With the number of scoring chances and opportunities Moose Jaw Warriors forward Atley Calvert had throughout the first half the Western Hockey League season, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before things started to go his way in serious fashion.
During the first week of January, that time finally came.
The 19-year-old Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product and former Prairie Hockey Academy standout put together the best run of his WHL career with five goals and eight points over the Warriors’ three games, and that led to the league’s powers-that-be taking notice.
Calvert was named the WHL’s Player of the Week for Jan. 2-8, marking the first time he’s received such an honour in his four seasons with the Warriors.
“That’s because of our team, we have a really good group, I play with a lot of really good players, so it feels good, obviously, but the big wins feel better,” Calvert told Marc Smith of www.mjwarriors.ca. “I’m just trying to do my thing, I try to get a little better every day.”
Calvert’s week started in impressive fashion, as he scored two goals and four points in the Warriors’ 5-3 road win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. A couple of days later, Calvert scored Moose Jaw’s lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Calgary Hitmen before capping his week with two goals and three points in the Warriors’ impressive 6-3 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Calvert carried a seven-game point streak into Moose Jaw’s game in Edmonton on Tuesday night but was among a host of high-scoring players who were held pointless in that game.
All in all, Calvert has put together a remarkably consistent campaign, having gone two games back-to-back without a point only once this season, and he promptly reeled off five goals and eight points in his next five games after that ‘slump’.
That’s all translated into a massive improvement over last season. Not only do Calvert’s 22 goals lead the team, but he’s also long surpassed his 15 goals from the 2021-22 campaign, and with his final point in the game against Seattle he officially eclipsed his point total from last season. Calvert headed into play this week with 22 goals and 41 points in 39 games, compared to 15 goals and 40 points in 65 games last season.
As for how he gets the job done? Good old fashioned hard work, a complete lack of fear of going into the hard areas and, most importantly, a willingness to stake himself in front of the net and take all the abuse imaginable to help his team score goals.
“I always try to play beneath the circles, I like to go to the net and sometimes there’s a couple of pucks laying around there, so it’s always nice to find those and especially when they’re going in,” he said.
There’s little question that if Calvert is at the top of his game, the Warriors’ depth and ability to win increases at the same rate. The goal is to keep those victories coming for the rest of the season and through the playoffs.
“We all want to go on a deep run, so that’s the biggest thing on all of our minds,” he said. “The personal success is to the side for the team success.”
The Warriors are back in action tonight when they travel to Red Deer to face the Rebels, Next home action is Friday when the Warriors host the Portland Winterhawks. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
