To say the least, it had already been a stellar season for Moose Jaw Warriors forward Atley Calvert heading their Western Hockey League regular-season finale against the Saskatoon Blades.
Now it’s a little bit more special.
The Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product hit the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career on Saturday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, joining fellow forward Jagger Firkus in crossing the milestone this season.
It was one of the few highlights on an otherwise forgettable night that saw the Blades take a 6-3 victory in what amounted to a meaningless contest in the standings for both teams.
The Warriors finish their campaign with a 41-24-0-3 record and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, having locked up a playoff spot weeks ago and setting their first-round playoff opponent -- the Lethbridge Hurricanes -- with a win in Prince Albert on Friday.
All eyes were on Calvert on Saturday, though, as he continued to raise the bar as the Moose Jaw-born player with the most goals for the Warriors in a single season.
“At the end of the day it’s nice, but it’s the product of our team,” Calvert said. “We have a really good group here and a lot of skilled players who make skilled plays. It’s always in the back of your head and it’s a nice accomplishment, but our focus is on the playoffs and we’re looking to go on a long run.”
Calvert scored his 39th with 3:08 to play in the second period, finishing off a flurry of chances by putting home a shot from the top of the crease, the same place he’d scored so many of his goals this season.
The former Prairie Hockey Academy standout then scored his 40th with 8:42 gone in the third, taking a cross-crease feed from Firkus and putting a shot into the open cage.
“Growing up here, you want to play for your hometown club and I watched a lot of great players come through here and a lot of great hometown guys have an impact on the team,” Calvert said. “I wanted to be able to do that personally and for the team, and it’s fun being able to live at home and come to the rink every day and play in front of your hometown crowd. It’s all a dream come true.”
As for the game itself on Saturday, neither team put a whole lot of stock into it. The Warriors opted to rest a handful of players, including captain Denton Mateychuk and high-scoring forward Ryder Korczak, while Egor Sidorov was among the Blades who were healthy scratches.
There was still Game 68 to get through, though, and with both teams escaping with out any serious injuries, the clubs will now look toward the bigger games ahead.
“Every time you put on skates you want to win, and we were looking for a better result tonight,” Calvert said. “But at the end of the day, there’s a more important season coming up and we’re going to get ready for that. We’ll regroup, do a pre-scout on Lethbridge and get ready for Friday and the first game.”
Logan Dowhaniuk scored the Warriors’ other goal midway through the second, with Calvert figuring into that marker, too. He’d find Dowhaniuk with a backhand pass into the high slot, and the 20-year-old defenceman would put a shot home low blocker side. The goal gave Dowhaniuk points in five of his last six games with four goals and seven points in that span.
Brandon Lisowsky and Jayden Weins gave Saskatoon a 2-0 lead in the first period, and after the Warriors tied things up, Justin Lies and Rowan Calvert -- Atley’s younger brother and himself a former Moose Jaw Minor Hockey standout -- restored the two goal-edge heading into the third.
A 16-year-old in his first full season with the Blades, Rowan capped his regular season with four goals and 10 points in 57 outings.
After Atley’s milestone marker in the third, Trevor Wong scored twice for Saskatoon to put things away, including an empty netter with 53 seconds remaining.
Ethan Chadwick finished with 22 saves to earn the win, while Jackson Unger had 25 stops for the Warriors.
Moose Jaw will now host the Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, with Game 2 on Saturday night. Game time for both contests is 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at the box office and at www.sasktix.ca.
