When Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Cole Jordan suffered a knee injury during a game against the Prince Albert Raiders back on Nov. 15, there was a bit of wait-and-see to figure out just how bad things actually were.
As time went on, the team went about their business, which included a trade to send 20-year-old forward Riley Ginnell to the Regina Pats shortly after overager Ryder Korczak was returned to the Warriors by the New York Rangers.
At the time, the team hoped to have their 20-year-old situation set, with Jordan, Korczak and standout netminder Connor Ungar taking up the Warriors’ three available spots.
A week later came the worst news possible.
Jordan -- who had played every game of his career with Moose Jaw since the 2019-20 season -- was going to be out for the season and would soon be having knee surgery.
The loss was a tough one for the team, especially given Jordan’s status as a defensive stalwart who had been drafted by the Calgary Flames and how he had fought through illness the previous season before successfully returning to the lineup.
“It’s almost a carbon copy of last year with (then Warriors 20-year-old) Logan Doust,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary, referring to the Warriors forward who suffered a season-ending injury just before Christmas. “He’s a guy who’s a popular teammate and who really cares, and for things to end for him, it’s real tough. He battled through what happened last year to get himself back and how he has this huge setback… Cole will handle this the right way, he’ll come back stronger for it and we certainly appreciate what he’s done for the Moose Jaw Warriors.”
O’Leary pointed to the value of players like Jordan, who as an overager was one of the team’s leaders both on and off the ice.
“You look at any good team, they’re built around the 19- and 20-year-olds, they’re so important,” he said. “Not only when things are going well, but when they aren’t. You lose a guy like Cole Jordan, it hurts, especially when he’s been here his whole WHL career, it’s heartbreaking for him and a tough pill to swallow for sure.”
Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger carried a similar tone when talking about a player who grew into his game in the Warriors’ system.
“It’s disappointing for Cole, it’s disappointing for us as an organization,” Ripplinger said. “He’s had some bad luck, but he’s been a soldier for us, he’s come up the ranks here. They come in here as young boys and they leave as young men, and it’s nice when you can have a homegrown kid and not make moves and develop what we have.”
Jordan leaves the Warriors having played 114 games over four seasons, scoring eight goals and 35 points in that span.
“He’s disappointed, obviously, I feel for him and it’s a tough situation, but hopefully his surgery goes well and he recovers and he can get on with his career,” Ripplinger said.
Things are always moving forward in the WHL, though, and on Wednesday afternoon, Ripplinger found Jordan’s replacement.
The Warriors acquired overage defenceman Logan Dowhaniuk from the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for 18-year-old forward Nathan Pilling and a third-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.
“The whole thing with Logan is experience,” Ripplinger said. “He’s coming into our dressing room to be a leader, he wore a letter in Edmonton and he has that WHL playoff experience, obviously having won a league championship. So he knows what it takes to win, we’ll be looking for him to bring his winning culture and how he does things to our organization.”
While losing Jordan came a tough time shortly after the Ginnell trade, it didn’t take Ripplinger long to formulate a plan.
“We kind of thought this could happen, and when we got Korczak back I felt we had enough depth up front that we didn’t need a 20-year-old forward,” Ripplinger said. “I wasn’t going to trade (Ungar) and losing Cole, our defence is our strength and I felt a 20-year-old d-man would be a better fit for us.”
Dowhaniuk, 5-foot-11 and 203 pounds, has been part of the Oil Kings since the 2017-18 campaign, having played 208 games and put up 17 goals and 83 points in that span. That includes eight goals and 36 points in 62 regular season games last season, followed by three goals and 11 points in 19 games during Edmonton’s championship run. This season, Dowhaniuk has a goal and 10 points.
Acquiring a player of Dowhaniuk’s calibre comes with a cost, and Ripplinger admitted it was hard to see Pilling go.
“(Dohwaniuk) is a guy we’ve seen play for a long time, and I reached out to Edmonton to see if they’d move him. They said they’d look at it if it was the right deal and they felt Nathan Pilling should be part of that deal,” Ripplinger said. “I wasn’t shopping him around, he was a listed guy, we recruited him and developed him and it was tough talking to him this morning, but we have to do what’s best for the organization.”
Dowhaniuk is expected to be in the line-up Friday night when the Warriors host the Calgary Hitmen for their Teddy Bear Toss game. Puck drop is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
