Heading into the Lethbridge Minor Hockey U18 AA tournament this past weekend, the Moose Jaw Warriors found themselves on a bit of a roll.
The Saskatchewan AA Hockey League crew had picked up wins in their last three league games and had seen their record creep closer to .500 after a tough start to the season, a sign that things were coming around.
Little did they know that their recent league success was about to translate into tournament hardware.
The Warriors went unbeaten through five games and defeated the West Kootenay Crusaders 3-1 in the gold medal game to come home with the tournament championship.
It all began with a perfect run through their three round robin games, with a 6-2 win over the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hounds and 1-0 win against West Kootenay.
Goaltender Casson Silbernagel was the player of the game in Moose Jaw’s opener, with forward Layne Gadd taking the honour in game two and assistant captain Nolan Kearns was their top player in the narrow win over the Crusaders.
Their 3-0 record was naturally good enough for the semifinal, where they’d battle to a 5-3 win over the Red Deer Elks. Captain Ben King would take top player honours for the Warriors in that game, and defenceman Aiden MacDonald was the player of the game in the gold medal contest.
It’s been an up-and-down regular season for the Warriors thus far, as they opened with losses in four of their first five games and had lost five straight before putting together their three-game winning streak.
Their recent league run began on Nov. 5 with a 6-3 win over the Notre Dame Hounds, followed by a 4-1 win over Notre Dame on Nov. 12 and a 5-3 victory over the Regina Vics on Nov. 19.
The Warriors went into their game on Wednesday against Weyburn with a 6-9-1-1 record and had climbed up to sixth place in the South Sask division standings.
Kearns has played a big role in their success as he’s put up more than two points a game thus far and leads the SAAHL U18 league in scoring with 20 goals and 35 points in 17 games.
That includes an ongoing six-game scoring streak where Kearns has 18 points, with 13 of those coming in the Warriors' last three games -- four goals and five points on Nov. 5, two goals and four points on Nov. 12 and four goals on Nov. 19.
Kayden Berry is also in the top 10, with 15 goals and 24 points in 15 games, while Theo Watteyne is 14th in league scoring with five goals and 21 points.
The Warriors return to action on Thursday, Dec. 7 when they host the Regina Capitals. Game time is 7:45 p.m. at the Bert Hunt.
