SERIES PREVIEW: Saskatoon (1) vs. Moose Jaw (3)
The 2024 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien continue with the WHL Conference Championships beginning on Friday, April 26. WHL.ca will preview each series ahead of puck drop, beginning with an analysis of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan will be represented in the 2024 WHL Championship Series.
But will it be the regular season champion Saskatoon Blades or high-scoring Moose Jaw Warriors gunning for their first Ed Chynoweth Cup?
Saskatoon is coming off a sweep of the Red Deer Rebels in Round Two, while it took Moose Jaw five games to dispatch the rival Swift Current Broncos.
The Warriors filled the net as the third highest-scoring team in the regular season, lighting the lamp 297 times, while Saskatoon was the stingiest, closing out the campaign with only 163 goals against.
The squads tied their regular-season series with three wins each and an average of eight goals per game.
General Managers Colin Priestner and Jason Ripplinger picked up top NHL prospects mid-season to bolster their playoff chances, with Saskatoon adding Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Fraser Minten (five goals, five assists) and Moose Jaw trading for Buffalo Sabres prospect Matthew Savoie (seven goals, six assists).
These teams last met in the postseason in 2022, when Moose Jaw dulled the Blades 4-1 in their first-round series.
A total of 20 players from that series (eight from Moose Jaw, 12 from Saskatoon) will compete in the grudge match.
The series also sees brothers Atley Calvert (Moose Jaw) and Rowan Calvert (Saskatoon) go head-to-head in the playoffs for the first time in their careers, with Atley representing their hometown team.
Game 1 is set for Friday, April 26 at Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre, which has seen an average of more than 8,200 fans throughout the playoffs.
The Series will shift to the Moose Jaw Events Centre for Game 3 on Tuesday, April 30.
Moose Jaw has averaged roughly 4,000 fans per game, or approximately 90% of building capacity, through the 2024 WHL Playoffs.
STAT PACK
| Saskatoon Blades | Moose Jaw Warriors | |
| Record | 50-12-2-3 (1st East) | 44-21-0-3 (2nd East) |
| Playoff Leaders | Egor Sidorov (10G, 4A, 14PTS)
Trevor Wong (3G, 10A, 13PTS) Brandon Lisowsky (4G, 7A, 11PTS) |
Denton Mateychuk (5G, 14A, 19PTS)
Jagger Firkus (9G, 9A, 18PTS) Brayden Yager (7G, 7A, 14PTS) |
| Season Leaders | Trevor Wong (15G, 86A, 101 PTS)
Egor Sidorov (50G, 38A, 88PTS) Brandon Lisowsky (42G, 38A, 80PTS) |
Jagger Firkus (61G, 65A, 126PTS)
Atley Calvert (47G, 48A, 95PTS) Brayden Yager (35G, 60A, 95PTS) |
| Leading Goaltender (Playoffs) | Evan Gardner (7-0-0-0, 1.66, .928) | Jackson Unger (8-1-0-0, 3.29, .903) |
| Power Play (Playoffs) | 22.5% (7th) | 20.6% (9th) |
| Penalty Kill (Playoffs) | 77.8% (7th) | 82.4% (4th) |
| Second Round | Def. Red Deer (4-0) | Def. Swift Current (4-1) |
| Last WHL Championship | – | – |
2023-24 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 24, 2023- Moose Jaw 3, Saskatoon 1
November 14, 2023- Saskatoon 6, Moose Jaw 9
November 17, 2023- Moose Jaw 2, Saskatoon 3
December 9, 2023- Saskatoon 4, Moose Jaw 3
March 15, 2024- Moose Jaw 3, Saskatoon 6
March 16, 2024- Saskatoon 3, Moose Jaw 6
GAME BREAKERS
Saskatoon Blades: Reigning Tempo WHL Player of the Week Egor Sidorov is simply on one right now. The Anaheim Ducks prospect leads the league with 10 postseason goals, including back-to-back even-strength hat tricks to eliminate Red Deer in Round 2 and three game-winning snipes. The 19-year-old was one of Saskatoon’s most effective forwards against Moose Jaw in the regular season with four goals and three assists in six games, including a hat trick on November 14. Sidorov also scored his first-ever WHL playoff goal against the Warriors back in 2022 and has a chance for some revenge with a berth in the WHL Championship on the line.
Moose Jaw Warriors: How do you solve a problem like Jagger Firkus? The 2023-24 CHL leading scorer has found the back of the net against every team he’s faced this season and has only been held off the scoresheet once in the playoffs. The Seattle Kraken prospect is hot on Sidorov’s heels in the playoff goals race with nine and sits just behind his Captain Denton Mateychuk in the points race with 18. Firkus is also coming off a stunning Game 5 performance against Swift Current that saw him net his first hat trick of the postseason. The 19-year-old led all Moose Jaw and Saskatoon skaters in their regular-season series with nine goals and five assists for 15 points in six matches, punctuated by a pair of hat tricks and a personal season-high five-point night (three goals, two assists) in a 9-6 win over the Blades on November 14.
GOALTENDING
Saskatoon Blades: 2024 NHL Draft-eligible rookie Evan Gardner remains undefeated in the postseason with a 7-0-0-0 record and one shutout in Game 4 against Red Deer. His 1.66 goals-against average leads all starting goaltenders in the WHL playoffs and his .928 save percentage ranks third among starting netminders. Gardner went 2-1-0-0 against Moose Jaw in the regular season with a 3.22 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. The 6-foot-2, 174-pound netminder snagged his third Kal Tire Rookie of the Week award midway through the Blades’ second-round series against the Rebels.
Moose Jaw Warriors: East Division First Team All-Star Jackson Unger has been the busiest of all the WHL goaltenders still standing in the WHL playoffs. With an 8-1-0-0 record, the 2024 NHL Draft-eligible puckstopper sports a 3.29 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. He’s also faced the most shots of all remaining goalies (271). The 6-foot-1, 188-pound goalie went 2-3-0-0 against the Blades in the regular season with a 4.45 goals-against average and .873 save percentage.
X-FACTOR
Saskatoon Blades: Trevor Wong continues to serve up some of the finest assists in the WHL. The Blades Captain has three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in nine games, highlighted by helpers on three game-winning goals for the regular-season champions. Wong’s biggest postseason performance came with a one-goal, three-assist night in an 8-5 Game 3 win over the Rebels. He may not have scored against the Warriors in the regular season, but did dish seven assists to remain one of the points leaders in the series.
Moose Jaw Warriors: A defenceman leading all skaters in points heading into the Conference Championships is certainly worthy of notice. The thing is, Denton Mateychuk basically hasn’t given up the spotlight all season. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect leads the postseason scoring race with five goals and 14 assists for 19 points in nine games. The Warriors Captain has been held off the scoresheet only once in the playoffs and turned the tide of Moose Jaw’s second-round series against Swift Current with a one-goal, five-assist performance in Game 2 to tie the series at one win each. Mateychuk also averaged more than a point per game against Saskatoon in the regular season with two goals and five assists in six games.
SERIES SCHEDULE
| Game | Date | Away | Home | Time |
| 1 | Friday, April 26 | Moose Jaw | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. ST |
| 2 | Saturday, April 27 | Moose Jaw | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. ST |
| 3 | Tuesday, April 30 | Saskatoon | Moose Jaw | 7:00 p.m. ST |
| 4 | Wednesday, May 1 | Saskatoon | Moose Jaw | 7:00 p.m. ST |
| 5* | Friday, May 3 | Moose Jaw | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. ST |
| 6* | Sunday, May 5 | Saskatoon | Moose Jaw | 2:00 p.m. ST |
| 7* | Tuesday, May 7 | Moose Jaw | Saskatoon | 7:00 p.m. ST |
*If necessary
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