Moose Jaw, Sask. – For the first time in franchise history, the Moose Jaw Warriors will have the target of defending champions on their back.
The Warriors will open the defence of their 2024 WHL Championship on Friday night against the Wheat Kings in Brandon.
“It will be exciting,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said. “The players have put the work in, they’re prepared and just looking forward to getting things started for real.”
While some firepower will be missing from last year’s championship team, Moose Jaw returns 16 players from that squad that will provide a solid base of leadership and experience heading into the new season.
“Everybody took a step in the summer and coming back this year, we’ve got the depth again, we’ve got all the scoring we need,” Warriors goalie Jackson Unger said.
“We’ve got some great chemistry, we saw a lot of each other last year and that helps a lot with all the young guys, or the older guys, everybody’s feeling like a tight group again and that’s the most important thing.”
The Warriors will be without three players still away at NHL camps for the opening weekend as Kalem Parker (Minnesota), Vojtech Port (Anaheim) and Brayden Yager (Winnipeg) advanced to their respective main camps.
Brayden Schuurman will be expected to lead the Warriors’ offence this season after scoring some big goals during the championship run last season.
The 20-year-old forward said he feels confident going into his second season in Moose Jaw.
“Lots of returning guys, we’re going to have guys moving up the lineup and stepping into bigger roles this year, it’s really important we get contributions from everyone,” Schuurman said.
“We learned last year what it took to win day-in and day-out.”
The Warriors went 1-3 during the preseason, but O’Leary felt the team improved with each game, including finishing off with a 4-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos last Saturday.
“Practice looked better day-in and day-out, that’s important as well, that’s where it starts,” he said. “We’re a better team today than we were when we touched down in Moose Jaw and looking forward to this weekend.”
The Warriors will meet the Wheat Kings to kick-off the 2024-25 season in Brandon on Friday night.
O’Leary said the team will need to get to its structure early to have success in the opener.
“We did that in the last exhibition game and when we did that, we created opportunities for us to use our skillset, but I know our effort and compete level will be there,” he said.
The Warriors and Wheat Kings face-off at 6 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Friday night. Tune into the game on Country 100 and CHL TV.
Following Friday’s opener, the Warriors will return home to host the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2024 Home Opener, presented by the Mad Greek, with the championship banner set to head to the rafters at the Hangar.