Team Effort Has Led To Success
The Moose Jaw Warriors needed a complete team effort to get them through a tough first round series against Prince Albert and they’ll need that to continue moving into the next round.
The Warriors’ top players did their jobs in the opening round, scoring the goals to get them past the Raiders, but the role players, up front especially, also played their part by providing some good spark for the team.
“I just try to bring energy to the team, be a physical presence out there and when I get my opportunities make the most of it,” said 17-year-old forward Ryan Bowen. “If the opportunity comes, I’ll try to get a goal here or there, but just trying to take it all in.”
Bowen, like many Warriors, made his WHL Playoff debut in their opening series against Prince Albert. He finished with no points in three games, but played a key part in the Warriors finding success, especially after import forward Nikita Popugaev was injured in Game 1 against Prince Albert.
The Warriors employed a revolving door of young players on the wing of their third line after Popugaev went down and each player, be it Bowen, Landon Quinney, Brayden Watts or Blake Bargar, provided something for the team.
“Every chance I get to go out there, I just give 100 percent and try to bring some energy for the guys,” said Watts, who is still looking for his first playoff point.
Watts added that his first taste of playoff hockey was something he was looking forward to and it lived up to expectations.
“It’s way more intense, in the regular season, you have game after game, but in the playoffs, there’s a lot more on the line,” said the Bakersfield, California native.
“It took my first shift to realize how much more intense it was, but I think I handled it well and tried to pick up my intensity as well and just beat the guy that I was playing against.”
Bowen missed the opening two games of the series with an upper body injury suffered in the final week of the regular season. He’s feeling 100 percent now and up to full speed.
The Tribe has been able to rest up over the past few days as they awaited the first round to finish up. They now know their opponent, Brandon, and the starting date for their second round series, which is Friday.
It will be a week in-between games for the Warriors, while Brandon is coming off four straight wins over Edmonton to knock them out in six games.
Bowen said their effort level in Game 1 needs to match the Wheat Kings.
“We’ve just got to compete hard because whoever we play that’s what we have to do, compete and work hard,” he said. “When we play Brandon, they’re going to fresh off a series, so we’ve got to compete hard with them.”
The Warriors will practice on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning at Mosaic Place and then head to Brandon to settle in for Games 1 and 2 on Friday and Saturday.
Games 3 and 4 will be in Moose Jaw on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
