The Moose Jaw Warriors will be missing a big piece of their lineup heading into the Christmas break and possibly beyond with Brayden Point away for the World Junior selection camp.
Point has been in on 46 percent of the Warriors' goals so far this season and someone will need to pick up the slack over the next four games at least.
In steps 16-year-old centre Brett Howden, who has been playing well this season and getting stronger over the past month. Howden has nine goals and 18 points in 27 game this season, which includes four goals and 11 points in his last 12 games.
“Coming back from the U17s gave me a lot of confidence,” said Howden. “That's a big thing for me was just getting the confidence and it's been going well lately.”
Howden knows that with Point out of the picture for the next while, he will be leaned on more to help fill the void as the team looks for secondary scoring. He's been contributing, but that will be expected to increase now.
“He's going to be gone for a little while and obviously that puts a lot more pressure on all of us, especially from our secondary scoring, we want that to start improving and lately it has been,” said Howden. “Obviously that top line with (Jack) Rodewald will have to do a lot of work still, but secondary scoring with my line and Jiri (Smejkal)'s line will have to work a lot harder to contribute to help the team win.”
The Warriors have been playing well over the past few weeks as well with their record moving to 14-14-2-1 on the year. They're coming off a well played game against the Brandon Wheat Kings, when they handed the Eastern Conference-leading squad a 5-4 shootout loss.
They want to build off that and keep the momentum going over the next four games heading into the Christmas break.
“We want to go into the break feeling good about ourselves, so we're working really hard to get that extra edge on every team that we play,” said Howden. “Staying focused and working hard every time we're on the ice.”
Wednesday's win over Brandon epitomized that mindset of staying focused as the Warriors fell down 3-1 after one, but battled back to tie the game with a strong second period before eventually taking the lead in the third.
“That was a big battle, obviously every time we play Brandon it's going to be a good battle like that, but it was a close game all the way through,” said Howden. “It was a fun game to play for sure.
“We just stayed with what we were doing, we were playing well, we just made little mistakes that we knew we could fix them quick and we could turn the game around,” he added. “We stayed calm and stuck to our game plan and it all worked out.”
Now heading into Saskatoon on Friday night, the Warriors will be making sure that they don't take the Blades lightly, despite sporting a 3-1 record against the Bridge City Kids so far this season.
Moose Jaw swept a home-and-home with the Blades three weeks ago, winning both games 4-2.
“We want to set the pace of the game and get them scared right off the bat,” said Howden. “The first couple of shifts are going to be huge, we've got to get the puck in deep and work really hard on their d-men to get them on their heels.”
Saskatoon has played the Warriors hard in each of their meetings, outside the tribe's 7-1 win at home early in the season. Howden said they have to play strong in the defensive end against a tough Blades' fore check.
“Their defence pinch too, so we've got to be willing to take a hit to make a play and chip pucks out to get our centres going flying down the middle,” he said. “It's going to be a good game and an aggressive one too.”
The Warriors and Blades hit the ice at 7:00pm on Friday night. Voice of the Warriors James Gallo will have all the action on Country 100, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40pm.
Warriors Call-Up Oleksyn... With injuries to Ben Duperreault, Noah Gregor and Tanner Jeannot, as well as Brayden Point being away at the World Junior selection camp, the Warriors have been left shorthanded up front. To help with that, the team called up 18-year-old Braden Oleksyn from the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL.
Oleksyn – 5-foot-11 195lbs – has three goals and 11 points in 11 games this season with the Klippers. The Saskatoon native was originally a third round pick of the Calgary Hitmen in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft.
Busy Saturday Night... Saturday is a big night at Mosaic Place as the Warriors will host their annual Teddy Bear and Toque Toss when they welcome in the Red Deer Rebels. All stuffed toys, toques and mitts thrown on the ice will be donated to Salvation Army to be given out to kids and families in need this holiday season. The tribe will also have "Super Fan" Cameron Hughes in attendance for the game.
Sat, May 4, 8:30 AM
Labour, Seasonal
Featured
