It might have taken Ryder Korczak a couple of extra days to arrive in the Friendly City, but there the overage forward was on Thursday morning, taking the ice with the Moose Jaw Warriors for the first time since being assigned to the Western Hockey League club by the New York Rangers.
Korczak opted to make the 32-hour drive from Hartford, where he was playing with the Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate, to Moose Jaw over the last few days.
“I’m actually with my girlfriend so it was nice just rotating with her,” Korczak said shortly after getting off the ice from his first practice. “The roads weren’t the greatest, but at least we got done with it… It was three days of travelling, so three off days, but it was definitely nice seeing the guys and getting back at it.”
The move was naturally a bit of a bittersweet one for the Yorkton product -- Korczak had made it a goal to definitively crack Hartford’s line-up in his rookie season, but ended up playing sporadically since joining the team out of New York’s training camp. That translated into five games and no points through the Wolf Pack’s 12 outings so far this season.
“They wanted me to be a top-six forward and they obviously didn’t have the room in Hartford, so they decided to send me back to junior,” Korczak said of the Rangers’ decision. “I’m happy about it. I mean, I’d obviously rather be in Hartford, but if I’m not playing top-six minutes there, it’s a chance to play top-six minutes here. It’s going to be a change, but I’m excited for it.”
It’s also a bit of a strange situation in that Korczak is going from an absolute rookie in the Hartford line-up to a no-doubt bona fide leader on the ice with the Warriors.
“It’s crazy, and it’s like I was saying earlier to the guys, you’re playing against men in the AHL so I’m going to try and rip off a couple of good habits I picked up and bring them here,” Korczak said. “I like to lead by example, so if guys watch me hopefully they can pick up a little bit.”
One fortunate aspect of being in the internet era is that Korczak is plenty familiar with this edition of the Warriors already -- not only just through being with the team the past three seasons, but also by watching the WHL Live broadcasts of Moose Jaw games whenever he could.
“I tried to watch every game,” Korczak said. “I like to watch hockey, and if NHL games aren’t on, I’d watch Moose Jaw. It looks like this is a pretty good team, we have lots of draft picks and signed guys, lots of depth, so I’m excited to come back and hopefully take a run at it.”
One thing that’s certain is Korczak -- who skated on a line with Jagger Firkus and Eric Alarie during Thursday’s practice -- will be looking to provide all sorts of offence. He finished second in team scoring in 2021-22 with 25 goals and 79 points in 68 games before leading the team with three goals and 13 points in 10 playoff games. That all led to the Rangers signing Korczak to his first NHL contract during the off-season after selecting him in the third round, 75th overall in the 2021 Entry Draft.
“I’m ready for it, whatever way I can help the team to win is the most important part,” Korczak said of the heavy expectations. “I know it’s not the best couple of games we’ve had against Medicine Hat and P.A., but I’m looking forward to getting things going on the B.C. road trip and this weekend coming up… obviously we want to win but I’m hoping to put up some points at the same time and we’ll see what happens.”
The Warriors are back in action for a home-and-home set with the Swift Current Broncos this weekend. Friday night’s contest at the Moose Jaw Events Centre doubles as the Warriors’ annual Hockey Fights Cancer night, with the team wearing special jerseys and events taking place throughout the game in memory of those affected by cancer.
Puck drop is 7 p.m.
