When the Moose Jaw Warriors took the ice for the first game of the Western Hockey League playoffs on Friday night, there were four players who were chomping at the bit to return to action in a game situation.
When you’ve spent the previous 17 games on the sidelines, and the majority of that time wondering if you’d return at all this season, returning to play is a positive indeed.
And it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that goaltender Connor Ungar, defenceman Max Wanner, defenceman Marek Howell and forward Lynden Lakovic all had an immediate impact when they hit the ice on Friday night against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
“It was awesome,” said Lakovic, who like the other three had last played Feb. 5 in a win over the Calgary Hitmen. “Watching these guys every night sitting at home and desperately wanting to get back into the line-up was tough, but to do it in my first playoff game and get a win like that in a long double-overtime game was a pretty electric feeling and I’m happy to be back.”
No further details of the incident that led to the suspension were released by the players, team or league.
One thing that’s for certain is how much the Warriors mean to the sidelined players -- on top of regular texts between the guys, there was a lot of scoreboard- and WHL.ca-watching over the last couple months as the Warriors battled through the last part of the season and into the playoffs.
“I missed every single guy on this team,” said Wanner, in his third full season with the team. “When you’re away, these are your best buddies and you really miss them. But this was something I’ll learn from and be better in future.”
And getting back on the ice with those buddies?
“The team was really welcoming of us,” Howell said. “It was really good getting back together with the guys, understanding our identity again and doing our thing on the ice,”
All four had their moments in Game 1. Ungar led the way with an absolutely stellar performance in net that included a 50-save performance in the 2-1 double-overtime win. Lakovic had a handful of solid scoring chances throughout the game, Howell was his usual steady self on the blueline and Wanner almost ended things early in the second overtime while also playing on the top defensive pairing alongside Denton Mateychuk.
Lakovic pointed to the first few shifts as a return-to-form moment, but once things got going, it was all systems go.
“Not having played in quite a while, the first shift was getting the rust out and then I settled in pretty well and thought I played a good game,” he said.
Ungar kept his cards a little closer to the chest when talking about the time away and his return, choosing to focus on the task ahead.
“I’m happy to be here for the playoffs and getting ready to win a championship,” he said. “I just did what I usually do, stayed focussed and it worked out and we’ll come back tomorrow and be ready for another big game.”
Now that the first game jitters are out of the way, the goal now is to get a win in Game 2, a job that became a touch more difficult given the extra two periods they played Friday night.
“It’s a short turn around, so we’ll get some water in us and just be ready to play,” Wanner said. “They’re in the same boat as us and it’ll be a battle of endurance and we’ll see who comes out on top.”
Other than that, it’s a matter of keeping an even keel given the magnitude of the moment.
“I think we’ve got to manage the highs here, not get to high or too low about anything,” Howell said. “At the end of the day we have three more games at least and we’re expecting them all to be tough.”
Game 2 is set for Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, with puck drop at 7 p.m.
