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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Warriors Ready for Challenge against ICE in Second Round

April 11, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


After almost a week of waiting, the Moose Jaw Warriors finally know who their second round opponent will be.

For the second straight playoffs, the Warriors will meet up with the top-ranked Winnipeg ICE in the second round.

"It's a perfect match-up for us," Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary said. "The way that last season ended, with so many of our guys returning, a lot of their guys returning, it should be a great series and we're looking forward to the challenge."

The Warriors lost in five games to the ICE last season, giving an much older team a good push throughout all five games.

Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said Moose Jaw will be looking for redemption in this year's series.

"They're the team that knocked us out the before and it definitely leaves a sour taste," he said. "We didn't play our best and we learned from that last year."

Both the Warriors and ICE have been off since last week after finishing off sweeps of their first round opponents.

With their second round match-up now set, the Warriors were getting to work on preparing for the challenge in front of them.

"They're a good team, they've been number one for two years, so they know how to put the puck in the net," Warriors forward Ryder Korczak said. "We have to learn how to manage pucks against them, they're quick off the rush, their power play is good, so we've got to be disciplined for sure."

The Warriors won the regular season series against the ICE, going 3-2-0-1, which included the team's first ever win in Winnipeg in their final meeting of the regular season on Mar. 22.

O'Leary said the Warriors will look at what went well and what didn't against Winnipeg this season.

"In both the wins and the losses, you can always learn something and a big part of that is our puck management, so that will be front and centre with our preparations here this week," he said.

While it's a different opponent on tap, the Warriors will be keeping the same mindset that served them well during their first round sweep of Lethbridge.

"Whether we win or we lose, we just reset and we go at it again," O'Leary said.

The Warriors will travel to Winnipeg for Game 1 on Friday and Game 2 on Saturday. The series will then shift to Moose Jaw for Game 3 next Tuesday and Game 4 next Wednesday.

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