The Western Hockey League playoffs return to the Hangar this weekend.
“Judging by the energy around the dressing room here and in practice today, they’re pretty fired up,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary.
The Moose Jaw Warriors will host games one and two of their first-round series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday and Saturday.
The Warriors finished the regular season with a 41-24-0-3 record, earning the eighth 40-win season in franchise history. The team also locked up a home-ice advantage in the first round for the second straight season.
O’Leary said the goal is to make a season like this a standard for the Warriors.
“We expect to be in the playoffs and that was the talk before the season started,” he said. “As much as we expected to be here, for ourselves, it’s still exciting, there’s something special about playoffs when each and every play just has a little bit more impact.”
While getting back into the post-season was the Warriors’ goal, after advancing to the second round last season, the team wants more heading into this year’s playoffs.
Captain Denton Mateychuk said the Warriors learned a lot from last season’s playoff run.
“Just pay attention to the little details, sometimes they’re bigger than you think and more important,” he said. “Lethbridge is a pretty hardworking team and we just have to be able to match up.”
Warriors forward Ryder Korczak said it comes down to being focused in every moment of the game.
“Every game is a tough game, you can’t have an off night or even an off period or an off shift, your season is on the line, so you’ve got to be ready to play,” he said.
There can be big momentum swings during a playoff series, but O’Leary said the biggest takeaway from last season is that those swings can come within a game.
“There’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs, but you just need to keep the plan and understanding that game to game, it’s a total reset,” he said. “Whether you win or lose, you have to reset and get right back at it.”
Consistency has been something that the Warriors have battled throughout the season, but Mateychuk said the team is focused on being ready each game heading into the playoffs.
“You need to bring your A-game every night,” he said. “That’s something that we have been great at throughout the year, but towards the end of the year, we were a lot more consistent and that’s a good thing going into the playoffs.”
The Warriors will host the Hurricanes on Friday to open their best-of-seven first-round series.