Holzapfel and Knackstedt back

[Warrior Fan]

For the first time in years we are going to have the entire team for the start of the season. They will actually even have a couple of good days of practice as well. Very nice.
Hopefully Nyren can fill in and eat up some good minutes on the backend.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=63856&sc=9


Holzapfel returns to Warriors

RANDY PALMER
The Moose Jaw Times Herald

It isn’t often the final piece of the puzzle is the hardest to place, but that was situation for the Moose Jaw Warriors when it came to Riley Holzapfel.
With rumours flying that the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers were very interested in keeping the 19-year-old Regina product in their line-up as long as possible — even for the entire season — there was plenty of concern that the dynamic high-scoring forward had played his final game in a Tribe uniform.
But all those fears fell by the wayside Wednesday when the Thrashers announced they were returning Holzapfel to the Warriors in time for Friday’s home opener against Swift Current (7 p.m., Civic Centre).
And as you can imagine, that brought a collective sigh of relief for the Warriors brass — even if it did come as a bit of a surprise.
“I think going into it, the fact he’d signed prior to coming to pro camp, we weren’t competely sure what direction Atlanta was going there,” said Warriors general manager Chad Lang. “We were anticipating him to stay a little longer, but we’re very pleased and excited to have him back.
“I talked to Atlanta today and had a good conversation with them regarding his camp and their plans for him, and everything looks positive,” Lang added. “So we’re delighted to have him back and ready to go for our home opener, he’s a big peice of the pie for our hockey club.”
Holzapfel’s offensive numbers speak themselves. The Warriors’ top returning scorer, Holzapfel finished eighth in league scoring in 2006-07 with 39 goals and 82 points and is the sixth-highest returning scorer in the WHL. He showed no sign of slowing down in training camp, either, as he turned in a series of impressive showings through scrimmages and the intrasquad game.
With Jordan Knackstedt also joining the team this week from the Boston Bruins, the Warriors are now at full strength heading into Friday’s contest.
“There’s no question that it’s nice to have the full team at practice (today),” said Warriors coach Dave Hunchak. “We’ve practiced for two weeks now and Jordan (Knackstedt) and Riley are going to need some time to adapt to what we’re doing here.. . but both players can come in and have an instant impact on the line-up, and we’re looking forward to seeing that this weekend.”

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=471a2722-dacb-489a-9e10-a09b2c12f736


Holzapfel more comfortable at camp

Corey Atkinson, Saskatchewan News Network; Moose Jaw Times-Herald
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

MOOSE JAW -- Riley Holzapfel put last year's NHL camp experience under his belt, and that meant fewer butterflies in his stomach this year.

This season's Atlanta Thrashers NHL camp wasn't as nerve-racking as the last go-around for Holzapfel, an electric, high profile Warriors forward.

Holzapfel, drafted in 2006 by the NHL team and signed just a couple of weeks ago, returned to practice Thursday to a Warriors team eagerly holding its collective breath for his arrival.

"Going into camp this year, I was not so anxious," Holzapfel said after practice. "I wasn't as nervous as I was to play with the older guys."

Like last year, Holzapfel parlayed a successful camp in Traverse City, Mich., into a main camp appearance, and this time got to play a pair of NHL exhibition games, one against the St. Louis Blues and another against the New York Islanders.

"It gives me a lot of confidence coming back to Moose Jaw," said Holzapfel. "Both games I played, I got a regular shift. I got a lot of ice time, power play, penalty kill even. I got a good opportunity to play with some guys who played in the NHL last year."

In one of the games against the St. Louis Blues, he found himself lined up against NHL veterans like Keith Tkachuk, Paul Kariya and Brad Boyes.

"It's my second year, so I was not so in shock with all the NHL guys there," said Holzapfel. "With the guys we had on our team, like (Ilya) Kovalchuk and (Marion) Hossa, I wasn't so nervous out there."

For his individual goals with the Warriors, Holzapfel wants to beat his totals from last year. That would be a tall order, as the 5-foot-11, 189-pound left wing from Regina notched 39 goals and 43 assists for 82 points, leading the team.

This year's unit holds promise for even greater offensive exploits for top end players like Holzapfel.

Moose Jaw Times-Herald




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007