Moose Jaw and Warriors fans deserve WHL title win

Denton Mateychuk circles the ice with the Ed Chynoweth Cup. 

If the Moose Jaw Warriors and their fans were part of the scripted WWE Universe, they would be saluted with chants of, “You deserve this!”

This past Wednesday, the Warriors downed the visiting Portland Winterhawks 4-2 before a jam packed crowd of 4,732 spectators at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Game 4 of the WHL Championship Series. The win allowed the Warriors to sweep the best-of-seven set 4-0 and capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the first time in team history.

Wednesday’s win marked the first time a club from “The Friendly City” won the WHL title since the circuit’s inaugural campaign back in 1966-67. In the 1967 post-season, the Moose Jaw Canucks claimed the WHL crown downing the Regina Pats 4-1 in a best-of-seven series for the league title.

Warriors fans cheer their team winning the WHL title.

Now just five days after that monumental victory by the Warriors, it is likely some of the teams’ fans are wondering if that night actually did happen. The ending of the Game 4 victory over the Winterhawks played out perfectly for the Warriors faithful to soak in the reality that their team was going to win the WHL title.

With the two sides locked in a 2-2 tie, Warriors hard-working centre Brayden Schuurman fired home what would be the game and series winning goal with 5:53 remaining in the third period. Following that tally with 2:27 remaining in the third, Warriors standout overage import left-winger Martin Rysavy scored an empty-net goal with a long distance shot from deep in his zone to round out the 4-2 final in favour of the Warriors.

Denton Mateychuk smiles lifting the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

The empty-net tally was Rysavy’s second goal of the contest. For the final 2:27 remaining in the third, Warriors fans were able to enjoy the approaching end of the frame knowing a celebration of winning the WHL championship with the presentation of the Ed Chynoweth Cup to the Warriors would follow.

Chants went up of, “We want the cup!”

When the time in the third period expired, the cheers in the Moose Jaw Events Centre, which is also known as “The Hangar,” would rival anything heard in the team’s former home rink in the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was famously known as “The Crushed Can.”

“The Crushed Can” was the spot the love affair with the Warriors and their fans took root and seemed to immediately grow into something special. The Warriors arrived in Moose Jaw for the start of the 1984-85 campaign after spending four seasons in Winnipeg, where they made one post-season appearance and were swept of the first round of 1983 WHL Playoffs 3-0 in a best-of-five series by the eventual league champion Lethbridge Broncos.

Warriors fans salute their team in Game 4 of the WHL final.

The Warriors only had four winning records in their first 16 seasons in Moose Jaw. When it came down to wins and losses, the Warriors didn’t give the Saskatchewan city with a population of about 34,000 people much to cheer about.

Still, their raucous fans continued to back them and pack “The Crushed Can.” Opposing teams were expecting to pick up wins during visits to Moose Jaw, but you were also expecting to live through an adventure too.

Fans would rain down innovative heckles that most on opposing clubs had to get a laugh out of. When you played the Warriors at “The Crushed Can,” you were playing against the Warriors and their fans. The noise the fans made came at opposing teams with force.

The fun begins in Moose Jaw after the Warriors win the WHL title.

You had to form an admiration on some level for Warriors fans, because the losing seemingly wouldn’t drive them away for long. If they did go away, they came back to “The Crushed Can” when just even the smallest positive thing happened for the team.

You also wondered if the fans were that passionate for a team that seemingly never won what those fans would be like if the Warriors ever won a WHL title or claimed the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

The Warriors cycled through their share of good players during their first 16 seasons in Moose Jaw. Players suiting up for the Warriors over that time included Mike Keane, Kelly Buchberger, Lyle Odelein, Theoren Fleury, Curtis Brown, Ryan Smyth, Roman Vopat, Reed Low, Jamie Lundmark, Brian Sutherby and Deryk Engelland.

Matthew Savoie and Atley Calvert go to get the fans pumped up.

During those first 16 seasons, the Warriors also got in their own way at times with quick dismissals in the early 1990s of young head coaches in Lorne Molleken and Mike Babcock. Of course, they both went on to have storied careers after leaving Moose Jaw, and it made one wonder if success might have come to the Warriors earlier had they stayed.

Over those first 16 seasons, the idea of winning WHL and CHL championships in Moose Jaw was a dream.

Since the start of the 2000-01 campaign, the Warriors have been one of the WHL’s better franchises and at times they have been one of the circuit’s elite franchises. They moved into a new home in the Moose Jaw Events Centre at the start of the 2011-12 campaign and finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings in 2017-18 with a 52-15-2-3 mark.

Atley Calvert hugs his mom Joanne Calvert.

There were times the Warriors still got in their own way. They won their first division title topping the East Division in 2003-04 with a record of 41 wins, 22 losses, eight ties and one regulation loss.

Curtis Hunt was the club’s head coach and Lane Lambert was the assistant coach at the start of the campaign. Lambert left part way through the season to become the head coach of the Prince George Cougars. He went on to a lengthy career coaching in the NHL.

Hunt moved on to become the head coach of the Regina Pats following the 2003-04 campaign. He has been serving as the general manager of the Prince Albert Raiders for some time now including their WHL championship season in 2018-19.

In the 2005-06 campaign, the Warriors again topped the East Division with a 44-20-5-3 record and advanced to the WHL Championship Series. They were swept away 4-0 by the Vancouver Giants.

Matthew Savoie enjoys a skate with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Before the start of the 2012-13 campaign, the Warriors hired Mark O’Leary as an assistant coach. He became an associate coach before the start of the 2019-20 campaign and was promoted to head coach on January 6, 2020.

Originally from Owen Sound, Ont., the now 39-year-old O’Leary has strong ties to “The Friendly City.” He met the woman he would marry in health and fitness coach Stephanie O’Leary once he started working in Moose Jaw. Through Stephanie, Mark gained a better understanding of how much the Warriors mean to Moose Jaw.

The Warriors have sound leadership at general manager in Jason Ripplinger, who has worked in the WHL since joining the circuit as a scout for the Vancouver Giants before the start of the 2001-02 campaign. He joined the Warriors as an assistant general manager before the start of the 2018-19 campaign and moved up the general manager before the 2021-22 campaign.

Lynden Lakovic pumps up a group of Warriors fans.

Ripplinger and O’Leary have had the biggest hands in building the current version of the Warriors that are loaded with stars like captain Denton Mateychuk, Atley Calvert, Jagger Firkus, Brayden Yager, Matthew Savoie and Jackson Unger. They are supported by a solid roster that is now strong on all four lines and three defensive pairing with players like Rysavy, Schuurman, Kalem Parker, Lucas Brenton, Ethan Semeniuk, Lynden Lakovic and Pavel McKenzie all coming through in big moments in the post-season.

Above everything, all players and everyone with the Warriors recognize how important the fans have been to the team’s story. They understand the fans have stuck by the team in tough times, when other fanbases would likely have jumped ship in similar tough times.

The Warriors fans show their passion for their team.

Finishing fifth overall in the WHL regular season with a 44-21-0-3 mark, the current Warriors wanted to make history and accomplish things the club had never been able to do. After getting past a tough Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Saskatoon Blades that went to seven games including six contests decided in overtime, the Warriors captured the WHL title for the first time in team history.

Now, they head to Saginaw, Michigan, to play in the Memorial Cup tournament that crowns a CHL champion for the first time in team history. The Warriors open the event on Friday taking on the host Saginaw Spirit from the OHL at the DOW Event Centre (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The last club from the WHL to win the Memorial Cup was the Edmonton Oil Kings back in 2014. For the Warriors, that means there is another opportunity to make more history.

Jackson Unger is pictured with family and friends after his WHL title win.

Right now for this Warriors team, anything is possible. They would like nothing better than to bring another new thrill to the fans in Moose Jaw by returning home with the Memorial Cup.

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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