2024 WHL Championship Game 3 Player to Watch: Jackson Unger, Moose Jaw Warriors

Moose Jaw, Sask.- Moose Jaw Warriors Head Coach Mark O’Leary was effusive in his analysis of goaltender Jackson Unger’s postseason play after a 5-1 road win in Game 2 against the Portland Winterhawks.

“He’s playing his best hockey of the season, no question,” O’Leary told reporters post-game. “When he’s at his best he’s calm and competes in the crease.”

The 2024 WHL Goaltender of the Year nominee and East Division First-Team All-Star is heating up at the right time, going 2-0-0-0 in his first two appearances in the WHL Championship Series.

It’s uncharted territory for the 19-year-old, who had only appeared in five WHL playoff games prior to this season after serving as a backup to Connor Ungar in 2023 and Carl Tetachuk in 2022.

“It’s my first playoff run as well- playing, obviously,” Unger pointed out. “You learn lots as you go and I’ve learned lots from series to series and improved on things where I needed to improve on. It all comes down to these last games here in the season.

We got what we went there (Portland) for. It’s always nice having a two-nothing lead. But we know this from the last series, it’s never over until it’s over. So, we’ve got to keep going and keep doing what we’re doing at home.”

Unger currently sports a 1.50 goals-against average and a blistering .957 save percentage in the big dance, highlighted by a 37-save effort in Game 2 to preserve a 5-1 Moose Jaw victory.

The 37-save performance matches his previous mark for most shots stopped in the 2024 postseason, which came in Moose Jaw’s Eastern Conference Championship-clinching Game 7 overtime thriller against the Saskatoon Blades.

The workhorse netminder has 584 saves and has played in seven overtime games in the 2024 WHL Playoffs alone.

“Just the competitiveness in the crease,” O’Leary said of Unger’s success. “His structure is good. He’s got a real calm demeanor. When things aren’t going according to plan and there’s a bit of a scramble or they have a hard push- which they’ve had at times- that’s where you’re just looking for that compete. That’s what I’ve seen from Jackson and it gives us confidence.”

Unger, a Calgary, Alta. product, led all WHL goaltenders with 35 wins in the regular season, finishing second in minutes played (3,133) and third in saves (1,593).

“It’s a lot on you physically, but at the same time, it’s a lot mentally as well,” Unger said. “You just can’t get ahead of yourself. You take it one game at a time and you’re going from there, you take it one period, one shot at a time so you can’t get ahead of yourself and you’ve got to mentally rest, as well.”

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound netminder is ranked 27th among North American Goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s final rankings ahead of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

But Unger has slapped on the blinders to focus on Game 3 of the WHL Championship- and the chance to represent the WHL at the 2024 Memorial Cup- rather than the draft.

“I’m not thinking about that at all,” Unger said. “You’re playing to win out there. Whatever happens in the end happens, but our focus right now is the championship.

There’s been a lot of shots but I think that there were a lot more high-quality shots in the series before, and I know that Portland is going to bring it all over again and for the rest of the games.”

Game 3 is set for Tuesday, May 14 at 8:00 p.m. ST at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.