MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- When the Moose Jaw Warriors took the ice at home in the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Winnipeg Ice the last two seasons, finding tickets even just before puck drop wasn’t much of an issue.
Crowds didn’t crack the 4,000 mark through any of the three games, with the highest mark seeing a crowd of 3,700 for the sixth and deciding contest of the series.
This time around, if you haven’t picked up a ticket for Games 1 and 2 of the second-round series against the Swift Current Broncos, well, you’re pretty much out of luck.
As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Game 1 was down to standing room only, and Game 2 had only a dozen single seats left.
As a result, the Warriors and Broncos will be playing in front of an absolutely packed house at the Moose Jaw Events Centre on Friday and Saturday night, with well over 4,500 fans expected for both games.
And if you think that isn’t going to matter to the players, we’ll let them set the record straight.
“Even in the first two home games in the first series, it was awesome with those towels going and a pretty packed barn,” said Warriors defenceman Lucas Brenton. “We can definitely feed off that energy, we’re expecting an even bigger crowd and it’s awesome. We really appreciate the fans coming out.”
Warriors forward Matthew Savoie has seen big crowds in the post-season as a member of the Winnipeg Ice the last two seasons -- including close to 9,000 for Game 5 of their Eastern Conference final series clincher at Roger’s Place in Edmonton in 2022 -- but Games 1 and 2 of the semifinal will be something else altogether.
“I think that’s huge for us,” Savoie said. “We can feed off our fans and even in Swift Current, we can feed off that energy in that barn. There will be pretty good crowds in both arenas this series and I’m looking forward to it.”
Head coach Mark O’Leary is of much the same opinion, as revealed when he spoke to MooseJawToday.com after the Warriors finished off their sweep of the Wheat Kings.
“The crowd and the atmosphere in the rink is one of the first things you hear the players talk about,” he said. “They’re excited about it, they know the importance of it and it gives them a little bit extra juice. You can see it in the way they play, it’s just a different feel in the rink when it’s full like that. Friday and Saturday was really good that way, and hopefully (this) Friday and Saturday is the same way.”
You can try and snap up the last few tickets for standing room for Game 1 and the last seats for Game 2 on www.sasktix.ca.
