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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Open Season with Trip to Prince Albert

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


Training camp and preseason are in the rearview mirror and the Moose Jaw Warriors turn their focus to the games that count this weekend.

The Warriors open up the 2023-24 regular season on Friday night against the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.

"We're super pumped," Warriors second-year forward Lynden Lakovic said. "Our group has been waiting for this day, it's been circled on our calendar."

Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said the team has been focused throughout the week in practice.

"We fine tuned some details and most importantly, the energy and excitement is there, you can have a good start to the season with just that alone," he said.

The Warriors will open the season with a younger lineup with three key players - Captain Denton Mateychuk, Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager - still away at NHL training camps.

O'Leary said the Warriors will lean on the team's three 20-year-olds to lead the way heading into Prince Albert.

"They're three guys that grew up as Moose Jaw Warriors, they know the importance and the pride that they have for this organization and to have a good year this year, so it starts with them for sure," O'Leary said.

After two straight trips into the second round of the WHL Playoffs, Lakovic said the Warriors know the expectations that are on the team this season.

"We know it's not going to be easy, we're missing three of our top guys, so we've got to prove a lot to some people that we have depth and can win without those guys," he said.

Lakovic said sticking to the game plan will be key for the opening weekend.

"We just need to listen to what [O'Leary] says and then capitalize on our scoring chances," he said. "We didn't score a lot of goals in the preseason, but we created a lot and if we just capitalize on those, we'll be fine."

The Raiders are expected to be a team on the rise this season. O'Leary said they know that Prince Albert will give them a good test to start the season.

"They have some kill guys up front and whether they're younger or older, it doesn't matter, but we know they play a certain style," he said. "They make things real difficult through the neutral zone - the one, three, one - challenging you to manage pucks properly."

Lakovic said winning the physical game will be key for the Warriors.

"They're a heavy, physical team and Prince Albert is a small barn, the fans are really on top of you there, so if we win the physical part of the game, we have the talent to take over," he said.

The Warriors and Raiders square off at 7 p.m. on Friday night. You can catch the game on CHL TV at watch.chl.ca.

Moose Jaw returns home for the Mad Greek Home Opener against the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night.

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 22, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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