And as has been the case through much of the pre-season, the word has once again proven positive, especially after the Warriors rebounded from an 8-5 loss to the Swift Current Broncos on Friday with a 4-3 overtime win over the Saskatoon Blades Saturday. The first game saw the team take the ice with a rookie-laden squad; game two brought more veterans into the mix, and it showed.
“It’s no fun being in a game where you lose 8-something and you don’t have a chance in the game to compete, other than watching these kids show their skills,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. “So the second game was a little more competitive, and those older guys have to play in games too in order to get ready for the regular season.
“Then we give opportunities with young guys on lines with not just one veteran but two veterans and that gives them a little bit of a better experience and a better feel of the game, a better chance to navigate the game.”
That’s the whole plan when it comes to this stage of the pre-season, with players receiving plenty of chances to show what they can do in full-speed situations – especially youngsters trying to make an impression and earn a spot alongside those veterans.
“Right through the line-up, we played a lot of our young guys,” Hunter said. “We have a lot of prospects in camp and a lot of talent, and you want to give these guys an opportunity to develop and be around the WHL game so they can go back to their midget or sport school leagues and have something to reflect on, what they need to work on and what it’s like at this level.”
One player who received an extra opportunity was goaltender Kyle Kelsey, the Warriors fifth-round Bantam Draft pick this past summer. With Jackson Berry battling through a minor injury, Kelsey was thrown into the fire against the Broncos and had a rough start, giving up five goals in the first 10 minutes. Hunter stuck with his young goaltender, though, and was rewarded with a solid performance the rest of the way.
“He battled, letting in only three after five in the first,” Hunter said. “And we didn’t play very well in front of him, so it was a learning experience for everyone… It was a great opportunity for him to develop and be around the team a little bit longer.”
Then there’s Eric Alarie, the Warriors first-round pick in 2018. He currently leads the WHL in pre-season scoring with three goals and seven points in three exhibition games, including a four-point effort against the Blades.
“He’s played well all along, I think he’s feeling a little pressure to score and show that he’s going to be able to put numbers up as a 16-year-old,” Hunter said. “But we’re not really interested in his scoring right now, we want to see how he plays the game, does he play the game right. The goals will come, it’s about teaching him how to play in the Western Hockey League and how to prepare for a game and get through a game in different situations. So we give him all these opportunities to see what he’s made of and how he goes through the process and how he handles it.
“That’s what the early part of training camp is all about,” Hunter continued. “The next phase now is paring the team down and getting ready to play in the regular season. We have four games left, two against P.A. and two against Brandon and it’ll be a chance for guys Kade Runke, and (Bryden) Kiesman, Cole Jordan and Cory King so they can really find out what it’s like to play in this league and give us a good indication of what they need to develop and work on.”
Those kids will be around for at least another week: the Warriors plan to make few changes before next weekend, opting to keep players in camp for a further run of practices and exhibition games before making any hard decisions.
“We still have lots of games to go, so we’ll see once we’re a little closer to the regular season,” Hunter said.
