Preview: Warriors and Pats Clash at the Hangar

October 19, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Moose Jaw Warriors News Release

For the second time this season, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats meet for a two-game set.

The two sides split their home-and-home during the opening weekend with the road team winning both games.

While it’s early in the season, the rivalry between the two teams remains alive and well.

“You always know when the Pats come into town, it’s going to be a tough game and we have a big rivalry with them that we’re hoping to keep going,” Warriors defenceman Max Wanner said.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said he doesn’t need to add much to his pre-game speech before a game against the Pats.

“Whether it’s this time of year or closer to playoff time, it doesn’t seem to matter,” he said. “It’s Moose Jaw-Regina, it’s a while lot of fun.”

The Warriors beat the Pats, 5-4, at the Brandt Centre to open the season and then dropped a 6-3 game against Regina at the Moose Jaw Events Centre the next night.

Moose Jaw will have a much different lineup than those two games when it was missing seven regulars, including six of them being at NHL camps.

O’Leary said the Warriors are a different team, but they will also be facing an improved Pats team, which sits three points ahead of Moose Jaw in the Eastern Conference standings at 6-4-0-1.

“They’ve added some pieces and they’re a good team,” he said. “They compete, they have all kinds of skill and it’ll be a real tough matchup for us, but we like where our game’s at.”

The Pats boast the WHL leading scorer in Connor Bedard, who has 20 points in 11 games this season.

Moose Jaw is the only team this season to hold Bedard without a point.

Wanner said containing Regina’s skill is the key to success against them.

“You have to manage them on the rush and have a third guy high, so we have numbers coming back and just make smart plays and manage the puck against this team,” he said.

The Warriors, who are 5-4-0-0 this season, are coming off a split of two games last weekend. Moose Jaw dropped a 4-2 game to Red Deer last Friday before bouncing back with a 4-3 win over Lethbridge on Saturday.

O’Leary said when the Warriors are playing with pace is when the team is at its best.

“When we don’t have the puck, we’re working to get it back in a hurry and we got to that at points against Lethbridge and we’ll have to do that against Regina, they’re fast, they work, they compete and when we don’t have the puck, we’ll need to do the same,” he said.

Thursday night is Military Appreciation Night at the Hangar with local service groups being honoured prior to puck drop.

There will also be a one-of-a-kind silent auction with proceeds going to Support Our Troops. The auction will include a signed print and signed pucks by Brayden Yager and Connor Bedard, a signed print by 2022 NHL Draft picks Denton Mateychuk and Jagger Firkus and much more.

Puck drops at 7 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets.

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