WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Despite 1-2 Record, Warriors Pleased with Alberta Road Trip

Published on December 6, 2021 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


There were plenty of positives and some learning experiences for the Moose Jaw Warriors on their longest road trip of the season so far.

The Warriors picked up one win and two losses during their three games in three nights road trip to Alberta last week.

"Our game against Calgary wasn't our best game, we'll put that behind us, but Friday, we came out against Red Deer, buzzing around, we played well, we were playing as a team, we were having fun, so it was great," Warriors forward Jagger Firkus said.

Moose Jaw opened the road trip with a game to forget, falling 7-1 in Calgary, but the team responded with a big 4-0 shutout win in Red Deer on Friday.

Then on Saturday in Edmonton, the Warriors played a back-and-forth game against the Oil Kings, but fell to the veteran squad, 7-4.

Edmonton and Red Deer are the top-two teams in the Central Division and Firkus said playing them hard is what the Warriors will look to build off going into this week.

"Red Deer is a really good team, they're well built, they have good size and they're fast, we played really well against them and then Edmonton, same thing, we played really well, we just weren't scoring on our chances and we gave them too many chances," he said.

Friday's game in Red Deer saw 16-year-old goalie Jackson Unger register his first career WHL shutout in only his second career start.

The Calgary product turned away all 30 shots that he faced to secure the shutout on the Rebels' Teddy Bear Toss night.

"It was awesome, first win, first shutout all in one game, it couldn't have gone any better," Unger said.

"There was some nerves, Calgary wasn't a great game for anybody and I let in three goals pretty quick there, but stuck with it and just battled through and it came out really well in the end."

Unger was fresh off representing Canada at the 2021 Capital City Challenge earlier in the week, posting tournament-best numbers in goal against average and save percentage.

He said he felt really good about his game coming back to the Warriors.

"The top-66 [2005-born players] and they're all in the CHL and WHL as well, so I played against some of them and it helped a lot, got my confidence up and just felt really good," he said.

Coming out of the weekend, the Warriors hold an 11-12-1-1 record, which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Saskatoon Blades.

Firkus said the Warriors need to keep playing with speed going into this week.

"Just getting pucks behind the d-men and going to work there and making sure we're using our offensive skill as soon as we get the puck in the zone," he said,

The Warriors are back on home ice coming up on Wednesday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings at Mosaic Place.

The team's Teddy Bear and Toque Toss game is also coming up on Saturday night against the Swift Current Broncos.

Tickets for both games are available at mjwarriors.ca or the Mosaic Place Box Office.

Also coming up this week is the WHL Prospects Draft, which goes on Thursday. The WHL US Prospects Draft will be held on Wednesday morning. Check back for more on both drafts throughout the week.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central