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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Battle Pats in Weekend Home-And-Home Set

December 17, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Focus can always be an issue in the final games before the Christmas break, but that won't be the case for the Moose Jaw Warriors this weekend.

The Warriors have a home-and-home series against the rival Regina Pats on tap.

"We're still checked in," Warriors forward Ryder Korczak said after Thursday's practice. "Regina, that's the biggest rivalry, so we're excited to play our last few games."

Moose Jaw is 1-2 so far this season in three meetings against Regina.

The Warriors are heading into this matchup expecting a hard fought game against the Pats.

"The Pats are a hard working team, they're competitive, so using our speed, that's the biggest thing for us," Korczak said.

Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said the Warriors are going to bring their work ethic to start the game and let their skill take over after that.

"They're a north-south, hardworking team," he said. "Their details are spot on, whether it's face-off details, what they're doing with and without the puck, they make it hard on teams, they stop at the net and they're willing to bang away for a second and third opportunity."

The Warriors are coming off a 5-4 overtime loss against the Saskatoon Blades on Tuesday, which moved Moose Jaw into a three-way logjam with Saskatoon and Brandon for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

O'Leary said he felt the Warriors were good enough to win that game, but just couldn't finish when needed.

"Early on, we had all kinds of real good looks, we were playing the right way and we came up empty handed, especially in the first period," he said. "That was another one of those games where we didn't capitalize when we should have and it came back and bit us at the end against a real opportunistic team."

Going into this weekend's two-game set against the Pats, O'Leary is confident that his team will respond and put together a solid finish to the pre-Christmas schedule.

"When you're playing against a team like Regina, as soon as the lights come on, it makes it pretty exciting," he said. "There's something special about playing Regina, they're always good games and I'm looking forward to it."

The Warriors and Pats meet on Friday in the Queen City at 7 p.m. to kick-off the home-and-home. Tune into all the action on Country 100, Voice of the Warriors, James Gallo will have the call, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40 p.m.

The two teams will meet again at Mosaic Place on Saturday night. Tickets are available at mjwarriors.ca or the Mosaic Place Box Office.

The first 700 kids through the door get a mini-stick thanks to our Game Sponsor, the Mad Greek. Fans will also have the opportunity to win free food for a year with the draw being made in the third period.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2021


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