Visitors to “The Crushed Can” battled Warriors and their fans

First trip to Moose Jaw following rival Pats was eye opening

The Moose Jaw Civic Centre in 2011.

The pre-game reaction of a boy around the age of five proved the people of Moose Jaw took their WHL rivalry with hated Regina Pats seriously.

On Saturday, November 4, 2000, I stepped into the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was also known as “The Crush Can,” for the first time. It was the famous - or infamous depending on your point of view - home rink of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.

I was there that night covering the visiting Pats for the short-lived and ill-fated SportsRegina.com website.

During pre-game, I was touring the facility checking out various vantage points of where I might shoot pictures of the game from. As I walked around the stands, a boy, who looked to be five-years-old, asked me to take his picture.

Knowing the boy was likely from Moose Jaw, I replied, “I’m not from the Moose Jaw Times-Herald.”

The boy then asked with an exclamation emphasis, “Are you from Regina?”

Donald Choukalos and the Pats in the Civic Centre in 2000.

I nodded my head to give a “yes” response.

The boy quickly took off in the other direction and ripped into a tunnel that led to the concourse area like he had see The Joker, Lex Luthor or any other fictional villain you can think of.

The line was pretty clear.

“The bad guys” were anyone coming to this contest from Regina.

Hence was life in the rivalry between the Pats and Warriors, which is arguably the most heated one in the history of the CHL.

Tensions were high leading into this contest, which was the second encounter of the 2000-01 regular season between the two sides. The Pats and Warriors closed with 1999-2000 regular season with a heated home-and-home series.

The first game in Moose Jaw saw some Pats fans punch Warriors mascot, Puckhead, and the series concluded in Regina with a game that featured a line brawl that started when Warriors agitator Sean O’Connor hooked Pats goalie Donald Choukalos around the neck.

Lisa Franks at the Civic Centre in 2000.

The Pats healthy scratched dog mascot, K9, and polar bear mascot, Pat, in the return match due to fears of retaliation.

As for the November 4, 2000 encounter, the two sides met the previous night in Regina in a game that seemed to go on for three hours in real time due to all the fights and a third period line brawl that resulted in a suspension for Pats enforcer David Kaczowka. Moose Jaw came away with a 3-2 victory.

Despite all the crazy things that went on, the staff at “The Crushed Can” lived up to Moose Jaw’s motto of being “The Friendly City.”

As soon as you entered the building, they were super helpful in setting you up with game notes, making sure you knew where the media and scouts room was and ensuring you had everything you needed. If you had any other questions, all you had to do was ask.

The media and scouts room was set up in a dressing room at ice level. Pats head coach Lorne Molleken, who once coached the Warriors, and Pats assistant coach Chad Mercier came in and visited with everyone. At that time, you wouldn’t even know a big rivalry game was about to take place.

The Pats and Warriors in a scrum at the Civic Centre in 2000.

Things stayed on the down low for that night’s ceremonial faceoff. The Warriors were honouring Moose Jaw hero Lisa Franks, who won four goal medals in wheelchair racing at the 2000 Summer Paralympics held in October of that year in Sydney, Australia.

Pats captain Barret Jackman and Warriors assistant captain Jason Weitzel took part in the ceremonial faceoff. 

Jackman, who had played for Canada’s world junior team the previous season, had a deep respect for anyone that represented Canada on the world stage.

After both Jackman and Weitzel shook hands with Franks, Jackman turned to shake Weitzel’s hand.

Weitzel at first jumped back and game a facial expression of, “We’re enemies. What are doing?”

Weitzel then proceeded to shake hands with Jackman.

Grant Jacobsen (#15) fires a shot on goal for the Pats.

I expected the stage wouldn’t stay cordial. Right before the opening faceoff took place, I encountered two young teenage ladies from Regina who attended all the Pats home games.

They weren’t wearing their Pats jerseys that night, and they said they did so in order to avoid any problems with the Moose Jaw faithful.

As the game began, I looked up into the stands and wondered, “How did they get all these people in here?”

Attendance for that night’s game was listed as a standing room crowd of 3,135 at the 2,806 seat facility. It felt like there were more people shoehorned into the building than that.

There were eight uniformed police officers in sight at all times likely standing on guard in case anyone went over the line in the crowd, which happened a few times historically in that rivalry.

Before, after and during the game, you could feel the enormity and force of the crowd. They were figuratively on that ice surface playing that contest alongside the Warriors.

The game itself didn’t have any of the incidents like the previous recent encounters between the two sides at that point in time. For a game that didn’t have a fight or any line brawls, it was incredibly intense and physical.

Barret Jackman was heckle target of the Warriors faithful.

When anyone threw a hit, they were throwing a hit to hurt. Any time the Warriors laid a big hit, the crowd reaction was louder and way more emphatic than the hit itself.

The fans brought the heckles too, and the chants of “jackass” rained down for Jackman, who was also a first round NHL Entry Draft selection of the St. Louis Blues.

Pats 16-year-old left-winger Robin Big Snake and Warriors 16-year-old defenceman Mitch Love had a little battle going at one point that saw Big Snake take an unsportsmanlike conduct minor and Love a roughing minor at the 15:33 mark of the second period. Love happens to be the current day head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.

With the teams locked in a 2-2 draw, veteran Warriors left-winger Shawn Limpright scored on the power-play with 6:46 remaining in the third period to give the hosts a 3-2 edge. The Warriors locked things down defensively from there to make sure that 3-2 score hold up as the final in their favour.

I happened to be by the hallway where the Pats came off the ice after the game. Veteran Pats defenceman Scotty Balan was one of the first players who came off the ice, and I remember him firing his helmet down the hallway and loudly repeating an explanative all way to the Regina dressing room.

A huge media horde quickly formed outside the Pats dressing room.

Pats D Filip Novak at the Civic Centre in 2000.

As I stood among the huge gathering of media folks, I thought I saw Warriors fans heading into a fan lounge right next to the Pats dressing room. I might not have seen that correctly, but that is what I thought I saw.

I didn’t have much time to figure out what I saw there, because Molleken quickly emerged from the Pats dressing room to meet the media.

I ended up firing off the first question in the scrum for some reason, even though I was likely the youngest guy there at that point.

With all the things that happened the night before, I asked, “So what was the difference in this one?”

Molleken must have though the query was a smart assed one and responded, “Moose Jaw scored more goals. Next question.”

I followed by starting to ask if the result revolved around work ethic.

Molleken knew what I was getting at, and before I could finish the query, he said the work ethic was fine and went off to giving a good answer, which he always typically did.

He said that night’s game was a good hockey game, gave a break down on what both teams did and said the contest came down to Warriors netminder Sean Connors having a really good night.

A scramble of action around Warriors goalie Sean Connors.

Molleken proceeded to answer questions you may have already had in your head, which was something he regularly did.

After interviewing Pats players Brett Lysak and Matt Hubbauer, it was off to the Warriors side to talk up head coach Len Nielsen and Limpright.

It might sound strange now, but I needed to have the story finished by late Sunday afternoon, so I departed for the 45-minute highway trip back to Regina after the game.

As I left “The Crushed Can,” the fans that remained were in a friendly and jovial mood.

During the drive home, I kept thinking that was the craziest sports facility I had ever been to at that point in time of my life. I would return to “The Crush Can” for many more WHL contests over the years, and the atmosphere was still crazy, even when the Pats weren’t the opponent.

It did get cranked up a notch, when the Pats were in town.

From that point onward, I often told people that if they really wanted to experience the WHL they had to attend a game at “The Crushed Can” in Moose Jaw.

The Moose Jaw Civic Centre in 2011.

Anyone that didn’t get to see the Warriors play in that building before it was closed in September of 2011 missed out. After being replaced by state of the art Mosaic Place, “The Crushed Can” was demolished from August to November of 2012.

Still any time I drive by the strip mall buildings that exist where “The Crushed Can” was, I can still picture it and all the loyal Warriors fans inside going bonkers.

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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