The Warriors will face the Estevan Bears in their home opener at Mosaic Place, marking the first regular-season contest for the local squad since a 4-3 loss to the Regina Pat Canadians back on Nov. 21, 2020. A few days later, the remainder of the SMAAAHL season was put on hold due to the ongoing pandemic, and was later outright cancelled.
That means it's all been a long time coming for Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber and his charges.
"We're looking forward to it, the guys are excited to get started," he said. "We've had a few good weeks of getting ready and now it's time to start for real here."
Moose Jaw posted a 2-1 record through the pre-season, falling 5-4 to the Yorkton Maulers in their first exhibition game on Sept. 14 before taking both ends of a home-and-home with the Swift Current Legionnaires, winning 4-2 on Sept. 17 at Mosaic Place and 5-3 on Sept. 19 in Gull Lake.
Estevan, meanwhile, capped their exhibition schedule with a 2-1 record, taking a 2-0 win over Regina on Sept. 4 and a 5-2 victory over Notre Dame Sept. 11 before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Pat Cs on Sept. 19.
The Bears are in their second season of existence after going 2-3 in SMAAAHL South Division action in 2020-21. They played their first two games of the 2021-22 campaign this past weekend, dropping 4-1 and 5-1 decisions to the Warman Wildcats.
"They've had a pretty good pre-season and I think they're going to be good," Weisgerber said. "I think the league in general is going to have a lot of parity and there are going to be close games every night. If you take a night off, every teams is going to make you pay, which is good. Any time you can have every team competitive, it's good for the league and good for the players when you know every night that you have to show up and play."
Returning veteran Jackson Allan had four goals and six points to lead the Warriors in pre-season scoring; Kole Keen was Estevan’s top scorer with a goal and four points through three games.
Puck drop tonight is 7 p.m.,and fans are reminded that masks are mandatory in public spaces under the ongoing provincial health order, including Mosaic Place.
