Warriors Run Out of Gas on Road Trip

By @MJWarriorsHistory (Twitter) @moosejawwarriors_history (Instagram)

CN Centre - Home of the Prince George Cougars. - photo credit Twitter

Your Moose Jaw Warriors kicked off a seven game road trip through the west coast, at the CN Centre in Prince George, BC.

Prince George just so happens to be the home of the B.C. Division leading Cougars, a pretty decent hockey team who came into the match sporting a 12-9 record. The Cougars and a quadrant of players all amongst the top scorers in the league: Koehler Zimmer, Riley Heidt, Hudson Thornton and Chase Wheatcroft.

But, you know, Moose Jaw’s got a crew of really great players too. Think Jagger Firkus, Denton Mateychuk, Brayden Yager, Atley Calvert, Max Wanner, Eric Alarie, Bobzilla. Moose Jaw is loaded with talent. They’ve even got Connor Ungar, a potential Goaltender of the Year, between the pipes. And Ryder Korczak just came back from a stint in the AHL, with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

There’s a shot of Ryder Korczak during his call-up with the Hartford Wolf Pack - photo credit John Mrakovcich

Speaking of Ryder Korczak; it was him who started all the scoring. He broke out on an early 2-on-1 with Eric Alarie. Alarie shuttled the puck to him, inside the hash marks. Korczak slung it home.

The Warriors had the early lead in front of a somber, Wednesday Night crowd in the Northern BC city.

About halfway through the frame Big Lucas Brenton blistered a shot passed goalie Ty Young to give the Warriors a multi-goal lead. Brenton, known more for being a scrapper and an instigator than a goal scorer finished off a Jagger Firkus offering with formidable skill.

The first period wasn’t nearly finished though. The Cougars battled back into the game, Caden Brown scoring a Power Play dandy in the fifteenth minute, sneaking the puck, back door, behind Connor Ungar and into the net.

Brown did it again with half a minute left in the period. Sending both teams to the dressing room in a deadlock.

Downtown Caden Brown scored twice - photo credit Twitter

The game started out great for the Warriors but then they started doing that thing where they take more penalties than the other team and spend far too much time short-handed. Not at all uncommon this season.

The second period was all Cougars. Moose Jaw was horrible in it. Practically gift-wrapping a massacre and begging Prince George to just take the W. They were outshot 24-4 in one of the more lopsided stretches of 20 minutes ever laid witness to. Thankfully Connor Ungar is a magician and saved everything fired at him. Literally everything.

*The Ungartaker - MJ Independent file photo*

Somehow the Warriors had escaped the second period unscathed.

It didn’t matter though because Prince George scored at the start of the period anyway to take the lead. Chase Wheatcroft with his whopping 17th goal of the season. Wheatcroft has been red hot as of late, tallying 17 points in his last 9 games.

Chase Wheatcroft scored his 17th goal - photo credit Twitter

The floodgates had been opened. The Warriors were bleeding out and the Cougars were on the prowl. Riley Heidt added an insurance marker in the 8th minute. The collapse was complete.

Then, in the 17th minute Noah Boyko scored his fifth of the year, to stick a final nail in the Ungartaker’s coffin. The destruction was complete. The Cougars scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 decimation of the weary Warriors.

I’m sure the dead man will rise again.

The Warriors will be in Kamloops on Friday Nov, 25th for a showdown with the Blazers.