CALGARY – Second-year University of Calgary hockey coach Mark Howell announced his 2010-11 recruiting class Thursday which included three WHL graduates; Brett Bartman, Colton Grant and Kris Lazaruk.

After a one-year hiatus from the postseason and with two fewer available Canada West playoff berths, Howell still managed to guide the Dinos to the first round of the Canada West tournament in 2009-10. With a brand new batch of recruits in place to join an impressive core of veterans, Howell and the Dinos look to keep their momentum going as the 2010-11 season approaches.

The class is made up of forwards Colton Grant, Taylor Rovatti, and Matt Scrivens; defencemen Brett Bartman, Spencer Fraipont, and Colton MacPherson; and goaltender Kris Lazaruk.

With his recruiting class in place, Coach Howell is confident the Dinos will gel quickly and continue to move in the right direction.

“We are excited about our recruiting class this season,” explained Howell. “We have addressed areas of need on our team with these players and they will fit in well with our current group.

“The one area we have changed significantly is on the defence, where we have added some size and toughness, which in turn will make us more difficult to play against,” he continued. “Kris (Lazaruk) will challenge for the starting goaltending position, which will push all three to excel at a higher level, while our new forwards all possess the ability to pressure the puck, attack the net and bring constant energy to the team.”

The Dinos will open their non-conference schedule Sept. 11 against the Lethbridge Pronghorns at Father David Bauer Arena. The preseason slate is highlighted by a pair of games against CIS powerhouse UNB on Wednesday, Sept. 15 and Saturday, Sept. 18 at Father David Bauer.

Canada West play opens Oct. 1 in Edmonton against the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

A champion throughout his career, Brett Bartman will certainly be a valuable addition to the Dinos’ blue line in 2009-10. As a Spokane Chief in 2008-09, Bartman played all 72 regular season games – one of only three Chiefs to do so – en route to helping his team claim the Ed Chynoweth Cup as well as the Memorial Cup later that spring. While unable to duplicate that postseason success in 2009-10, Bartman once again proved his durability in not missing a single game on the blue line. A gritty and hardworking defenceman, Bartman tallied 34 points in his three-year junior career, all with Spokane.

For the third straight year the Dinos will put a member of the 2006-07 WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers in the Calgary red and white, this time adding forward Colton Grant. Grant, a Chilliwack Bruin in 2009-10, hoisted the WHL’s Ed Chynoweth Cup with current Dinos Jerrid Sauer and Tyler Swystun in 2007 but narrowly missed out on the coveted Memorial Cup in the championship final. The Standard, Alta. native had his best season in 2007-08 with the Tigers, racking up 12 goals and 16 assists, and most recently notched 20 points with the Bruins.

After a solid junior career with the Kootenay Ice and the Kelowna Rockets, goaltender Kris Lazaruk will attempt to push incumbent Dinos netminder Dustin Butler for starting time right out of the gates. Lazaruk posted an impressive 69-44-9 record in the WHL, keeping his goals-against average consistently below 3.00. The Edmontonian dazzled with the Ice, particularly in 2007-08 when he posted an impressive 26-17-4 record with a 2.90 goals-against average and.910 save percentage and carried the Cranbrook-based squad to the second round of the WHL playoffs.