The Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors will open the 2023-24 Sask Male AAA Hockey League season at home, but will need to put together a solid series of showings on the road if they’re to have a shot at landing a spot in the prestigious Circle K Classic AAA tournament
Of their first 11 games leading into the first week of November-- traditionally the cut-off for the Classic -- the Warriors will play five at home, meaning they’ll need plenty of wins on the road to have a shot at the top four in the SMAAAHL and a spot in the tournament.
The Classic was formerly known as the Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament and is one of the top scouting opportunities for players at the AAA and Canadian Sport School level, with the event taking place the week after Christmas.
The Warriors first hit the ice for four exhibition games in September, travelling to Regina on Sept. 9, hosting Swift Current on Sept. 13, hosting Regina on Sept. 15 and travelling to Swift Current on Sept. 17.
The regular season begins on Friday, Sept. 22 when the Warriors host the Battlefords Stars for back-to-back games, kicking off a run of four straight home games leading into October.
Moose Jaw will play six of their eight games that month on the road, and only five of their 17 games through October and November will be at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Things get a lot more busy locally in December, though, as six of their seven games are at home, including four straight from Dec. 8 leading into the Christmas break on Dec. 16.
January will be the best month for AAA fans to catch up to their team -- seven of their 10 games are at home, and they’ll have a busy stretch of four games in a week from Jan. 13 to Jan. 21.
Of course, all that time in friendly confines has to balance out, and February will take care of that. The Warriors play their first game of the month at home but are on the road for six games to close out the regular season, including the finale on Sunday, Feb. 25 in Yorkton.
The playoffs will begin in the last week of February, with the Telus Cup West Regional taking place in Winnipeg Apr. 4-7 and Telus Cup national championship Apr. 22-24 in Cape Breton, N.S.
You can follow along with all the scores from the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors all season by visiting www.smaaahl.com.
