Ah! Rebels VS Warriors on a Tuesday night The building looks very sparsely attended. Total attendance was only 2704. Both teams came into tonights game coming off disappointing losses (Moose Jaw’s a tad more pathetic as they lost to the powerhouse Edmonton Oil Kings).
Looking forward to seeing the Warriors with some of the names on the team as Firkus, Yager, Mateychuk, and Korczak. Also looking at some of the names on the Warriors roster 😉Harper as a first name? Denton? Atlee? COSMO? Two goalies both named Ungar. Not spelled the same. One is Connor UNGAR (who played the game), who just turned 21, from Calgary. Then there is 17 year old goalie Jackson UNGER who is also from Calgary. The name on the Warriors that stuck out the most to me was Lynden Lakovic, because of the last name. It has me wondering if he was the offspring of the late Sasha the Basha the former Flame Enforcer and Pro Roller Beach Hockey Allstar from the 90’s who sadly passed away of brain cancer in 2017. I couldn’t find if they were related or not. Just in case I made sure I sat away from the Warriors bench.🤪
I got a speeding ticket in Moose Jaw last summer, photo radar. Construction zone🙄 I can‘t think of the city without thinking of this clip. Which makes you think of hockey, which then makes you think of the Warriors. The Warriors are in 4th place in the Eastern Conference and the Rebels are in 2nd place just behind the powerhouse Winnipeg Ice. In the teams last meetings the Warriors beat the Rebels 5-2 in Red Deer on December 3rd.
Rebels got on the board with only 3 seconds remaining in the first period. Kai Uchacz picked up the rebound on a Frantisek Formanek shot. Uchacz scored his 34th goal of the season making it a 1-0 game. 16th shot of the game for the Rebels so it is not like former Rebel and now Warrior netminder Connor Ungar did not have a work load before him. He also faced 16 shots in the second period stopping them all. The second period saw no scoring. The third period is where this became the great hockey game I was hoping I was coming to see. The Warriors tied it on the Power Play with just 30 seconds into the third period with a goal from Seattle Kraken 2022 second rounder Jagger Firkus. Firkus fired a one timer from the high slot on a Denton Mateychuk pass. Firkus is the Rebels leading scorer just ahead of projected NHL first rounder Brayden Yager.
Then Frantisek Formanek who hails from the country that drinks the most beer per person annually scored a great goal. That’s his 8th of the season assisted by Kalan Lind and Hunter Mayo at 2:55 of the 3rd. After Formanek scored that goal Moose Jaw defenceman Marek Howell may have to go down to Vital Statistics and legally change his name to PYLON.
Then Moose Jaw tied it up on a goal from assistant captain Atley Calvert, the Moose Jaw native scored his team leading 23rd goal of the season, assisted from Eric Alarie and Ryder Korczak. Atley Calvert was last week’s WHL Player of the week.
On the Power Play at 12:41 of the third period Lind crashed the net and scored the leading goal with assists from Grubbe and Sedoff. That was Lind’s 10th of the season. Moose Jaw called a timeout at 17:40 Ryder Korczak scored on the Power Play at 18:44 just as Ungar (the one spelt with an A) was heading to the bench for the extra attacker. The goal was a garbage bounce goal. I hope Korczak bought a lotto ticket🎰 after that. The 20 year old Yorkton, Saskatchewan native is drafted by the Rangers.
Overtime
The overtime went back and forth and solved nothing so this one went into a shootout. Kai Uchacz scored the only goal of the shootout and in the final attempt Jagger Firkus was stopped by Stoesser for the win.
REBELS SHOOTERS
UCHACZ 👍
ISLEY ❌
LARSON ❌
WARRIORS SHOOTERS
KORCZAK ❌
FIRKUS ❌
YAGER ❌
Other Notes
The Rebels out shot the Warriors 50-30
Rebels next game is Friday at home against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
There is also a good chance that Ben King may be back in the line up soon according to an interview coach Sutter gave. Like this weekend or next weekend soon. Guy hasn’t played since October. I think having King back in the lineup is a bigger boost for a team than anything any other team did at the trade deadline. And yes I am aware of all the big trades and no that is not a homer statement.
Moose Jaw Warriors forward Brayden Yager is a top prospect for the 2023 NHL draft.
So far, Yager has been ranked exclusively inside of the top 15 for the 2023 draft. He was ranked as high as fourth by The Hockey News, TSN’s Bob McKenzie, and Recruit Scouting. Other rankings place him fifth (McKeen’s Hockey, Sportsnet), seventh (FC Hockey), eighth (Craig Button), 12th (Smaht Scouting) and 14th (Dobber Prospects, Elite Prospects). This writer has Yager ranked 10th on his unreleased rankings.
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