Rd. 1 Warriors/Hitmen

[wardog fan]

its the new season, and with that throw numbers out the window and begin the madness of the whl playoffs. i thought i would break this series down between moose jaw and calgary . both teams seem to be familiar with meeting each other in the playoffs , dating back two years ago in the conference semi's where a young perricone backstop the tribe to a series victory over a heavy fav pogge led team... today is a new year and fairly new faces.


the season series has been owned by calgary taking a 4-1-0-0 record, outscoring the tribe 19-13. 2 games went to overtime and including those two games, 3 games have been decided by just one goal and one game decided by 2. biggest margin of victory was by calgary winning 6-1 in moose jaw. home ice advantage will be a key in this series with calgary winning all games this season in moose jaw and the tribes lone win was on the road in calgary.

a break down of calgary they ended up with the number 1 seed finishing 46-20-1-4 and posted 253 goals and allowing just 165 while gathering 1086 pim's. their top 3 scorers were ryan white, kyle bortis, and brock nixon. the hitmen boost 4 20 goal scorers and 2 of them went over 30 goals on the year. and their big defense also had two 10 goal scorers . their home record was 23-10-1-1 and on the road was just as effective going 23-10-0-3. the hitmen had the leagues 15th best powerplay which amazes me with some of their talent and their ability to use their dmen as they do. their penelty kill is the most effective running .880 pct and 2nd in the league. their goalie tandem is a reflection of their great defense (my pick as the best in the whl as a group) spence played the bulk and posted a 2.19 gaa, as his partner jones played in 26 games posting a 2.16 goals agianst..

as for the tribe, they ended up 37-21-6-8 record and finished 8th in the conference. the tribe scored 229 goals, and allowed 214 goals. the achilles heal could be the pim's in which they racked up 1534 pims but their special teams have seemed to make or break this club, they finished 5th on the power play and 8th in penelty kill. the tribe is night and day when it comes to home and road wins, home record was 22-6-4-4, and on the road 15-15-2-4(not good when they dont have home ice advantage in this series.) the warriors top three scorers were knackstedt, bast, wishart. the tribe boosted 3 20 goal scorers and all 3 players scored over 30 goals, and the tribe only produced 1 dman over 10 goals. joey perricone played the bulk of games posting a 2.76 gaa and mathews the rookie played in 20 games and posted a 2.75 gaa.

to handicap this series in my mind is a fairly even series on paper, both teams are big, they both have very good primary scoring . i fear moose jaw lacks the most in secondary scoring, and calgary has a more potent offence with their defense scoring ability. i believe this series will come down to 3 factors

1. home ice, moose jaw needs a spilt in hostile confines to make this a series. calgary is deadly at home and moose jaw is just above .500 on the road.

2. special teams, i believe both teams need to stay out of the box as both teams have soild pp units. the team who wins this stat will win the series as any series in my mind..

3. goaltending, perricone has the experience and spence gained alot of experience last season. spence has a great defense in front of him and should they get a goal lead can lock things down, while the tribe who went out and got 2 1st round dmen , they still lack in their own end. this has to be better and perricone has to take control of the game and the succuss of the tribe lay on this once eastern conference mvp.


one more tidbit for the tribe is play with determination and play every shift as its their last, play with patience and play a defensive game do not allow calgary to take a lead and dictate their game, play phyiscal, win battles along the baords, get pucks in deep and win the races. guys like holzapfel, and broda, and mclaren need to i repeat need to step their games up. and wishart and ellerby need to prove they belong in the show by putting together solid series here. this team can do it the ingrediants are there and as far as im concerned weather we are 8th or 1st , theres no easy route in this years playoffs. play to win and play to earn another day of hockey simple facts . and one final tidbit, teams who can lock it up with leads win and win alot. we as a team if given a lead can not lay back, keep the pedal down and play soild 60 min hockey. early leads and late leads are critical...

[wardog fan]

i wont lay a prediction but i do say this series will go 6 or 7 games...

[Toswammi]

After watching the Warriors a lot as of late, they got a few things that really worry me.
1.Perricone (i think that is how its spelled) When he is on, he is tough to beat, but when he isn't, he is terrible (and as of late, he hasnt been very good). He needs to play good to win, and not get rattled so easily
2.Wishart/Ellerby - It seems like they log about 30 minutes each, especially Wishart. If they get tired, or injured, you guys are done for cause after them i dont like the depth (Hamonic tends to make bad reads, or atleast against Swift, and Ward is invisable)

With that said, your forwards are good when they choose to be, and with Calgary being hot and cold an upset could be in the works

[WestLEAFfan]

This should prove to be a humdinger of a series. Perhaps a Warrior upset is in the making. I'd like to see the Warriors win this series.

[Flathead]

I'd like to see the Warriors win as well, but imo the only way that will happen is if Perricone steals it.

[patsdude114]

Western Hockey League

Moose Jaw Warriors
Regular Season Record: 37-21-6-8 (88 points)
League Ranking: 11th overall, 8th in Eastern Conference
Regular Season Goal Differential: 229-214
First Round Opponent: Calgary Hitmen

After an up and down beginning to their season, the Moose Jaw Warriors hoped to place themselves in the company of the elite teams in the league after the acquisition of defenceman Ty Wishart. Wishart, along with Keaton Ellerby, form one of the scariest defensive tandems in the CHL. This team has plenty of grit and will wear teams down physically with Wishart, Ellerby and forward Frazer McLaren.

The Warriors missed the playoffs last season but have a few players left over from their Eastern Conference winning team in 2006. Neal Prokop, Riley Holzapfel, Jason Bast, Ryan Stanton and Joey Perricone remain from the team which lost to the Vancouver Giants in the finals two years ago. Those five players, along with Wishart and Ellerby, will be relied on to provide leadership in the playoffs and carry this team.

Strengths: Moose Jaw's strength is without a doubt its defensive tandem of Wishart and Ellerby. Dubbed the Twin Towers, the two are tough as nails to play against while also contributing offensively. Wishart led all defencemen in scoring this season while also being capable of playing in a shutdown role. He, along with Devin Setoguchi, was one of the main reasons the Prince George Cougars went on a run in last year's playoffs before losing to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Vancouver Giants in the Western Conference final.

If the Warriors are going to go on a run, they will need overage goaltender Joey Perricone to be exceptional. Perricone is used to playing in tight games as his team isn't high scoring. He has proven he can raise his game in the playoffs as in two years ago he was a key reason behind the Warriors' run to the league finals. He will need to duplicate his performance from the 2006 playoffs this year for Moose Jaw to surprise.

Weaknesses: The biggest question mark for Moose Jaw is on offence, where it lacks depth in scoring. Captain Riley Holzapfel, who represented Team Canada at the world juniors, is the most dangerous offensive threat on the team but has underachieved to an extent this season.

Forward Jordan Knackstedt enjoyed a breakout campaign and will be relied on to produce but outside of him, Holzapfel, Bast and Joel Broda, the offence dries up. They have talented role players who can produce but in a close, tight-checking game it could create a problem. They will need some of their second and third line players to step up if they're going to surprise.

Why Moose Jaw Can Surprise: There isn't one team in the WHL that will underestimate the Warriors. Many thought they would move up in the standings after the acquisition of Wishart in particular, but it hasn't come together. Given the top-end talent and playoff experience on this team, Moose Jaw could be downright scary if they can put it together. If they can get a win or two in the first two games of their first round series and gain some confidence, Moose Jaw has the talent to make the 2008 playoffs a memorable one.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=5993955b-d936-496d-a40c-1a7cfbbc45e0


Warriors ready to go to war with Calgary's Hitmen

Matthew Gourlie, Saskatchewan News Network; Moose Jaw Times-Herald
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

MOOSE JAW -- The contenders in the Eastern Conference engaged in an arms race before the WHL's trade deadline.

Now it's time to go to war.

The one-versus-eight series is typically a cut-and-dried affair, but the Moose Jaw Warriors are preparing to give the favoured Calgary Hitmen a battle.

"We have to play physical with them every game and every shift and make sure we're hitting their defence," said Warriors captain Riley Holzapfel.

"They have a lot of veteran guys back there that can move the puck and skate pretty well. We have to bang their forwards too, they have a lot of depth up front. I think we'll be fine if we play a physical series."

Like most of the teams in the Eastern playoffs both the Hitmen and Warriors are veteran-laden clubs looking to make a run deep in the postseason.

While the Warriors were seven places behind the Hitmen, they were only 11 points back in the standings.

"There's no secret they're built for this year," said Warriors head coach Dave Hunchak of the Hitmen. "They're a team that finished first in our conference for a reason. They have some tremendous depth at the forward position and their back end is outstanding and they have solid goaltending. They back that up with some veteran former NHL players as their coaches. It's a tall order for us."

Calgary had made it past the first round three straight season and after losing in the conference final last year are hoping this is the season where they finally get over the top.

While the Warriors missed the post-season last year, they return a trio of players from their 2006 Eastern Conference championship team and added playoff experience through trades.

That being said, the Hitmen have nearly twice as much playoff experience on their roster with 323 playoff games under their collective belts, while the Warriors have 172 games of playoff experience.

"For us to have success against Calgary, we're going to first and foremost be an extremely disciplined group," said Hunchak. "The penalties, but also within our structure too. Secondly we're going to have to skate with them. It will be a match of our depth and their depth.

"Everybody is going to have to contribute. There's an onus on everybody to do their jobs and play their roles."

Hunchak feels to oust the favourites, there needs to be constant attention to detail and an unwavering desire to win.

"You have to will yourself to whatever you need to do to win hockey games," said Hunchak. "We're going to break it right down ot the one-on-one battles. Every puck battle means something. Every shift means something.

"There's no secret we're going to want to be physical and every chance we have to finish a check we look as an investment that will pay off down the road."

The Hitmen won four of the five meetings this season, with one coming in overtime and another via the shootout.

"When we've played them they've given us some trouble," said Holzapfel. "There's no question they have a good hockey club. We know we're in for a tough series."

The series will begin Friday in Calgary and continue with Game 2 Sunday afternoon before shifting back to the Civic Centre Mar. 25-26.




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

[CJSenterprise4]

But they won Game 2! I think alot of people are cheering for a Warrior upset and with the big win in Game 2 it seems a bit more possible. 3 goals from the lower tier scorers on the team too.

[WestLEAFfan]

But they won Game 2! I think alot of people are cheering for a Warrior upset and with the big win in Game 2 it seems a bit more possible. 3 goals from the lower tier scorers on the team too.

I'm one of those fans hoping for a Warrior upset. I always like to go for the underdog once in a while. Here'e to winning games 3 and 4 at home and taking a commanding 3 - 1 series lead. Good luck WARRIORS and fans!

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=89d751bf-7314-47d3-bf21-b4eb6354a172


Warriors steal home ice advantage from Hitmen

John Down, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, March 24, 2008

CALGARY -- If the Moose Jaw Warriors were a little embarrassed on Good Friday then the Calgary Hitmen were red-faced on Easter Sunday.

Talk about a turnaround in this first round Western Hockey League playoff series.

The Warriors simply out-hustled, out-worked and certainly out-scored the Hitmen during a 4-2 victory at the Pengrowth Saddledome to knot the best-of-seven and snatch home-ice advantage.

It was the Hitmen's 15th loss in 22 post-season Game 2s. The third and fourth games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday in Moose Jaw.

While the Hitmen had all the hustle and all the bounces in Friday's 5-1 win, the Warriors had all that and more Sunday. They were especially dominant in the second period when they totally penned their top-ranked Eastern Conference foes in their own end for all but a couple of shifts, hit three goalposts and scored four-unanswered goals to wipe out a 2-0, first period deficit.

"I think just because they thought they won the first game 5-1 they could just strap their skates on," sighed a frustrated Calgary head coach Kelly Kisio. "It's happened too many times this year and no matter how many times you remind them of it ... they didn't show up. It wasn't a good effort for sure."

The Hitmen won an even first period on a power-play goal by Brandon Kozun and a great solo effort by Brock Nixon but the Warriors were showing much more game than they did in the opener.

And when they carried over that work ethic into the second period, it was the Hitmen who were suddenly running around trying to keep up, taking four straight minor penalties and clinging to dear life.

Defenceman Chad Suer started the rally with a power-play snipe at 6:55 on a clean shot through Dan Spence's five-hole. Then it was three straight deflections in the last three minutes, Terrance Delaronde off Calgary defenceman Keith Seabrook's skate, Neal Prokop tipping a Keaton Ellerby screened point shot and Jason Bast deflecting a Ty Wishart shot through traffic.

Considering the Warriors were 28-1-1-1 when leading after two periods this season, and considering the Hitmen were clearly on their heels, the result was pretty much a done deal.

"They dominated us pretty good in the second period and didn't allow us to get anything going," said Kisio. "Even if we'd tried, we couldn't have gotten anything going ... there just wasn't much desire.

"We knew it was going to be a tough go from the get-go, but you'd at least hope your guys would come out and play with some desperation in your own building and it didn't happen tonight ... it's just a little frustrating right now on the coaches part."

The Hitmen mounted a couple of late surges in the third period but never really had a great scoring chance despite getting off 13 of their game-high 31 shots on Joey Perricone.

"We didn't have enough guys going," said Calgary captain Karl Alzner. "A lot of us on the back end, myself included, forwards ... you score five goals in the first game and start thinking it's going to happen the same way, especially when you get up two goals in the first period again and we really started to take a bit of a back seat.

"We knew we were going to be in a series. We knew they were going to be tough and they shoved it down our throats a little bit today."

Calgary Herald




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=119762&sc=9


Huge comeback gives Tribe split

MATTHEW GOURLIE
The Moose Jaw Times Herald

CALGARY — The Moose Jaw Warriors felt they had earned a bounce.
The Warriors consistently out-worked the Calgary Hitmen Sunday afternoon and used a fortuitous deflection to spark a three-goal outburst than resulted in a 4-2 Warriors win.
The Warriors return home tied 1-1 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series. Game 3 is Tuesday night (7 p.m. Civic Centre).
“It’s the old adage — you work hard today to be rewarded tomorrow,” said Warriors head coach Dave Hunchak. “We had 20 very committed hockey players (Sunday).
“It started (Saturday) in practice. I thought our practice was really good. Our mood was good. Our tempo was good and we made some adjustments in our game.”
The Warriors played a strong first period, but were down 2-0 after Brandon Kozun scored on a five-on-three power-play and Brock Nixon banged his own rebound in out of mid-air.
“I thought we played a really good first period and to be down two, I didn’t think we deserved that fate,” said Hunchak. “Full credit to the players. They stuck with it.”
The Warriors came out even better in the second period, but hit two posts and a crossbar. It looked like it might not be their night when Chad Suer scored a power-play goal to cut into the Hitmen lead.
“It was a nice pass from (Jason Bast). I decided to put one on net. I hadn’t done that in awhile and I thought I would give it a try,” said Suer, who has two career goals.
“It was a turning point,” added Suer. “We didn’t seem to be able to find the back of the net and that seemed to get things going.”
After Warriors goalie Joey Perricone made some big stops and Suer broke up a Calgary two-on-one with a sprawling poke-check on Ian Duval, the Warriors got their break. Terrance Delaronde looked to throw the puck at the net and it deflected off of defenceman Keith Seabrook’s skate and in.
“We want to get as many pucks to the net as much as we can,” said Delaronde. “I saw (Riley Holzapfel) sneaking in on the back side and saw Basty down low and was trying to put it on net. Anything can happen in the playoffs.”
The Warriors struck in quick succession as Neal Prokop and Holzapfel each deflected point shots past Calgary’s Dan Spence.
The Hitmen were disappointed in their game from top to bottom.
“I though we were bad all game,” said Hitmen head coach Kelly Kisio. “If we want to play with Moose Jaw we have to be able to compete harder than that. Right from top to bottom it was a painful display of hockey.
“In the second period they dominated us pretty good from the get-go.”
Now that they have set a high standard for their play in the series, the test will be to meet it on a nightly basis.
“We have to go out with the same mental mindset,” said Warriors defenceman Ty Wishart who had two assists. “We have to work hard and chip pucks and do the little things right and hopefully that will pay off.”
24/03/08

[Bocephus]

I'm one of those fans hoping for a Warrior upset. I always like to go for the underdog once in a while. Here'e to winning games 3 and 4 at home and taking a commanding 3 - 1 series lead. Good luck WARRIORS and fans!

Me and you buddy. We are the two who put our picks on the thread for everyone to see. Let's hope we are the ones who are right. I went Warriors in 6. :)

[CJSenterprise4]

I went to game 4 last night and Calgary didn't outplay Moose Jaw at all. It was an even game in which the Jaw had a goal called off because the net was maybe off(in which case when they disallowed it they should have give the Calgary player a penalty for delay of game for knocking the net off) and Holpzfel? spelling? hit the cross bar with 1:02 left in the game. Plus the Hitmen's goals were not all that great. The third goal especially should have and needed to be stopped to keep the team from having a chance to come back. Ellerby was out-suspended? He got 5 and a game for slashing at the end of Game 3 so i assume he was out for this game and man did Ty Wishart ever log a lot of ice tonight! That guy was simply amazing, he was on the ice almost ever other shift and played terrific! It was absolutely amazing to watch him go out there all game and not even hunched over and gasping for air at the end. He must have played 35 minutes with Ellerby out of the line-up. After the 2nd Hitmen goal Seabrook waved bye bye to the Warrior bench and that was a class act and i wish someone would have taken his head off with a nice clean check and then at the end McLaren was trying to get at someone and the coach had to pull him down. Overall a good trip and suprised we could get seats but it was not sold out.

[hitmanfan]

I went to game 4 last night and Calgary didn't outplay Moose Jaw at all. It was an even game in which the Jaw had a goal called off because the net was maybe off(in which case when they disallowed it they should have give the Calgary player a penalty for delay of game for knocking the net off) and Holpzfel? spelling? hit the cross bar with 1:02 left in the game. Plus the Hitmen's goals were not all that great. The third goal especially should have and needed to be stopped to keep the team from having a chance to come back. Ellerby was out-suspended? He got 5 and a game for slashing at the end of Game 3 so i assume he was out for this game and man did Ty Wishart ever log a lot of ice tonight! That guy was simply amazing, he was on the ice almost ever other shift and played terrific! It was absolutely amazing to watch him go out there all game and not even hunched over and gasping for air at the end. He must have played 35 minutes with Ellerby out of the line-up. After the 2nd Hitmen goal Seabrook waved bye bye to the Warrior bench and that was a class act and i wish someone would have taken his head off with a nice clean check and then at the end McLaren was trying to get at someone and the coach had to pull him down. Overall a good trip and suprised we could get seats but it was not sold out.
Made the trip out to the Jaw. Had a great time and met many nice fans. The net was knocked of by a Hitman that was pushed by a Warrior, hence the no penalty. Most of the Hitmen goals are not "all that great", we get a lot of garbage goals but they all count the same. Seabrooks' waving bye bye was almost as classy as Gillen getting a pop thrown on him from a fan at the end of game three. I think the Warrior 5 on 3 to start the third was their chance to win and they showed absolutely no desperation along with sloppy passing and they did themselves in.

[CJSenterprise4]

I am not a fan other either team and the net knocking off was a weak push by grantham who ended up scoring and the 5 on 3 was BRUTAL no doubt they were done after that. I turned to the guy i went to the game with and said they were done and the Hitmen scored right after. Hockey is usually easy to figure out like that. Can't blow chances and Holpfzapel was brutal most of the night passing. He gave the puck away tons and especially on that 5 on 3. Then you can't compare what a player does and what the fans do. Seabrook should have fired up the Moose Jaw bench but i didn't see a reply and the fan throwing stuff is what you expect. I think there is a different standard there.

[hitmanfan]

That post actually came off again in the second period when the back ref blew down the play in the Moose Jaw end. I noticed they were playing with the plastic mooring peg and kind of reshaping it. Maybe time for some new ones, might have allowed that goal and changed the game? Who knows......
And not saying the waving good bye was classy ( I actually missed it), but it was a +/- 35ish year old fan who threw the pop. BOTH should really know better. clrkth

[CJSenterprise4]

I remember that instance now as the net was barely off and i don't think anyone noticed but the ref..Smith i think it was. Also Seabrook is really young and he will learn but the old guy will never learn ha. I figured it would be an older person with maybe one too many to drink so he had some extra cups laying around.

[CrazyGeorge]

When does your pregame start for game 6? It is 800 AM right?

I'm pulling for Moose Jaw to upset Calgary....good luck!!!

[sbtatter]

Go Hitmen, win it tonight!!

[hitmanfan]

Great series Warriors. It was tighter than I hoped for.