasted live on CanadaWest.TV.  Below is the complete schedule and a statistical recap of the two teams' seasons.

Game 1: Thursday, March 5, 7:00 pm MST

Game 2: Friday, March 6, 7:00 pm MST

Game 3: Saturday, March 7, 7:00 pm MST (if necessary)

Goalie Breakdown

Team Stats Leaders