WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

'One Period at a Time': Warriors Focused Heading into Winnipeg for Game 1

Published on April 13, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


The opponent is changing, the style of play will need to be different, but the mindset remains the same for the Moose Jaw Warriors heading into their second round series with the Winnipeg ICE.

"One period at a time, that's simple, but if you keep it simple, things tend to work out in your favour," Warriors goalie Connor Ungar said.

After losing out to the ICE in the second round last season, the Warriors are looking forward to another shot at the Western Hockey League's top team this time around.

"It's a big series for us," Warriors defenceman Max Wanner said. "We're looking to get revenge for what happened last year, but they're a good team, they're a fast team and it will be a nice challenge for us."

Ungar's play between the pipes was key for the Warriors in their first round sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The 20-year-old netminder posted a 1.29 goals against average and a 0.953 save percentage in the four wins against Lethbridge.

"I feel confident and it's just important that I keep making my game better and helping the team out in whatever way I can," Ungar said.

Ungar and the Warriors' defence, which put together a strong first round, will be even more key against Winnipeg's high-powered offence.

Winnipeg led the WHL in goals with 325 during the regular season and play a quick transition game that can led to big offensive swings.

"We've got a nice top-four on our team, we're confident in our top-four and we've got a real solid goaltender in Ungar, so we should be able to do good against them," Wanner said.

"We just have to clog it up in the neutral zone, keep numbers back, so they don't have odd numbers on the rush."

Winnipeg's style of play will be a stark contrast to what the Warriors faced in the first round against Lethbridge.

"Lethbridge is a heavy team, they like to go low to high and Winnipeg is more off the rush, they've got some guys who can score, so it will be interesting for us to see how we defend against a team like that, but I'm really excited for the challenge."

The Warriors finished 3-2-0-1 against Winnipeg in the regular season, going 2-1 at home and 1-1-0-1 on the road.

"We established that we know we can win both in our rink and in their rink and we know that's going to be important here in this series," Ungar said.

Going into Winnipeg for Game 1 on Friday night, Wanner said the Warriors need to set the tone.

"We don't want to give them a quick lead or anything like that, so we'll try and make our presence known off the start, hopefully a big goal or a big hit to help set the tone," Wanner said.

The Warriors and ICE meet for Games 1 and 2 in Winnipeg this weekend before the series shifts to Moose Jaw for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 13, 2023


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