Marc Smith/MJ Warriors

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.

The Moose Jaw Warriors honoured the 2022-23 season’s top performers before the regular season finale on Saturday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk was the big winner, taking home the Player of the Year and Safeway Top Defenceman awards.

Mateychuk finished the regular season with eight goals and 65 points in 63 games, setting a career-high in points and assists (57).

Winnipeg, MB — It took 10 attempts for the Moose Jaw Warriors, but they finally knocked off the ICE in Winnipeg.

The Warriors went into the Wayne Fleming Arena on Wednesday night and came back to win 6-4 over the ICE.

“Over the past few years, we’ve had some tough nights in here and the scores have been lopsided the other way, so to get one tonight, it gives the guys confidence that if we do run into this team down the road that we can play in this building,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said.

Moose Jaw, SK – The Moose Jaw Warriors finished off their extended weekend home-and-home set against the Swift Current Broncos on a high note.

Denton Mateychuk had two goals and four points as the Warriors rolled to a 7-3 win over the Broncos at the Moose Jaw Events on Sunday afternoon.

“All the guys are hungry to get into the playoffs and get going from there, so that was a big contribution to [Sunday’s performance],” Mateychuk said after the game.

Moose Jaw, SK – The Moose Jaw Warriors got exactly the start that they were looking for, but couldn’t carry the momentum over on Wednesday night.

Despite scoring in the opening 90 seconds of the first and second periods, the Warriors lost 7-3 to the Brandon Wheat Kings at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“There’s a lot of things that you could say didn’t go our way, but it comes down to execution,” Warriors forward Brayden Yager said. “You’ve got to play for 60 minutes because tonight and in Swift, it hurt us not playing the full 60 minutes.”

Moose Jaw, SK – In a potential playoff preview, the Moose Jaw Warriors put their foot down against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Jagger Firkus and Ryder Korczak led the charge with a goal and four points each as the Warriors doubled up the Hurricanes 8-4 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

“We had a real good start, did a lot of things well, a lot of energy, we were playing the right way and we were getting rewarded for it,” Warriors assistant coach Scott King said after the game.

Connor Schmidt will be squaring off with the best players in his age group starting this weekend.

The Moose Jaw Warriors’ 2022 first round pick is representing Team Alberta at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island.

Schmidt is putting together a stellar season with the Okanagan Hockey Academy’s under-18 prep team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, posting 11 goals and 35 points in 30 games.

He’s also suited up in three regular season games with the Warriors this season.

Moose Jaw, SK – Jagger Firkus and the Moose Jaw Warriors’ offense were in high gear on Wednesday night.

Firkus picked up his first hat trick of the season, leading the Warriors to a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

The Warriors have now won three straight, five of their last six, and six straight home games. Firkus said building momentum at this point in the season is big for the team.

Atley Calvert has accomplished a feat only done once before in Moose Jaw Warriors’ history.

With his game-winning goal in the third period against Calgary on Sunday, Calvert became just the second Moose Jaw-born player to score 30 goals for the Warriors.

“As a Moose Jaw kid, you grow up watching this team, so to play for them is just an absolute dream and it’s really cool,” Calvert said.

He joins David Bararuk, who scored 33 goals in the 2001-02 season, as the only Moose Jaw-born players to hit the 30-goal mark.

Atley Calvert was the hero for the Warriors, scoring with just 3:43 to play in a 2-1 win over the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday afternoon.

“Calgary played hard coming off a tough loss yesterday afternoon, so they were ready to go and they played a pretty good hockey game and I thought we played a decent game as well,” Warriors assistant coach Gord Burnett said.

Ryder Korczak finished with a goal and two points, while Connor Ungar was stellar once again, making 35 saves in the victory for the Warriors.