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WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

Yager Putting up Impressive Numbers at 16 Years Old

January 27, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


When it comes to the highest scoring 16-year-old seasons in Moose Jaw Warriors' history, Brayden Yager is moving into the company of legends.

After posting two goals and a career-high five points in the Warriors' 8-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday, Yager now has 20 goals and 39 points in 37 games this season.

His goal and point totals have him fifth in franchise history.

Currently, Yager is two goals behind Chad Hinz and Brett Howden, who played 70 and 68 games respectively.

He's four goals back of Brayden Point's total in 67 games and just nine goals away from Theo Fleury's franchise record for goals by a 16-year-old of 29, which he accomplished in 71 games.

Fleury posted 75 points in his 16-year-old season, which gave him 1.06 points per game in 1984-85.

Yager is currently scoring at a similar pace with a 1.05 points per game rate.

Moose Jaw Warriors Highest Scoring 16-year-olds

YEAR GP G A PTS PT/GP

1 Theo Fleury 1984-85 71 29 46 75 1.06

2 Brayden Point 2012-13 67 24 33 57 0.85

3 Chad Hinz 1995-96 70 22 32 54 0.77

4 Brett Howden 2014-15 68 22 24 46 0.68

5 Brayden Yager 2021-22 37 20 19 39 1.05

6 Ryan Smyth 1992-93 64 19 14 33 0.52

7 Quinton Howden 2008-09 62 13 17 30 0.48

8 Curtis Brown 1992-93 71 13 16 29 0.41

9 Riley Holzapfel 2004-05 63 15 13 28 0.44

10 Dustin Boyd 2002-03 63 11 17 28 0.44

To his credit, the Saskatoon product said he's not focusing on his point total.

"I'm trying to play a good 200-foot game and if I can do the little things right, the points will come," Yager said after practice on Thursday.

Yager currently leads all 2005-born players in the Canadian Hockey League in goals and points.

He sits second in goals and third points among rookies in the Western Hockey League.

"That's pretty cool, there's a lot of great 16 year olds, so to be up there is pretty cool," Yager said.

With 27 games left in the regular season, Yager has a chance to post more goals and points than any 16-year-old in Warriors' history.

He said he's just going to keep focusing on improving his overall game and believes there's room for improvement in all aspects of his game.

"I didn't really have a number coming into the season, I just wanted to play my best, so obviously it's really nice," Yager said.

"[Warriors head coach Mark O'Leary] has been pretty hard on me in the defensive zone, knowing where to be, so I've tried to touch down on that a little bit and I'm doing a good job."

Yager has been playing with Jagger Firkus, who is equally putting up impressive numbers in his 17-year-old season with 25 goals and 51 points in 41 games.

The duo has played together for most of the past two seasons and are building a dangerous connection.

"He's a pretty creative guy, he's got really good vision and an unbelievable shot, so if we can get each other the puck, it's going to go in eventually," Yager said.

As a team, the Warriors are currently on their longest winning streak of the season with victories in four straight games.

They swept their three-game Alberta road trip, winning in Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.

"It's fun when you're winning, so I thought we played really good all three games and as the weekend went on, we got even better," Yager said.

Yager and the Warriors will look to keep their roll going heading into games against Winnipeg and Regina this weekend.

Check out the Moose Jaw Warriors Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2022


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