Marc Smith/MJ Warriors

There has been some movement among the Moose Jaw Warriors’ overage players on Wednesday.

20-year-old forward Martin Rysavy has returned to the club from the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, leading to the Warriors dealing fellow 20-year-old forward Eric Alarie to the Seattle Thunderbirds for a pair of draft picks.

“It has been a busy last few days after we learned of Martin’s return to Moose Jaw, but we feel these moves make our forward group stronger moving forward,” Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger said.

Last season, the Moose Jaw Warriors won just twice when trailing after two periods.

The Warriors earned their first win of the 2023-24 season in dramatic comeback fashion on Wednesday night, scoring three times in the third period to beat the Regina Pats, 4-3.

“We didn’t have the best first period and we weren’t happy with that, we came out hard in the second and third,” Warriors forward Eric Alarie, who scored the game-winner, said.

“We were just more ready in the second and third.”

Moose Jaw, SK — The Moose Jaw Warriors’ opening weekend didn’t go as planned, but the team is focused on turning the page with 66 more games to go.

The Warriors dropped their home opener to the Brandon Wheat Kings, 9-4, on Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“A lot of it is a youth thing, first game at home, home opener, squeezing the stick a little bit tight and you gain confidence through practice, executing well and doing the things in practice,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said.

Prince Albert, SK — A shorthanded Moose Jaw Warriors squad couldn’t come away with a win in northern Saskatchewan.

Moose Jaw dropped a 4-0 game to the Prince Albert Raiders to open the 2023-24 regular season on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

“They score an early goal in the third and it just takes the wind out of our sails,” Warriors forward Atley Calvert said. “It’s early in the year, but definitely can’t be letting that happen too often, or again.”

Moose Jaw, SK — Special teams sunk the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday night.

The Warriors surrendered four power play goals to the Brandon Wheat Kings in a 4-1 loss to close out the preseason at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“Anytime you give up four, you put yourself in a little bit of a hole,” Warriors associate coach Scott King said.

After suffering a tough 9-1 loss in Brandon on Friday night, the Warriors were focused on seeing how the team would respond and King said the effort was improved.

Brandon, MB — The Moose Jaw Warriors will be looking to turn the page quickly following a lopsided preseason loss in Brandon on Friday night.

Moose Jaw fell 9-1 to the Wheat Kings to kick-off their weekend home-and-home set to finish off the exhibition schedule.

We were a half step behind for the majority of the game, I thought there’s a couple of shifts here and there where the guys were forechecking hard and causing turnovers and we just couldn’t keep it consistent,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said.

Assiniboia, SK — Three goals in the third period helped power the Moose Jaw Warriors past the Swift Current Broncos in preseason action on Saturday night.

Jagger Firkus and Atley Calvert had a hat trick each and combined for11 points in the 7-4 win for the Warriors.

“I didn’t really play too much with [Jagger] last season because he always playing with [Brayden Yager], but it was fun, I enjoy playing with Firk, he’s a great player,” Calvert said after the game.

The Moose Jaw Warriors are set to welcome 75 players next week for the team’s 2023 Training Camp.

This year’s training camp will feature 44 forwards, 23 defencemen and eight goaltenders battling for spots on the team’s roster.

The biggest group of players will be in the 2008 age group with 29 players getting their first taste of a Western Hockey League camp. There will be 13 players in the 2007 age group, 16 in 2006, nine in 2005, four in 2004, and four in 2003.

Moose Jaw, SK — The Moose Jaw Warriors are excited to announce the signing of forwards Andrej Tomašec and Patrik Král to their WHL Scholarship and Development Agreements.

“Adding Andrej and Patrik brings a lot of speed to our team, which is one thing we wanted to address this year, and both players have skill and will give us more depth to our forward group,” Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger said.

Tomašec was selected by the Warriors in the first round, 48th overall, in the 2023 CHL Import.

Brayden Yager’s first taste of the National Hockey League was everything he had hoped.

“I had a ton of fun, on the ice, with our workouts and fitness testing, it was awesome,” Yager said.

The Moose Jaw Warriors forward took part in his first Development Camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this month after being selected by the team with the 14th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Yager said going from the draft straight to Pittsburgh for his first NHL camp was a whirlwind.