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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Preview: Warriors Finish First Half with a Trans-Canada Clash

December 15, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Moose Jaw, SK - The Moose Jaw Warriors will be aiming to close out the first half on a high note on Friday night.

Moose Jaw won't have to look far for motivation as they prepare for a rivalry game against the Regina Pats at the Hangar.

"That's huge for us," Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said. "After last game [a 5-2 loss to Spokane], we're going to be ready to go and we know that we need to bounce back."

The Warriors have a sour taste in their mouth after a three-goal loss on home ice Tuesday night to the Spokane Chiefs, which is their only win on their East Division road trip so far.

The Chiefs went into Regina the next night and lost 4-3 in a shootout.

Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said Tuesday's game was a good lesson for the team.

"Winning in this league is hard, you take your foot off the gas for one second and there's teams ready to take advantage," he said. "Luckily, we had some practice time to go over that and we'll be better for it."

With back-to-back losses, the Warriors sit at 19-12-0-0, which has them in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Going into a 12-day break for the holidays on a winning note will be big for the squad.

"We know that this is a big one going into the second half and it's also against the Pats, so it brings a little extra edge," Mateychuk said.

"Our conference is pretty tight, there's five or six teams that fee like they have a real shot at this and we're one of them and so is Regina, so taking care of business against those teams is important," O'Leary added.

The Pats have gone 8-2 in their last ten games, but will be without two key players on Friday with Connor Bedard and Sebastian Svozil away for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Despite that, the Warriors know they will be tested against the Pats.

"They're still dangerous," Mateychuk said. "They're a hard team to play against, they've got a lot of offensive threats, so you just got to be ready for that."

The Warriors are 3-1-0-0 in four meetings with the Pats this season.

O'Leary said even without Bedard, the Warriors need to play a sound defensive game against Regina.

"They're dangerous off the rush, there power play - they have guys that can finish, but they play hard," he said. "We can match them player for player skill-wise, but our effort, our compete and our diligence in the work areas, start-to-finish, needs to be there."

The Warriors and Pats face-off at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Can't make it to the game? Tune into the game on Country 100 and IKS Media Warriors Live, starting with the Pre-Game Show on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook at 6:45 p.m.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2022


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