Warriors @ Wheat Kings
On the eve of the WHL’s Christmas break, two old East Division rivals open up a weekend series tonight as the Moose Jaw Warriors head to Brandon for the first of two games against the Wheat Kings.
Moose Jaw’s coming off of a 5-2 loss to Saskatoon Wednesday at Mosaic Place, gritty sophomore forward Tanner Eberle says when they got away from bumping and crashing against the Blades, that’s when they were having problems.
“They were definitely physical with us Wednesday, I felt that we had them hemmed in their end a lot in the first period and then we got away from it. It gave them a lot of open ice to skate around and that’s what they like to do,” said Eberle. “We have to make sure that we’re physical at all times. We have to stick with being physical on teams, we’re not a real skilled team, we have to be gritty and that’s how we’ll get our chances.”
Friday’s game in Manitoba is the third meeting of the season between the Warriors and Wheat Kings, the home team has won both games so far. Moose Jaw ripped 6-1 back on September 29th in the Friendly City, while the Wheat Kings got their revenge with a 3-2 win November 2nd in Brandon.
Moose Jaw sits eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 12-15-3-4 record (31 points), while the Wheat Kings are 10th with an 11-18-2-2 record and are 2-7-0-1 in their last ten games.
With the standings being so tight, Eberle says with the Christmas break on the horizon this is a key weekend. “We have to make sure to get the next two games going into the Christmas break; they’re huge in the standings. We can’t focus on the break; we have to make sure to get these four points.”
Once again the Warriors will lean on their speed to ignite their offence, and that starts with the transition game. “I think (the key) is to make solid simple plays and make sure we’re thinking defence first,” said second year blueliner Travis Brown when talking about the breakout. “If we take care of our own zone everything will fall into place.”
When the Warriors get inside Brandon’s blue, Eberle says keeping with their physical game plan is crucial when attacking Wheat Kings defencemen Ryan Pulock and Eric Roy who were both named to the CHL Top Prospects game earlier this week. “Those two guys are good defensemen, there’s no doubt about it. I find that when we cycle the puck and get on them on the physical side they start to get worn down.”
Moose Jaw’s power play snapped a five game goalless drought Wednesday, Brown explains what the focus will be if they want to be successful on the man advantage. “I think its quick puck movement that’s crisp and on the tape. We have to be able to handle of our passes, when we have the opportunity to shoot we have to have guys in front of the net and shots have to get on the net.”
On the flip side, even though their penalty kill allowed to goals to Saskatoon the other net, it’s still performing at a high level. The penalty kill has surrendered three goals in the last seven games and is a combine 3-for-24. Against Brandon this season the Warriors power play is 5-for-9, while the penalty kill has given up one goal on eight opportunities.
Sam Fioretti leads the Warriors with three goals and five points against the Wheat Kings; Jordan Wyton has a goal and three points; Morgan Rielly has three assists; Carter Hansen has a goal and two points; Travis Brown and Brayden Point has two assists each; Bryson Gore, Justin Kirsch, and Jordan Messier have one goal each; Justin Paulic has a 2.03gaa and .918sv%.
Jayce Hawryluk leads the Wheat Kings with a goal and three points against the Warriors; Nick Buonassisi, Tim McGauley, and Eric Roy have one goal each; seven players have recorded one assist; Corbin Boes have a 4.80gaa and .877sv%.
Catch all the action from Westman Place in Brandon on Country 100, DiscoverMooseJaw.com, and mjwarriors.ca, James Gallo is live from Manitoba with the PreGame Show at 7:10pm.
Saturday night this weekend series shifts back to Moose Jaw; fans are being asked to bring a plush toy to the game for the annual “Teddy Bear Toss” Night. When the Warriors score their first goal of the evening the plush toys will be thrown onto the ice, players and volunteers will gather them up; they will then be donated to the local Salvation Army.
Rielly At World Juniors… Defensemen Morgan Rielly became the 13th player in Warrior history to be named to Canada’s World Junior roster. A Moose Jaw Warrior has now played with Canada at the tournament the last four years (Travis Hamonic, 2010; Quinton Howden, 2011 & 12). Canada opens the tournament Boxing Day against Germany. Other WHL players who made the team are JC Lipon (Kamloops), Ty Rattie (Portland), Tyler Wotherspoon (Portland), and Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton). Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who played with Red Deer, is on loan from the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons.
Warriors at Under 17’s… Moose Jaw Warrior rookies Brayden Point, Miles Warkentine, and Josh Uhrich have been named to rosters for the 2013 World Under 17 Hockey Challenge. Point is one of 18 WHLers named to team Pacific (Alberta & Manitoba), while Warkentine and Uhrich will suit up with team West (Saskatchewan & Manitoba). Point was the 14th overall pick in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft, Warkentine was selected 16th overall, while Uhrich was taken in the second round, 33rd overall.
Prospect Watch… 18 year old Brayden Cuthbert is enjoying a successful return to hockey. Cuthbert missed a year and a half due to a concussion suffered against Red Deer in his 16 year old rookie season, after Warriors Training camp in the fall he was re-assigned to Neepawa of the MJHL. In 26 games this season Cuthbert leads Neepawa with 19 points, the Brandon product was Moose Jaw’s fifth round pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.
Streaking
Kendall McFaull has one goal and four points in the last seven games
Morgan Rielly has three goals and six points in his last seven games
Travis Brown has three goals and five points in the last eight games
Sam Fioretti has two goals and three points in the last seven games
Justin Kirsch has three goals and six points in the last nine games
Carter Hansen has one assist in the last 14 games, his last goal was November 7th
Andrew Johnson has one assist in the last 12 games, his last goal was November 4th
Jordan Messier has two goals and three points in the last 11 games
Brayden Point has two goals and eight points in the last eight games
Miles Warkentine scored his first WHL goal December 8th v Spokane
Tanner Eberle has three assists in the last five games
Bryson Gore is pointless in the last 11 games
