PREVIEW – Busy weekend opens with battle against Brandon
LAST GAME… Red Deer scored three goals in the first period last Saturday and handed the Warriors a 5-1 loss at Peavey Mart Centrium. Ethan Semeniuk scored the Warriors’ only goal, Aiden Ziprick and Pavel McKenzie had one goal, and Josh Banini made 35 saves. Moose Jaw was 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Career year for Ziprick… 19-year-old defenceman Aiden Ziprick has 10 goals, 25 assists, and 35 points in 46 games, setting new single-season career highs in all three categories. Last year with Lethbridge and Moose Jaw, Ziprick had one goal, eight assists, and nine points in 54 games.
Semeniuk setting a new standard… 19-year-old Ethan Semeniuk has 13 goals, seven assists, and 20 points in 31 games this season. His 13 goals surpass his single-season high set in 2022 – 2023. He is four points back of his single-season high of 24 from last season.
January recap… Through twelve games this month, the Warriors have posted a record of 1-9-1-1. They are 0-5-1-1 at home and 1-4 on the road. They are averaging 2.1 goals a game and 4.8 goals against. The power play is 9-for-37 (24.3%) and the penalty kill has allowed 13 goals on 42 opportunities (69.0%).
Shots… In 46 games this season, the Warriors have been outshot by the opponent 37 times, the most in the WHL. In these games, their record is 5-28-2-2. Moose Jaw has outshot its opponents in seven games; their record is 3-2-2.
Opposition Preview… Brandon starts the weekend seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 23-16-3-2. They are 5-5 in their last ten games and coming off a 7-2 win over Red Deer on Wednesday. Nolan Flamand leads Brandon with 32 assists and 48 points, Marcus Nguyen has 23 goals and 43 points, and Luke Shipley has 30 points.
2024 – 2025 vs. Brandon… This is the fourth meeting of the season between the Warriors and Wheat Kings. Moose Jaw is 1-2 against Brandon, they are 0-1 at home and 1-1 on the road. The Warriors are 2-for-10 on the power play (20%) and have allowed four goals on ten penalty kills (60%).
Lynden Lakovic leads the Warriors with three goals and four points against the Wheat Kings, Aiden Ziprick has one goal and three points, Connor Schmidt has two goals, and Pavel McKenzie has one goal.
Marcus Nguyen leads the Wheat Kings with two goals and five points against the Warriors, Roger McQueen has four goals, Luke Shipley has one goal and four points, Joby Baumuller and Quinn Mantei have four assists each, Nolan Flamand has two goals and three points, Caleb Hadland has one goal and three points, and Nicholas Johnson has three assists. Ethan Eskit is 1-0-0-1 with a 2.88gaa and an.889sv%.
Central Scouting… Five Moose Jaw Warriors appear on NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings. Lynden Lakovic is 12th among North American skaters, Noah Degenstein is 143rd, Connor Schmidt sits 206th, and Aiden Ziprick is 221st. Import forward Dominik Pavlik is ranked 60th among international skaters.
Streaking
- Landen McFadden has 2-3-5pts in the last 11 games
- Connor Schmidt has 0-3-3pts in the last seven games
- Ethan Semeniuk has 7-2-9pts in the last 10 games
- Luke Moroz has 0-5-5pts in the last eight games
- Pavel McKenzie has 5-6-11pts in the last 14 games
- Aiden Ziprick has 3-4-7pts in the last eight games
- Krzysztof Macias has 2-0-2pts in the last three games
Milestone Watch
- Connor Schmidt is seven games away from 100 for his career
- Krzysztof Macis is five games away from 100 for his career
- Ethan Semeniuk is nine games away from 200 for his career