Warriors captain Yager in obvious trade bait position

Brayden Yager with the Ed Chynoweth Cup on May 15.

Could Brayden Yager’s days with the Moose Jaw Warriors be numbered?

You can expect that question will continue to be asked as Yager’s Moose Jaw Warriors continue to struggle. Heading into action on Tuesday, the Warriors sat last in the entire WHL with a 5-14-3-1 record.

Of course last season, the Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL with a 44-21-0-3 mark, and in the post-season, they would win the WHL championship and advance to the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – for the first time in team history. When that campaign concluded, the Warriors graduated a whole host of key players including WHL scoring leader Jagger Firkus, Atley Calvert, captain Denton Mateychuk, Matthew Savoie, Martin Rysavy and Lucas Brenton.

Over the past two weeks Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger traded away a pair of veteran defencemen to collect draft capital and get a little younger. On November 15, the Warriors dealt 19-year-old Czech import defenceman and prospect of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks in Vojtech Port to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for 18-year-old defenceman Ryder Ellis, a third round selection in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft and a second round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft.

On November 17, the Warriors made a bigger deal sending 20-year-old offensive defenceman and Minnesota Wild prospect Kalem Parker to the Calgary Hitmen for 15-year-old prospects centre Nathan Gardiner, a second round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and third and seventh round picks in the 2026 Prospect Draft. When Parker got traded, it left a feeling that Yager might possibly be dealt at some time too before the trade deadline on January 9, 2025 at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Warriors’ Firkus due for breakout at Memorial Cup

Jagger Firkus led the CHL in regular season scoring with 126 points.

“The Firkus Circus” needs a four leaf clover at the Memorial Cup.

Moose Jaw Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus has put in the effort at the CHL championship tournament but has been snakebitten around the net. In the Warriors three games at the Memorial Cup, Firkus has recorded one goal, two assists and a minus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

For most players taking a field that contains the top teams in the CHL, they would likely be fine with those totals. For Firkus, those numbers are a little more pedestrian, especially considering the campaign he has had in 2023-24.

The Irma, Alta., product topped the entire CHL in regular season scoring with 126 points coming off 61 goals and 65 assists to go with a plus-31 rating in 63 games with the Warriors. Due to his spectacular season, Firkus was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s player of the year.

Firkus proceeded to top the scoring race in the WHL Playoffs with 32 points coming off 14 goals and 18 assists to go with a plus-nine rating. He played a key role in helping the Warriors capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions posting a 16-4 mark.

At the Memorial Cup tournament going on in Saginaw, Michigan, it feels like Firkus, who turned 20-years-old in late April, is due for a big breakout game where he records three or four points. That type of development might be enough to put the Warriors on top when they playing in the event’s semifinal contest on Friday at the DOW Event Center against the host squad in the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The two sides opened the tournament with a round robin contest that the Spirit claimed 5-4 this past Friday. That contest was the spot where Firkus’s foul luck came to the forefront.

With the Warriors trailing 5-3, Firkus appeared to have scored at the 8:04 mark of the third to cut the Spirit lead to 5-4. That goal was taken off the board when it was determined by video review the Warriors were offside on the play.

Jagger Firkus topped the WHL Playoffs in scoring with 32 points.

After the Warriors pulled to within 5-4, Firkus had a shot attempt in front of the Saginaw goal with 17 seconds remaining in the frame to tie the contest up. He roofed a shot over top of the net and the Spirit hung on for the one-goal victory.

In the Warriors second round robin game this past Monday against the OHL champion London Knights, Firkus was stopped on a breakaway 27 seconds into the contest by a right pad save from Knights star netminder Michael Simpson.

With the Warriors down 5-4 inside the final 71 seconds of the third, Firkus had a chance at a one-timer to tie the game, but he was once again thwarted by Simpson. The Knights proceeded to hang on for the one-goal win.

Moose Jaw closed round robin play this past Tuesday against the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs. The winner of that contest would advance to the tournament’s semifinal contest.

Firkus finally broke through in the goal department one-timing home a power-play marker in the opening frame to put the Warriors up 2-0. That tally on the Warriors only power-play chance of the contest allowed the WHL champs to ultimately pull out a 5-3 victory and eliminate the Voltigeurs from the event after they finished winless in their three round robin games.

While Firkus was fighting some bad luck, the Warriors didn’t lack offence. Captain and star offensive defenceman Denton Mateychuk leads the scoring race at the Memorial Cup with seven points coming off three goals and four assists to go with a plus-six rating.

Firkus’s linemate in star centre Brayden Yager has also had a big tournament. He sits second in the event’s scoring race with six points coming off three goals and three assists to go with a plus-one rating.

Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie has put up four points coming off one goal and three assists to go with a plus-two rating.

Jagger Firkus and the Warriors are in pursuit of the Memorial Cup.

Moose Jaw has also gotten depth scoring as defencemen Vojtech Port and Aiden Ziprick had goals in the win over the Voltigeurs. Ziprick netted the winner short-handed in that contest with 94 seconds remaining in the third period. At the moment, Ziprick’s tally is the only short-handed marker of the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Warriors also benefitted from a spectacular 49-save performance from star netminder Jackson Unger.

Still, the Warriors are in the tournament semifinal without having a monster game from Firkus. If “the Firkus Circus” has a special night on Friday, that might be the main ingredient that pushes the Warriors into the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday.

Knights winning streak at Memorial Cup hits seven, other notes

If the London Knights want to use it, they can employ a style of motivation that was utilized a time or two by the NFL’s New England Patriots in the era of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

With Brady crafting a career at quarterback to become arguably football’s greatest player and Belichick guiding the ship as one of the all-time great head coaches, the Patriots won six Super Bowls coming in the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 NFL campaigns. After the Patriots third Super Bowl win, a healthy resentment developed from the fans of the league’s other teams.

Since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, the Knights have won five OHL titles and two Memorial Cups to become CHL champions. They captured both the OHL and CHL titles in 2004-05 and again in 2015-16. The Knights three other OHL championships have come in the 2011-12, 2012-13 and the current campaigns.

Due to the Knights success, there has been some resentment built up from fans of the other CHL teams that includes the WHL, OHL and QMJHL circuits.

During games at the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Michigan, some of the Knights fans have been spotted in the crowd holding up signs that basically say, “Knights versus everyone.”

That mantra was used frequently by Patriots fans in the NFL, especially when the Patriots won their last three Super Bowls.

On Wednesday, the Knights downed the host Spirit 4-2 in the final round robin game at the DOW Event Centre that was played before a tournament high crowd of 5,306 spectators.  The victory was the seventh in a row for the Knights at the Memorial Cup.

They won the 2016 tournament in Red Deer, Alta., posting a 4-0 record. In the Memorial Cup title game in that year, winger Matthew Tkachuk scored the winner in overtime to deliver the Knights to a 3-2 victory over the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

London topped the round robin standings with a 3-0 record at this year’s tournament. The Knights got a bye straight into the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

They will play the winner of Friday’s semifinal between the WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors and the Spirit (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Going back to the OHL Playoffs, the Knights are riding and eight-game winning streak. Their only two losses in the OHL Playoffs came in the Western Conference Championship Series that went six games against the Spirit.

In Wednesday’s win over the Spirit, Knights star right-winger Easton Cowan broke out with a monster outing recording two goals, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. Cowan had two assists in London’s first two round robin games.

Knights star left-winger Denver Barkey had one goal and one assist and a plus-one rating. He has two assists in London’s first two games.

Star netminder Michael Simpson made 28 saves to earn the win in goal for the Knights. Simpson has played every minute in goal for the Knights at the Memorial Cup posting a 2.00 goals against average, a .933 save percentage and one shutout.

The Knights posted their win on Wednesday over the Spirit after they found out on Tuesday that right-winger Sawyer Boulton was suspended one game by the Memorial Cup Games Committee for a violation in warm-ups before the OHL champs down the Warriors 5-4. Boulton was suspended for making unnecessary contact with a Moose Jaw player, and the Knight were also fined $1,000.

Boulton went pointless playing the Knights first two games at the tournament.

Overall, that episode was minor hiccup for the Knights. Now their fans are looking forward to seeing their team win the Memorial Cup on Sunday, because to Knights fans, that result is inevitable.  Along the way for Knights fans will also come the pleasure of making the fans of all the other CHL teams feel sad.

• When the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs failed to make the playoff round of the Memorial Cup tournament posting an 0-3 record in round robin play, it ended a run where QMJHL teams won the last four straight Memorial Cups. The OHL’s Windsor Spitfires are the last non-QMJHL club to win the Memorial Cup capturing major junior hockey’s biggest prize in 2017 as the host squad. The Spitfires downed the OHL champion Erie Otters 4-3 in that year’s title game.
• The Regina Pats are the last Saskatchewan based team to make the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament. As the host squad of the event, the Pats fell in the 2018 title game 3-0 to the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
• The Swift Current Broncos are the last Saskatchewan based team to win the Memorial Cup. The WHL champion Broncos took the tournament’s title game in 1989 over the host Saskatoon Blades 4-3 in overtime. Tim Tisdale scored the winner in extra time for the Broncos.
• London Knights standout right-winger Kasper Halttunen leads this year’s Memorial Cup tournament with two power-play goals.
• On Thursday, the Prince Albert Raiders announced 26-year-old Conor Yawney as a new assistant coach. Yawney spent last season as an assistant coach with the Amarillo Wranglers of the North American Hockey League. Yawney’s father, Trent, was a longtime defenceman in the NHL starting in the 1987-88 campaign and finishing out in the 1998-99 campaign. The Raiders also announced on Thursday that former NHL defenceman Keaton Ellerby wouldn’t be returning to the club as an assistant coach for the 2024-25 campaign. The 35-year-old had been a Raiders assistant coach since 2022.

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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Unger steals Warriors spot in Memorial Cup semifinal

Netminder stops 49 shots in win over Voltigeurs

Jackson Unger was a wall in goal for the Warriors on Tuesday.

Jackson Unger made a statement that he is a championship caliber goalie.

While the Moose Jaw Warriors and their fans know how good their third-year puck stopper is, Unger turned in a masterful performance in his club’s final round robin game of the Memorial Cup tournament, which crowns a CHL champion. With his play in that final round robin game, Unger showed a national audience on TSN just how good he can be.

On Tuesday playing before 4,444 spectators at the DOW Event Centre in Saginaw, Michigan, the Warriors, who are the champions of the WHL, faced the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who are the champions of the QMJHL, in a contest where the winner advanced to the tournament’s semifinal. The losing squad would be eliminated from the event.

Unger stopped an incredible 49 shots including making 25 saves in the third period to backstop the Warriors to a 5-3 victory. With the win, the Warriors, who are 1-2 in the tournament, advance to Friday’s semifinal contest (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

They will face the squad that falls in the tournament’s final round robin game to be played on Wednesday between the OHL champion London Knights and the host squad in the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). Both the Knights and Spirit have 2-0 records. The winner of that clash advances to the event’s championship game set for Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Voltigeurs closed out play at the Memorial Cup with an 0-3 record after their loss to Moose Jaw.

For his effort in the Warriors win on Tuesday, Unger was named the player of the game.

“Throughout the game, you get in a groove,” said Unger in a post-game scrum. “Seeing how many shots, even past like a 25-shot mark, you just know your game, and you feel good in the crease.”

During the regular season, Unger, who turned 19-years-old in January, appeared in 54 games for the Warriors posting a 35-15-2 record, a 3.08 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and three shutouts. He led the WHL in goaltending wins and was second in minutes played (3,133) and third in shots faced (1,754).

In the WHL Playoffs, Unger appeared in all 20 games the Warriors played posting a 16-3 record, a 2.90 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

“Sometimes, the more workload he (Unger) gets the better he gets,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary in a post-game scrum. “That’s just competitiveness.

Denton Mateychuk had one goal and two assists on Tuesday.

“Tonight, we certainly needed him, over 50 shots, whatever it was. If anybody wants to talk fatigue, it’s Jackson Unger. He’s played a lot of hockey games this year and saw a lot of pucks, but he found another gear when it got hard, and (I’m) just real proud of the effort.”

For a moment, it appeared the Warriors wouldn’t necessarily need a super-human effort from Unger. The Warriors got the only goal in a fairly evenly played first period, when import defenceman Vojtech Port completed a tick-tack-toe passing play firing home a shot from a sharp angle from the left side of the Drummondville net at the 13:04 mark of the frame.

Warriors star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert and clutch 17-year-old left-winger Lynden Lakovic picked up assists on that play.

When the opening 20 minutes came to a close, the Warriors held a 1-0 lead, while the Voltigeurs held a slim 11-9 edge in shots on goal.

At the 5:10 mark of the second, Warriors star right-winger and the WHL’s player of the year award winner Jagger Firkus blasted home a power-play goal from the left side of the Drummondville net to put the WHL champs up 2-0. Firkus one-timed a beauty cross-ice pass from Warriors star centre Brayden Yager for the power-play marker.

Warriors captain and star offensive-defenceman Denton Mateychuk would net his third goal of the tournament at the 12:43 mark of the second to push the Warriors advantage out to 3-0. Mateychuk found a loose puck at the left side of the Drummondville net and potted it past fallen Voltigeurs netminder Riley Mercer to give Moose Jaw a three-goal edge.

At that point, the Voltigeurs came with a monster push back. With 5:14 remaining in the second, 19-year-old right-winger Justin Cote one-timed home a goal from the right wing for the Voltigeurs to trim the Warriors lead to 3-1. Cote converted a sweet cross-ice pass from Voltigeurs captain Luke Woodworth.

Just 57 seconds after that tally, Cote picked up an assist when Voltigeurs star import centre Peter Repcik ripped home a shot from the left wing to further cut the Warriors lead to 3-2.

The Voltigeurs evened the score at 3-3 at the 3:13 mark of the third, when left-winger Alexis Gendron snapped home a midrange shot from the front of the Moose Jaw net.

With the QMJHL champs having pulled even on the scoreboard, they poured on the pressure searching for the go-ahead goal. Unger kept them at bay.

The situation looked like it could really go downhill for the Warriors, when Firkus was sent to the penalty box for a roughing minor with 3:23 remaining in the third.

Jagger Firkus scored the Warriors second goal on Tuesday.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Warriors would make the plays to take the contest. Near the tail end of the minor to Firkus, the Warriors got the puck into the Drummondville zone.

Mateychuk had the puck near right-wing boards and put a pass to 18-year-old sophomore defenceman Aiden Ziprick at the point facing straight out from the centre of the Drummondville net. Ziprick, wired home a short-handed goal to the right side of the Drummondville net with 94 seconds remaining in the third to put the Warriors up 4-3.

Yager sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 9.3 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 5-3 final in favour of the Warriors.

Mercer turned away 23-of-27 shots fired his way to take the setback in net for the Voltigeurs.

Mateychuk finished the contest recording one goal, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department for the Warriors. Yager completed the game recording one goal, two assists and a plus-one rating for Moose Jaw.

The Voltigeurs finished second overall in the QMJHL in the regular season with a 48-14-5-1 mark and were rated eighth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. They marched through the QMJHL Playoffs with a 16-3 record.

The Warriors placed fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark. They marched through the WHL Playoffs with a 16-4 mark.

Ziprick’s winner was just his second career goal in the major junior ranks including play in the WHL regular season, the WHL Playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. Both his goals have been game-winners, but his tally on Tuesday was more meaningful as his previous winner came in the regular season. His winner on Tuesday also delivered the Warriors their first win at the Memorial Cup tournament in franchise history.

“It’s pretty special,” said Ziprick in a post-game scrum. “It’s a big tournament right now.

“Close game, and we needed a goal. So to get one for the guys is just huge for me. I’ll definitely remember that for the rest of my life.”

Tuesday’s victory marked the third time in the 2024 post-season the Warriors have won an elimination game. Ziprick loves the resiliency of his club.

“The whole year, when we’re against the wall, we know that’s when we’re at our best,” said Ziprick. “So I think tonight we just showed up.

Brayden Yager had one goal and two assists on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to go home yet, and we’re still here for the win.”

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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