Warriors Head Coach O’Leary sounds off ahead of first-ever Memorial Cup match

Saginaw, Mich.- Just a few hours away from Saginaw, Mich., on the other side of Lake Huron, lies Owen Sound, Ont.

It’s the home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack.

It’s also where Mark O’Leary grew up, immersed in the local hockey culture and dreaming of junior hockey supremacy.

Now, having moved more than 2,000 kilometres away, he has a chance to achieve that goal with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

“My dad (Brian) coached basically my whole life with the Platers and the Attack,” O’Leary, who played for the Mississauga IceDogs and Guelph Storm as a young man, told reporters on Thursday. “Just being around that atmosphere and getting a chance to play myself, (there are) memories of losing to the London Knights a couple of times, but hopefully we can change that.”

O’Leary’s Warriors will take on the Knights in Memorial Cup round-robin action on Monday, May 27 at 5:30 p.m. MST.

Moose Jaw is navigating a new experience with the team making its first-ever appearance at the tournament just over a week after claiming the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL Champions for the first time in franchise history.

The bench boss, in his fifth season at the helm, says he’ll be relying on his veterans to keep the crew steady throughout the Memorial Cup.

“I think it’s their relentlessness with their mindset,” O’Leary said. “We’ve talked all playoffs long about things not going according to plan and what your response is. I think they lead by example there. Whether it’s small things, tough call, bad ice, bad bounce, whatever. They’re just really good at resetting, refocusing, and getting back to doing what we do. That starts from the top and they’re pretty good at that.”

A WHL team has not won the Memorial Cup since the Edmonton Oil Kings doubled up the Guelph Storm in 2014.

This year’s league champions- the OHL’s Knights, Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Drummondville Voltigeurs and the Warriors- made history by sweeping their respective Championships to earn a berth at the tournament.

In theory, they should all be well-rested.

But media from the other leagues have been curious about the Warriors’ record-tying eight overtime games throughout their playoff run.

In particular, they wanted to know about the Eastern Conference Championship against the Saskatoon Blades, which saw six of seven matches require overtime.

Just how important will the experience of that grueling series be as the intensity ramps up?

“Experience is good if you have it,” O’Leary shrugged. There’s just big moments. I think we talk all the time about being ready. Whether you play six minutes a night or 26 minutes a night, your shift could be the most important one of the night and that’s certainly the case in overtime. If you can go through those hard times, and you know, just make sure that your game is where it needs to be at any moment, I think that helps in a tournament like this. But really, it’s up to you to perform on demand here.”

The Warriors hit the ice for their first practice at the Dow Events Center late Thursday morning in anticipation of their opening match.

Moose Jaw will play its first Memorial Cup match against the host Saginaw Spirit on Friday, May 24 at 5:30 p.m. MST.

Every 2024 Memorial Cup match will air on TSN and RDS in Canada and be livestreamed on TSN.ca, the TSN app, RDS.ca, and the RDS app.

For fans in the United States, the 2024 Memorial Cup will be available on the NHL Network.

Outside of North America, fans can catch every second of the action on CHL TV.