WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Open Final Week of Regular Season in Winnipeg

March 22, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Winnipeg, MB - The Moose Jaw Warriors have just three games remaining in the regular season, but there's plenty still on the line for the Squadron as they open the final week of the regular season.

"This time of year is exciting, all the guys are excited for it and to finish strong with these last three games and go into playoffs with some confidence," Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk.

The Warriors will open the final week of the regular season needing one more point to secure home ice advantage in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

"We're looking to go 3-0 here for the final week of the season, that will be big for our group just going into the playoffs feeling good and also to lock up fourth place," Warriors forward Atley Calvert said.

The first test of the final week is a big one as the Warriors travel into Winnipeg to face-off with the ICE.

Moose Jaw has yet to win at the Wayne Fleming Arena since the ICE moved from Cranbrook to Winnipeg, but the team is focused on changing that this time around.

"They always seem to just have a little extra step in their game when we're here," Mateychuk said. "We played them pretty good last time we were here, we had a good game against them and now we're just going to try and build off that."

The Warriors are coming off a split of their home-and-home set against the Regina Pats last weekend with the road team winning each game.

Moose Jaw put together a strong performance in each game, heavily outshooting Regina.

Calvert said just building off those two games will be the Warriors' focus this week.

"This season we've struggled with putting pucks on net, sometimes we overcomplicate it, but we did a good job of putting pucks on net last weekend," he said.

"We're playing some good hockey right now, last weekend we felt like we put together two pretty solid games, so we're looking to build on that and build on the details of the game and clean up some things going into Winnipeg."

The ICE have locked up the East Division and Eastern Conference titles with 55-9-1-0 record this season. The Warriors are 2-2-0-1 against the ICE this season.

Mateychuk said limiting Winnipeg's chances in transition will be key to their success.

"It starts with a good gap for the defencemen and forwards making sure they're cutting the ice in half in the neutral zone," he said. "That's a pretty important thing, not giving them extra space because when you give them extra space, they've got some pretty talented players and pretty good skaters."

The Warriors and ICE face-off at the Wayne Fleming Arena at 6 p.m. MDT on Wednesday night.

Moose Jaw finishes the regular season this weekend with a road game in Prince Albert on Friday and then they host Saskatoon on Saturday.

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