Marc Smith/MJ Warriors

Two early goals and some big stops from Connor Ungar were all the Moose Jaw Warriors needed on Wednesday in Regina.

The Warriors skated to a 2-1 win over the rival Pats to sweep the home-and-home, which was extended due to this past weekend’s snow storm.

“It was a hard fought game from start-to-finish, I thought the kids did a really good job,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said. “We’re happy to come out of it with two points.”

The Moose Jaw Warriors have three players rated on the NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list, released on Tuesday.

Brayden Yager leads the way as he earned an A rating, which indicates a first-round candidate for the 2023 NHL Draft.

Ben Riche and Jackson Unger were both given C ratings, which has them potentially being drafted in the fourth, fifth or sixth rounds next summer. Warriors forward Jagger Firkus was given a C rating before last season and improved to a second-round draft by the 2022 NHL Draft.

Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger has announced the acquisition of 20-year-old forward Riley Ginnell from the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Warriors sent a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Wheat Kings in the trade.

“Adding Riley, we’re getting a top-six forward, who has size, and grit and we’re expecting some secondary scoring from him,” Ripplinger said.

“He’s bringing in some good experience in the Western Hockey League.”

Ginnell, a six-foot-four forward, is in his fourth WHL season with 21 goals and 47 points in 113 career games.

The Moose Jaw Warriors organization will be well-represented in the National Hockey League for the 2022-23 season.

Eight alumni across eight teams will be suiting up in the NHL to start the season.

Joel Edmundson will be wearing an ‘A’ for the Montreal Canadiens this season after being named an alternate captain for the 2021-22 season. Edmundson is entering his third season with the Habs after picking up three goals and six points in 24 games last season. He has 26 goals and 91 points in 416 career NHL games.

After an emotional win on home ice on Saturday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors fell flat on Sunday in Saskatoon.

The Warriors scored early, but the Blades answered with four straight goals in a 4-1 win at SaskTel Centre.

“It’s just a learning lesson that you come, you get ready to go off the bus on short rest, there’s no excuses in this league,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.

The loss drops the Warriors’ record to 4-3-0-0 this season and snapped Moose Jaw’s bid for a third straight win.

The Moose Jaw Warriors wanted to see where they stacked up against the CHL’s top team early in the season and came away with a positive result.

Brayden Yager scored twice and Connor Ungar made 26 saves as the Warriors handed the Winnipeg ICE a 4-1 loss at the Moose Jaw Events Centre on Saturday night.

“We just played really fast, pushed their D back, used delaying and stuff like that to get ourselves more time to make plays and I thought we did a really good job,” Yager said.

Connor Ungar is just three games into his stint with the Moose Jaw Warriors, but the 20-year-old netminder is making a strong early impression.

Ungar stopped 40 of 41 shots on Wednesday night to lead the Warriors to a 3-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“Without Connor Ungar in net, it obviously would have been a lot of different game,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.

The Warriors picked up a goal in each period and Ungar stood tall throughout the night to ensure Moose Jaw walked away with two points.

Denton Mateychuk had a new addition to his jersey when he suited up in his first game of the season with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Mateychuk was named the 35th captain in Warriors’ franchise history after he returned to the team from training camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“It’s a huge honour, I’ve been here since I was 15 and loved every second of it,” Mateychuk said on Monday. “It’s an honour and a privilege and just going to do the best I can to be a leader.”

Sluggish starts to each period hurt the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday night in Brandon.

The Warriors gave up goals in the first five minutes of each period and lost 4-1 to the Wheat Kings at Westoba Place.

“Brandon put a good game together, credit them, they were sitting here waiting and they were ready to rock and they made it hard on us all night,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said.

“It’s early in the season, a lot of guys just coming back from camps, so we’ll be better as we move along here.”

It took a bit for the Moose Jaw Warriors to find their footing with seven players returning to the lineup, but the team clicked when it needed to on Friday night.

The Warriors scored three second-period goals and secured a 4-3 win over the Prince Albert Raiders at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“We started a little slow, I thought the game picked up after our first [penalty] kill in the second period, after that we started to find a bit of chemistry,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.