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Korczak, Hunt among Warriors leaders at Regina tourney

Win over Saskatoon sees Tribe’s veterans step in in impressive fashion
When the Moose Jaw Warriors traded standout defenceman Jett Woo to the Calgary Hitmen this off-season, they were hoping that the overage defenceman and young prospect they received in return would pay dividends in quick fashion.

Much of that was based on import Vladislav Yeryomenko helping anchor their rearguard corps this season. The youngster, 17-year-old second-year forward Ryder Korczak, would be one to watch in the future.

As it turns out, the future just might be right now when it comes to  the up-and-coming Yorkton product.

Korczak has been a revelation for the Warriors right from the opening of training camp, with his three-point effort against the Saskatoon Blades something Warriors head coach Tim Hunter believes is a sign of things to come.

“I’m really impressed with Ryder, he’s going to be a hell of a player in this league.” Hunter said. “His fitness testing, he’s one of our top fittest guys and right from there on into practice, he plays at full speed and exemplifies what we’re trying to do here: be fit, be fast and play a finesse game. He has all that and then some. So I think he’s going to be a real piece of us winning a championship one day.”

Korczak is heading into his second full season in the Western Hockey League, having put up eight goals and 15 points for the Hitmen in his rookie season. His offence has been proven – Korczak put up 27 goals and 83 points in only 30 games in his second season of Bantam and had 12 goals and 34 points as a rookie in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA league in 2017-18.

Another 17-year-old attracting attention for all the right reasons is far more familiar to the Warriors – standout defenceman Daemon Hunt.

The Warriors first round selection in the 2018 Bantam Draft is coming off a silver medal showing with Team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky world U18 hockey championship and has had an immediate impact on the ice whenever he has played during the pre-season, the Saskatoon game included.

“He had a great summer at the Hlinka and just the confidence with him, he’s going to be at the top of the power play and run our power play this year,” Hunter said. “He’s going to have a great season for us, it’s going to be a great development season for him as well.

“So those are a couple of guys who will drive the engine for us as far as young guys go.”

Of course, the team’s older veterans saw to it their third pre-season game would not go the same way as the second – with the likes of Luke Ormsby, Daniil Stepanov, Tate Popple, Kaeden Taphorn and Matthew Benson joining the likes of Cameron Sterling and Drae Gardiner from the opening Regina tournament contest to dramatically swing things in the Warriors’ favour.

“So overall I’m really happy with the whole group from start to finish here, from rookie camp to now has shown just how many good young players we have in our organization,” Hunter said. “We have so much depth, and that’s going to bode well for us not taking a big dip here in our re-tool and it’s going to help us get back to where we want to be.”

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