WHL’s top squad knows foes will keep them
honest
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| Brecon Wood (#17) scored a first period goal for the Warriors. |
Jayden Halbgewachs said you can tell his Moose Jaw Warriors
are gunned for by every other team in the WHL.
On Sunday afternoon at the SaskTel Centre, the Warriors took
a 3-1 lead against the host Saskatoon Blades only to see that edge evaporate
into a 3-3 tie early in the third period. With 7:03 to play in the third, Warriors
standout overage right-winger Brayden Burke snuck a bad angle shot home short
side on Blades sensational rookie netminder Nolan Maier to give the visitors a
4-3 edge.
Burke’s goal restored control of the contest to Moose Jaw. Halbgewachs
potted his 51st goal of the season into an empty net with 4.9
seconds to play in the third to seal a 5-3 regular season victory and disappoint
most of the 4,511 spectators in attendance.
 |
| Brett Howden had a goal and an assist for the Warriors. |
While the Warriors
are enjoying what might turn out to be their best campaign in team history,
Halbgewachs, an overage right-winger who has spent his entire WHL playing career
in Moose Jaw, said the wins haven’t come easy. As the Warriors pile up
accolades, Halbgewachs has noticed foes play his side that much harder. He said
his team claimed a hard battle on Friday downing the Memorial Cup hosting Pats
in Regina 5-3 and had to find a way to outlast the Blades on Sunday.
“Obviously, everyone
wants to take off the top team,” said Halbgewachs. “Each and every night teams
are going to want to come in to play us, and they want beat us every time we
play them.
“They are going to
play tough against us. We have to bring our game every night and find ways to
win, even if we are not having a hot night like tonight. We had a pretty good
game in Regina (on Friday).
 |
| Jayden Halbgewachs has 51 goals so far this season for the Warriors. |
The Warriors had a
strong campaign last season posting a 42-21-8-1 record in the regular season
before falling in a first round playoff series to the Swift Current Broncos in
a series deciding seventh game.
This season, the
Warriors have become the team everyone wants to knock off, and they have been
forced to stay honest playing in what has become an extra tough East Division.
The Blades fell to
23-22-2-1 with their loss on Sunday, but Burke said the Saskatoon side hasn’t been
an easy out. The two teams have met four times, and the Warriors have come away
with three victories including one win in overtime.
 |
| Brayden Burke scored the winner for the Warriors. |
“They shoot the puck
well. They forecheck well. They have a good system.
“Even though they
are a little lower in the standings, we know they are a good team. If you look
at the East Division, there is not a bad team. Every time we come against a
team in the East Division, we have to be at our best, if we want to win, and
today was no different.”
The Warriors jumped
ahead 1-0 just 1:48 into Sunday’s clash, when captain Brett Howden tapped home
a nice backdoor feed form Halbgewachs. Sophomore left-winger Brecon Woods
slipped home an off-speed shot at the 11:42 mark of the opening frame to give
the Warriors a 2-0 edge.
Josh Paterson, who
was celebrating his 19th birthday on Sunday, scored for the Blades
with 15.4 seconds to play in the first to cut Moose Jaw’s lead to 2-1.
Just 51 seconds into
the second period, Warriors centre Justin Almeida converted a beauty
tick-tack-toe passing play from Burke and Howden to put the Warriors up 3-1.
The Blades, who look
lethargic to that point after beating Pats 4-3 in overtime at the SaskTel
Centre on Saturday night, came to life on Sunday after the Warriors took their
two-goal edge.
While Moose Jaw continued to have a decent advantage as far as
shots on goal were concerned, the Blades were stringing a number of good shifts
together and spending lengthy stretches of time in the Moose Jaw zone.
 |
| Josh Paterson scored twice in the Blades attempted comeback. |
The host side’s
pressure finally resulted in Paterson’s second goal of the contest and an
equalizer from left-winger Eric Florchuk early in the third to force a 3-3 tie.
That set the stage
for Burke’s winner and Halbgewachs’ empty-net goal down the stretch.
“I kind of went to
the net and just wacked it there,” said Burke about his winning tally. “It was
maybe a little bit of luck to get in there, but I am happy with the goal and
happy with the win.”
Maier turned away 31
of 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades.
Saskatoon sits in the
second wildcard spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a four point edge
over the Prince Albert Raiders (18-20-7-2). The Raiders have a game in hand on
the Blades.
The Blades are four points behind the Pats (24-20-5) for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.
 |
| The Warriors celebrate their victory over the Blades. |
The Blades are four points behind the Pats (24-20-5) for the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.
Brody Willms stopped
16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors.
During the rough
patches, Halbgewachs was pleased to see his side never got flustered.
“Throughout the
game, we were just kind of even keel,” said Halbgewachs. “We weren’t really too
hot. We weren’t too low.
“We just kind of
rolled through the game. I think we could have played a lot better, but
obviously, we got enough chances to win the game. That is the way the game went
tonight.”
The Blades return to
action Wednesday, when they travel to Regina to face the Pats. The Warriors are
off until this coming Friday, when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the
Hurricanes.
Fundraiser underway to have Lazaruk sing national anthem
 |
| Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk is participating in a fundraiser. |
Lazaruk became the
Blades play-by-play radio voice at the start of the 1994-95 WHL campaign and he
has called 1,794 of their games. If $1,500 is raised, Lazaruk will sing the
national anthem before a Blades home game. As of Sunday night, $425 has been
raised.
Lazaruk agreed to
this fundraiser as long as the money went to a charity of his choice. He has
decided the funds raised will be donated to the Saskatchewan Red Cross to
support Pink Day, which is set for February 28.
Every $20 that is raised
will provide a pink shirt to a local child and get them into the Red Cross Pink
Day program supporting anti-bullying.
Those that want to
donate to the campaign to get Lazaruk to sing the national anthem can do so by
clicking here.
Parker lifts Stars to OT victory with
milestone goal
 |
| Mackenna Parker achieved another impressive SFMAAAHL milestone. |
On Sunday at the
Agriplace Arena, Parker had two goals - including the winner 22 seconds into
overtime - and an assist to lift the Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Notre Dame
Hounds. With those two tallies, the skilled centre has scored 74 regular season goals in
her career with the Stars to move into a tie with Alyssa Wiebe for second on
the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League’s all-time career goals list.
Wiebe, who is a
Saskatoon product, piled up her 74 career goals along with 68 assists for 142
points in 55 career regular season games playing for the Hounds in the SFMAAAHL’s
first two seasons of existence from 2006 to 2008. Parker, who is in her fourth
season with the Stars, piled up her 74 goals to go along with 72 assists for
146 points in 99 career regular season games.
Earlier this season,
Parker passed Wiebe to sit alone as the second all-time regular season leading
scorer in the SFMAAAHL.
In Sunday’s game,
Parker drew an assist on Anna Leschyshyn’s goal 60 seconds into the contest to
give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Parker netted her first of the night at the 2:07
mark of the second period to give the Stars a 2-0 lead.
 |
| Mackenna Parker leads the SFMAAAHL in scoring with 48 points. |
That set the stage
for Parker, who played for Canada at the under-18 women’s worlds earlier this
month in Dmitrov, Russia, to score her dramatic overtime winner. In 18 regular season games this season with the Stars, the 17-year-old has career highs in goals (25) and assists (23) and leads the SFMAAAHL in scoring with her 48 points.
Jordan Ivanco turned
away 13 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Stars (19-3-1). Kaitlyn Ross
turned away 42 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds (14-6-1).
The Stars have
collected 55 points in the SFMAAAHL standings coming off 16 regulation victories,
three overtime wins and an overtime loss to sit one point back of the Prince
Albert Northern Bears (19-3) for first place. The Bears have 56 points in the
standings coming from 18 regulation wins and an overtime win.
The SFMAAAHL
awards three standings points for regulation victories, two points for extra
time wins and one point for extra time losses.
The Bears have a
game in hand on the Stars.
The Stars, who have
won five straight contests, return to action on February 8, when they host the
Battlefords Sharks at 7:15 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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