By Wes Gilbertson /
It’s a brand new era at the Olympic Oval.
After an absence of seven seasons, the University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team has returned to the Canada West conference.
In just two years behind the bench, Danielle Goyette, a three-time Olympian and one of the most recognizable names in women’s hockey, has overhauled the Dinos program, recruiting a long list of talented teens in anticipation of the jump to the university ranks.
The U. of C. won their first Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) crown last season and will be shooting to make it a back-to-back of sorts against the defending-champion Manitoba Bisons, perennial powerhouse Alberta Pandas, and others.
“Our team is very eagerly anticipating our return to CIS,” Goyette said after the move became official in May. “I am extremely grateful to the University of Calgary for giving our team the opportunity to challenge ourselves at the next level. We have had some great competition and have been given the chance to make our team more competitive in the ACAC over the past two years, but we are looking forward to the challenges that await us in CIS.”
The Dinos were one of the founding members of the Canada West women’s hockey division and claimed consecutive silver medals in 1999 and 2000, but eligibility rule changes and on-ice struggles prompted a move to the ACAC at the beginning of the 2002/03 season.
They’ll begin their second stint in the Canada West Oct. 9 against the UBC Thunderbirds.
The Dinos list of veteran returnees includes goaltender Katie Urness, blueliner Nicole Kuglin and forwards Cait O’Hara, Beccy Niehaus and Shannon Davidson. |