The Moose Jaw Warriors will head into next weekend still seeking their first win of the Western Hockey League pre-season, but that isn’t much of a concern for the Western Hockey League club at the moment.
The Warriors dropped a 3-1 decision in Swift Current on Saturday night, 24 hours after falling 5-4 in the exhibition opener for both squads at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Nathan Pilling scored the lone goal for Moose Jaw at the 2:06 mark of the second period, and despite outshooting the Broncos 31-28, that would be all the offence the Warriors would be able to manage on the night.
Of course, the whole thing comes with a huge caveat.
Both teams went with an exceptionally young line-up on Saturday, as was the case in the previous game, with the goal of giving as many up-and-coming players as possible a chance to get a taste of WHL play.
To that end, it was mission accomplished, and Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary was happy with what he saw from his crew even with the two-goal loss.
“It’s all in the mindset going in of what you’re trying to get out of each game and we’re very aware of the fact we went very young Friday night and even younger Saturday night,” he said. “I think it’s important to get these guys experience when you can and it’s about using these games as a jump-off point to where we want to be in the regular season.
“So the results really aren’t that important, it’s more about that process along the way.”
That process includes steady improvement, and the Warriors have already seen that from a good number of their players.
“I think the group looked pretty good,” O’Leary said. “There are guys who have played well from strong training camps, guys like Ben Riche and Nathan Pilling, I think they’ve started really well for us and that’s really exciting moving forward. For the 15-year-olds coming in, I’m really pleased with them, it’s exciting to see what’s coming down the pipe for a couple years in the future. Overall, the coaching staff is really happy with the steps we’ve seen so far.”
The most important aspect for every team in the WHL is establishing the team identity at this time of year. That’s no different for the Warriors, who are carrying a very familiar theme into the 2022-23 campaign for anyone who follows the team -- compete and be relentless, every single night.
“That’s as big as anything, re-establishing the culture and environment and what we’re all about,” O’Leary said. “That’s that relentless compete level and races and battles and I think we saw that in two games. The results weren’t there, but in terms of a result and playing a certain way with that relentless mindset, that was there right from the 15-year-olds to our older guys and that’s most important.”
The Warriors will have a young crew for the next little while, too, including the two-game home-and-home set with the Brandon Wheat Kings next weekend. That’s because six of their NHL-drafted and tryout players will be off to their respective camps and tournaments this week -- Cole Jordan (Calgary Flames), Max Wanner (Edmonton Oilers), Martin Rysavy (Columbus Blue Jackets), Atley Calvert (Buffalo Sabres), Eric Alarie (Los Angeles Kings) and Denton Mateychuk (Columbus Blue Jackets). Jagger Firkus is off to Seattle Kraken camp on Saturday.
“It’s a little different this year with how NHL camps line up with the regular season, so we might be a bit thin at the start, but it’s a real good opportunity for other guys to play in positions they otherwise wouldn’t have,” O’Leary said. “With us, those are just circumstances and they won’t change the standards of how we play and how we prepare.”
Justen Maric turned aside 25 shots in taking the loss Saturday, Joey Rocha had 30 saves for the Broncos.
Ty Coupland, Rylan Gould and Connor Hvidston scored for Swift Current.
Next action for the Warriors is Friday, Sept. 16 when they host Brandon. Game time is 7 p.m. at Moose Jaw Events Centre.
