WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Back Home to Host Rival Pats on Friday Night

Published on March 7, 2024 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Moose Jaw, SK - After two weeks on the road, the Moose Jaw Warriors return home to the Hangar this weekend.

The Warriors come home to face the Regina Pats riding a six-game winning streak after sweeping their games in the U.S. Division.

"It was really good to into their rinks and get a couple of wins," Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said. "The road trip didn't start exactly how we wanted with a couple of losses, but then we found our game and didn't let up."

Moose Jaw built momentum throughout the U.S. Division, starting with two lopsided wins in Tri-City and Spokane before back-and-forth victories over Portland and Everett.

The Warriors ended the busy trek by topping Seattle and Wenatchee in some hard-fought games at the end of eight games and 14 days on the road.

Head coach Mark O'Leary said it was good to see the team win games in different ways during the trip.

"When you do it different ways, but you're still playing to your structure, that's real positive," he said.

"Depending on who you're playing, the games might be a little bit different, but managing the game and making the right decisions at the right time, we did a good job of that, consistently, and that was a big part of the six wins."

The road trip also served as a good opportunity for the new players acquired around the trade deadline in January to settle into the group.

"When you're with the same guys for two weeks, you get to learn some things that you didn't really know and that's great, especially right before the playoffs, to get to know guys that you didn't know great a little bit better," Mateychuk said.

Coming back home, the Warriors will face two tough challenges this weekend, starting with the Regina Pats coming to town on Friday night.

The Pats are also returning from their U.S. Division road trip which saw them have a different fate than the Warriors, going 0-6 during the trip.

O'Leary said they know that they will be facing a hungry Regina squad on Friday.

"Even the games that they lost [on the road trip], they were hard fought games that they were in until the end and that's how they play," he said. "They're younger in their development and they're going to have stretches where the offence isn't there, but we know they check hard."

The Warriors and Pats meet at 7 p.m. on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Moose Jaw will also play host to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night.

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2024


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