The University of Regina's men's hockey team hosts the No. 1-ranked team in the CIS this weekend, as the University of Alberta Golden Bears pay a visit to The Co-Operators Centre.
The Cougars (4-6-0) currently sit in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Canada West standings with eight points. They're coming off of a pair of road losses to Manitoba after recording a win and a loss in each of their first four weekends of the conference schedule.
Leading the way offensively for the U of R has been
Terrance DeLaronde, who leads the team and is tied for ninth in the conference with eight points on the season.
Lucas Isley has been strong as of late for the Cougars, collecting five points in his last four games and leading the team with four goals on the season, while fourth-year defenceman
Cody Thoring leads all U of R blueliners with five points.
With
Adam Ward unavailable since Halloween due to concussion-like symptoms, #A.J. Whiffen# enters the weekend having started three straight games between the pipes for the Cougars. Ward, who ranks third in U of R history with a 3.33 career goals-against average, is expected to return this weekend against the Golden Bears.
Alberta (7-1-0) comes into the weekend riding a five-game winning streak. The Golden Bears' lone setback this season came in a 4-2 loss to UBC back on Oct. 15. They boast the conference's top two scorers, as Chad Klassen has 20 points in the team's first eight games and Derek Ryan has 19 – five more than Manitoba's Blair Macaulay, who sits in third with 14 points.
The Golden Bears have split the netminding duties between their three goalies. Kurtis Mucha has gotten one start in each of Alberta's four weekend series so far, while either Real Cyr or Linden Rowat have gotten the call in the other game.
Following this weekend's action against Alberta, the Cougars will have only four games remaining before the Christmas break. They'll travel to Lethbridge for a pair of games against the Pronghorns next weekend before returning home to host Calgary on Nov. 26 and 27.
