When you have only four returnees from the previous season, that’s going to be the case no matter the level of hockey you play.
But what hasn’t changed is their winning ways.
The Warriors head into the new year with a 17-10-0-1 record, good enough for fifth place in the 12 team league. And while they’ve seen both solid winning streaks and tough losing skids in the first four months of the campaign, there’s plenty of promise in the future.
“Early on we had some growing pains but as we got going here, the stronger we’ve become,” said Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “So we’re happy with where we’re at, and while the break was nice, we were playing some pretty good hockey going in.”
Case in point their final game before the break, a 6-5 win over the first-place Warman Wildcats, who had only lost four times this season previously. In fact, the Warriors have wins over every team except the Saskatoon Blazers at this point, and have twice lost third-period leads against that crew.
“So we’ll just keep plugging away in the second half and see where we finish up here, but things have looked pretty good for the most part,” Weisgerber said.
Rookie Rowan Calvert -- who scored his first WHL goal with the Saskatoon Blades just prior to the holiday break -- leads the Warriors in scoring with 13 goals and 32 points in 27 games, good enough for seventh in league scoring.
Defenceman Orin Olson is second among rearguards in league scoring with seven goals and 24 points and is the reigning SMAAAHL Player of the Month.
Overall, the Warriors largely scored by committee, with seven players having 20 points or more and four having hit double digits in goal output.
That’s something that Weisgerber feels has developed into the team’s identity.
“I think we’re a team that has to play 60 minutes hard every night, and we have to do everything as a group,” he said. “We have some guys who have played very well for us and things like that, but we need everyone on board every night, and for the most part, I think we’ve done a pretty good job. The guys have understood that and have seen what happens when guys don’t show up in this league.
“So it’s been a lot more consistent and the results have obviously shown because of that.”
The time it’s taken to get to this point is simply a matter just that: time.
“You get a bunch of new guys, the whole culture and the way we want them to play and bonding and everything, it just takes a while,” Weisgerber explained. “I think as the season has gone on we’ve figured it out and played a lot better hockey and more consistent hockey.”
The news hasn’t been all good, though. First-year forward Brady Wilson, who is third in team scoring with 11 goals and 24 points, suffered a horrific injury in Warman just prior to the holidays when a hit while going to the net resulted in a broken femur, the large bone that runs from hip to knee.
“It was a tough one, its something that doesn’t happen very often and to break that bone isn’t very good,” Weisgerber said. “He got crosschecked from behind going to the net and went in awkward and ended up breaking it. But surgery and everything went well, so he’s recovering, but who knows on the timeline and stuff like that.
“That’s a big blow for us,” he added. “He’s a big part of our team and not having him now means guys are going to have to step up in situations”
The Warriors return to action on Thursday, Jan. 6 in Regina against the Pat Canadians before hosting the Tisdale Trojans on Saturday, Jan. 8.
“We just want to keep getting better every day, and once we get to the playoffs we want to make sure we’re playing our best hockey,” Weisgerber said of the outlook for the rest of the campaign. “Wherever we finish we want to make sure we’re playing well and having a chance to compete to win.”
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