By Rita Mingo, The Calgary Herald

After giving professional hockey the old college try, Kevin King's eager to give college a try.

King is the newest member of the University of Calgary hockey squad, joining the Dinos for the second half of their Canada West campaign.

This is the 6-foot-1 forward's third team of the season, having spent time with both the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League and the Elmira Jackals of the East Coast Hockey League.

It is in the state of New York that his dream of playing pro evaporated.

"As soon as you start playing hockey, your dream is to play in the NHL,'' King explained. "It's all glamorous for the best players in the league. They're the ones getting the most money.

"But when it gets down to it, you're just basically a number and you can get shipped to different cities at the tip of a hat. It's tough to get your bearings and have a place to call home.

"I have no regrets trying it out.

"I went in with a positive attitude and worked as hard as I could.''

King was an integral part of the Kootenay Ice team that won the Western Hockey League championship last season, made it to the Memorial Cup and lost in the semifinal round.

He took advantage of the scholarship offered by the WHL and, after listening to overtures from various schools, chose Calgary.

"They have a lot to offer and it's exciting,'' said King, who has appeared in four games.

"This is my third team I've played with this year, so it is tough to get used to different players and different systems that the coaches have in place.

"The transition here has been quite easy; it's a great group of guys in the dressing room. This league is underestimated as far as how good it is, that's for sure.''

While with the Ice last season, King scored 33 goals and it's that nose for the net that Dinos coach Mark Howell will want to exploit.

"I think Kevin is a quality player, first of all, and secondly he comes from a winning program in Kootenay,'' Howell noted.

"He was a leader on that team and anytime you can get a leader out of a championship program . . . those people learn to do things a certain way and that's important for us.

"He's a guy that skates really well, handles the puck well, competes hard and understands the game at a high level.''

"I'm hoping to bring leadership down the road,'' King, 22, added. "Right now make an immediate impact as far as scoring and maybe bring the level of intensity up in practice and games.

"Adding offence is what I'm looking to do.''

This weekend will be a good place to start as the Dinos host UBC, 9-7-2, in a twogame set.

The Thunderbirds are one point back of Calgary, which currently sits in fourth spot with a 10-9-1 record. The Dinos are seven points behind second-place Alberta.

For a team that made it to the CIS nationals last season, expectations were high, but the season hasn't unfolded like Howell hoped it would.

"It's been a real inconsistent year so far. I think injuries have been a part of that.

"We just have to be better, the entire group. We've got eight games left and there are some desperate times in front for us. More than likely, we're going to have to play some playoff games on the road; we put ourselves in that position.

"Hopefully, we can learn right away what we're playing for: a chance to go to the national championship. We just need to get our game in order.''

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