WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Face Blades in Key Playoff Positioning Battle

Published on March 31, 2022 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


The Moose Jaw Warriors will be aiming to accomplish two things when they travel into the Bridge City on Friday night.

The Warriors are looking to rebound from Tuesday's lopsided loss in Winnipeg, while at the same time give themselves more breathing room in the battle for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

"This team is a bunch of battlers, we can always battle back after a loss that we haven't played great," Warriors goalie Carl Tetachuk said.

Moose Jaw gave up four goals in the opening eight minutes of Tuesday's game against the ICE.

Putting together strong starts has been a strength of the Warriors' game this season and the team knows it needs to come out of the gate hot against the Blades on Friday night.

"We have to be ready earlier," Jagger Firkus, Warriors' leading scorer, said. "Going against Saskatoon, they're fast and they come out fast as well, so we've got to be able to hold their pressure coming at us and attacking them."

The Warriors head into Friday's game in Saskatoon with a three-point lead on the Blades for fourth place, and home-ice advantage in the first round of the 2022 WHL Playoffs.

Moose Jaw is 2-4-1 against Saskatoon this season, but handed them a 7-0 beating in their last meeting, last Saturday at Mosaic Place.

Tetachuk said the Warriors need to come out with the same mentality they had in that last meeting.

"We're going to approach this game pretty hungry, looking for a W," he said. "They're a good team, so we've got to play their top lines hard and it's good to prepare for the playoffs."

The Blades are led by Kyle Crnkovic and Tristen Robins, who have 89 and 75 points, respectively.

Saskatoon's top duo was held without a point and finished a combined minus-three in last Saturday's win.

Defenceman Majid Kaddoura said the Warriors will need to repeat their game plan on Crnkovic and Robins.

"Just play them hard," he said. "In the last game in our building, we played them hard, didn't really give them anything, stayed tight on them and when we play them hard, they shy away."

Kaddoura said for Moose Jaw to have success, they will need to control the neutral zone.

"Obviously they have a lot of skill and they'll beat you on the rush, so we've got to stay tight on our guys and play our system and we'll be fine," he said.

The Warriors and Blades face-off at 7 p.m. on Friday night at SaskTel Centre.

Tune into all the action live on Country 100, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40 p.m.

Moose Jaw will return home on Saturday night for the final home game of the regular season against the Winnipeg ICE.

It's Yara Awards Night as the Warriors honour the team's top performers from the 2021-22 regular season. The awards ceremony starts at 6:50 p.m.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2022


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