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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Preview: Warriors Return to Home Ice to Host Brandon

December 8, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


The Moose Jaw Warriors are coming back to Mosaic Place with a boost of confidence after a strong showing over the final two games of its three-game Alberta road trip last week.

Moose Jaw went 1-2 on the trip to the Central Division, but finished with two strong games against the division's top teams - a 4-0 win in Red Deer on Friday and a 7-4 loss in Edmonton on Saturday.

"I was proud of the group in terms of how we responded after the tough one in Calgary," Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said.

"We got up quick and had one of our best outings of the season against a really good Red Deer team and turning it over to Edmonton, we started the game really well, the Teddy Bear Toss, that was the start of a roll in the other direction, but I liked our fight and our compete."

The Warriors will now prepare to face the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday night. Brandon is coming to Moose Jaw for a midweek game for the second straight week.

The Warriors skated to a 4-3 shootout win over the Wheat Kings last Tuesday to kick off their busy week, which saw them collect four out of a possible eight points against four strong teams.

O'Leary said is a positive step for the team.

"The group did a pretty good job," he said.

Ryder Korczak leads the Warriors with 26 points so far this season.

He said the way that the team played against the Rebels and Oil Kings a good sign for the team moving forward.

"You see the standings, they're up there, so yeah, I think that gives us a little bit of confidence knowing that we can play with those top teams and keep it close," Korczak said.

The road trip started with a hard 7-1 loss in Calgary, which saw every bounce go against the Warriors throughout that game.

The Warriors learned from that experience and are hoping to use their strong play in Red Deer and Edmonton as a blueprint heading down the stretch of the first half.

"It starts with being on the right side of the puck," O'Leary said. "We're a real strong forechecking team, when we don't have the puck, we want to get it back in a hurry and when we're at our best, we're hounding pucks, we're attacking pucks and we're doing it with layers on the right side of the puck."

Going into Wednesday's matchup with Brandon, Korczak said the Warriors need to look to how they played in their shutout win over the Rebels.

"We were fast, we were supporting our D zone, chipping pucks, supporting pucks, that's a big part going against Brandon, they're a big team," he said.

The Wheat Kings are coming off a 6-4 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers at home on Tuesday, which moved them one point in front of Moose Jaw for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Warriors and Wheat Kings hit the ice at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at Mosaic Place. ‚¬Â¨Tune into all the action with WHL Live, the IKS Media Warriors Live broadcast kicks off with the Mosaic Pre-Game Show at 6:50 p.m.

You can also catch the game on Country 100, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40 p.m.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2021


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