Crowchild Classic—playoff style: MRU Cougars take on U of C Dinos in Canada West semifinal

The University of Calgary Dinos hockey team will face off against the Mount Royal Cougars in the Canada West semifinal this weekend.

It’ll be the Crowchild Classic—playoff style—in men’s hockey this weekend.

The Cougars take on the Dinos in the Canada West semifinal.

The University of Calgary Dinos pulled out the broom and swept MacEwan University in the quarterfinals this past weekend.

The Dinos, who had some trouble scoring down the stretch, got the offence rolling, scoring 10 goals in the two games.

Rookie forward Hayden Pakkala led the way with two goals and three assists.

“We’ve kind of been struggling a bit the last couple of games, scoring five on five, but I think we’re kind of finding our way now, and yeah, it just feels good to get some five on five there,” Pakkala said.

The Dinos have won four in a row, but now the job gets harder as they have to knock off the Mount Royal University Cougars, who finished in first place in the Canada West East Division.

The Cougars went 15-2 down the stretch.

“I think we’ve just got to play a really solid team game, and I think we’ve got to outwork them. That will be one of the biggest things,” said Dinos defenceman Sean Strange.

“They’re a really hardworking team, so we have to match that and even be better than them with working hard and physicality and getting numbers and close support.”

A lot is on the line in this series.

The winner gets an automatic berth in the national championship.

“It’s the city of Calgary. It’s the Crowchild Classic. Kind of an extension of that, there’s animosity between two programs, there’s competitive balance and all of those things that go into it,” said Dinos head coach Mark Howell.

“Our guys don’t like them and they don’t like us. You know, city bragging rights and all of that. … They’re a good team and especially the last four or five years, there’s been some really good battles between us and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Game 1 will be played Friday night.

Game 2 goes Saturday night and, if necessary, game 3 will go Sunday night.

All games will be played at Flames Community Arena.