Moose Jaw Warrior fans may not have known much about Justin Almeida when the team acquired him in the Nikita Popugaev trade, but he’s definitely making his presence felt.

The 17-year-old forward notched his first two goals for the Warriors during Saturday’s 5-4 loss in Prince Albert and was arguably the best Warrior on the ice over the two teams this past weekend, starting with Friday’s 4-2 win over Saskatoon.

“He’s an exciting player, a lot of speed and a lot of skill, that first goal that he scored was a real nice goal, showed good patience in front,” said Warriors' assistant coach Scott King. “He’s on the puck, he chases pucks down and isn’t afraid to take a hit to make a play, so he’s going to be a real good player for years to come.”

Almeida had four goals and 13 points in 37 games with the Prince George Cougars before being dealt to Moose Jaw. He has two goals and four points, all four coming this past weekend, in 11 games since the trade.

When the Warriors added Almeida, you could see the skill in his game that made him the fifth overall pick in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft. He is starting to find his game more and more with each passing outing for Moose Jaw.

“I feel more confident and comfortable with the guys that I’m playing with and the style of play here in Moose Jaw,” said Almeida.

The Warriors are hoping that this past weekend was just the start for the Kitimat, B.C. product as they expect him to play a key role down the stretch this season and into next year.

Warriors Split Weekend in Division

The weekend started out great for the Warriors with their 4-2 win over Saskatoon that saw the team control the play from start to finish.

Moose Jaw had a hot start on Saturday in Prince Albert with Almeida scoring just over four minutes into the game, but the Raiders would score the next three and take control of the game.

“We shot ourselves in the foot throughout the game by giving them power plays, that’s the only time that they could stay with us is when they had an advantage,” said Almeida. “Five-on-five we did really well, but we just gave them too many power plays.”

The loss didn’t end up hurting the Warriors in the standings as the Raiders continued their strong play on Sunday in Swift Current and knocked off the Broncos, 3-2, to keep Moose Jaw nine points up in second place in the East Division.

Despite Saturday’s loss, the Warriors have still won four of their past five games and will look to move past the Prince Albert game quickly as they turn their focus to a date with the Regina Pats on Wednesday.

“If you come out and play well on Wednesday, you can flip the page on this one and get a good feeling again,” said King. “It would have been nice to get the two points, obviously, but Regina is the top team in the CHL and we’re going to have shake this one off as quickly as we can, get a bit of rest, some practice in and get ready for Regina.”

The Warriors head to the Queen City on Wednesday night.