Preview: Warriors Prepare to Host Broncos in Assiniboia
September 8, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release
For the first time ever, the Moose Jaw Warriors will be playing a home game in Assiniboia.
The Warriors are getting set to host the Swift Current Broncos for a preseason matchup at the Southland Co-op Centre, which is sold out for the Saturday night battle.
"It should be a pretty cool experience," Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said after practice on Friday. "My billets have talked about how nice that rink is, so we're pretty excited to play in there."
Assiniboia is home to a team in the Prairie Junior Hockey League as well as a senior division team, but this will be the first Western Hockey League action to come to the southern Saskatchewan town.
"It's good to bring hockey to those places that don't have WHL teams, that's a good thing for their community to see and maybe we can create some more fans for the Warriors," Mateychuk said.
The Warriors are coming off a 7-2 loss in Swift Current on Thursday to open up the WHL exhibition schedule.
That game featured a large group of players seeing their first WHL action for the Warriors. Moose Jaw is expected to dress a few more veterans for Saturday's contest.
Mateychuk said it will be a good experience for younger defencemen, Aaron Sawatzky and William Degagne, the team's first two picks from this year's WHL Prospects Draft, to see how he prepares for a game.
"I remember when I was in their situation, I wanted to take away as much as I could from my first camp, watching guys like Daemon Hunt, Cole Jordan, those guys, I wanted to learn as much as I could," he said.
Mateychuk is getting set to head off to his second training camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets next week.
He said getting into a preseason game before leaving for the NHL camp will help.
"It will be good getting in a real action game before heading to camp because the first thing is a rookie tournament, so it will be good to get in some competitive games and just try to take away good habits from that," Mateychuk said.
"Don't try to treat it like it's a preseason game, treat it like it's a regular season game and every game matters."
The Warriors and Broncos face-off at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in Assiniboia.
Western Hockey League Stories from September 8, 2023
- Winterhawks Announce 2023 Preseason Roster - Portland Winterhawks
- Six Different Chiefs Score in 8-6 Win over Seattle Friday Afternoon - Spokane Chiefs
- Preview: Warriors Prepare to Host Broncos in Assiniboia - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Rockets To Drop The Puck On Preseason Against Kamloops - Kelowna Rockets
- Owen Chapman Signs WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with Winterhawks - Portland Winterhawks
- Wild Open Home Schedule Saturday with Preseason Kids' Day Tilt against Tri-City - Wenatchee Wild
- Max Threinen Signs WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with Cougars - Prince George Cougars
- Broncos Sign Doyle to Scholarship and Development Agreement - Swift Current Broncos
- Giants Preseason Roster Set with 32 Players - Vancouver Giants
- Royals Release Pre-Season Roster - Victoria Royals
- Giants Sign Caden Cail to WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement - Vancouver Giants
- Complimentary Parking Announced for September 16 - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Wheat Kings Open Preseason with Home-And-Home against Pats - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Silvertips Announce 2023-24 Preseason Roster - Everett Silvertips
- Levi Green Signs with Rebels - Red Deer Rebels
- Tate Dolinsky Signs with Rebels - Red Deer Rebels
- Five Royals' Players Heading to NHL Camps - Victoria Royals
- Blazers Sign Forward Bryce Minten to WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement - Kamloops Blazers
- Warriors Fall to Broncos in Preseason Opener - Moose Jaw Warriors
- McCagherty Leads the Way as Broncos Down Warriors in Pre-Season Opener - Swift Current Broncos
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.
