The University of Regina's men's hockey team plays its home openers this weekend, as the Cougars will host the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday at the Sherwood Ice Sports Centre.

The Cougars (0-2-0) opened up their Canada West schedule last weekend in Edmonton. While Alberta pulled away from the Cougars with five second-period goals on Friday night and came away with a 9-2 victory, Saturday's game was a different story. The Golden Bears, who should be among the top teams ranked in the CIS poll when it comes out next week, needed a last-minute empty net goal to finally put away the Cougars and ended up with a 5-3 win.

Fifth-year forward Caine Pearpoint led the Cougars offensively last weekend against Alberta, scoring a goal and adding two assists for a three-point weekend. Second-year defenceman Dylan Chapman, who was named to last season's CIS All-Rookie Team, notched two assists for Regina in the two games against Alberta.

Dan Bohemier, Craig Cuthbert, Justin Scott, and Blair Stengler also scored for the Cougars last weekend.

U of R head coach Blaine Sautner is confident that the team can put up more goals as a group this season. Sautner recruited former Red Deer forward Carter Smith, who scored 20 goals last season as a 20-year-old with the Rebels, and Bryan Kauk, who piled up 128 points with the Dauphin Kings two seasons ago. He also expects newcomers Cuthbert and Mark Nelson to play offensive roles for the Cougars this season.

The defensive corps is led by Chapman, who finished third among all Canada West blueliners with 17 points in 28 conference games. The Cougars have five other returning defencemen, with Brandon Blair the only newcomer on the blue line. In net, Regina will have the same one-two punch as last year with Brant Hilton and Adam Ward. The Cougars will also have the luxury of having an experienced third goaltender, as Shayne Barrie spent parts of two seasons with the Everett Silvertips.

UBC will be playing their first games of the Canada West schedule this weekend. The Thunderbirds struggled through an injury-plagued first half of the 2008-09 season before managing to turn things around after the break, going 5-4-1 to end the season and defeating the Lethbridge Pronghorns in three games in the conference quarterfinals.

One of the key returnees up front for UBC will be Jeff Lynch, the team's leading goal-scorer from last season. Lynch will likely be a big factor in jumpstarting the offence, and he also brings a physical presence to the ice. Two other players expected to step up after injury-riddled seasons last year are Brandon Campos and Dalton Pajak.

Defensively, the Thunderbirds will have a very familiar look this season, as just one recruit joins a unit with seven returnees. Key returnees at the back include Max Gordichuck, who led all defenders with nine points last season, and Matt Pepe, who was named to the Canada West All-Rookie team last year. Expect Francois Thuot to get the majority of playing time between the pipes for UBC.

Last season, the two teams met four times with Regina winning all four games. The Cougars have won six consecutive games over UBC and haven't lost to the Thunderbirds since dropping a 3-2 overtime game back on Oct. 20, 2007. Entering the weekend, the teams have played 97 conference games against each other, with the Cougars enjoying a 50-36-11 advantage in the all-time series.

Next weekend, the Cougars will play a home-and-home against Saskatchewan. The teams will play on Friday in Saskatoon before returning for a Saturday night game at the Sherwood Ice Sports Centre.