The Moose Jaw Warriors will have twins in the lineup on Wednesday night, as Kaeden and Keenan Taphorn make their debuts following Monday’s trade with Kootenay.

The Yorkton products will be on the ice when the Warriors square off with the East Division-leading Prince Albert Raiders at Mosaic Place.

"I’m looking forward to the fresh start, the guys have been great so far, welcoming us to the organization, so it’s been great," said Keenan Taphorn after him and his brother’s first practice with the Warriors on Tuesday.

This is the first time that the Warriors will have twins in their lineup and only the fourth time that the team will have brothers in the lineup at the same time.

Both players have played their entire Western Hockey League careers with the Ice, so there was a big of shock following the trade on Monday, but both players are looking forward to a new opportunity in Moose Jaw.

"It feels great to be a bit closer to home, the parents can come out for a couple more games here, but [Monday] was really a roller coaster of emotions, playing for Kootenay for the past two years, but looking forward to the fresh start," said Kaeden Taphorn.

A fresh start was something both players mentioned when talking about coming to the Warriors.

Coming into the league, Kaeden and Keenan were highly touted prospects, but they haven’t been able to fully breakout offensively up to this point.

They’re hoping that can change in Moose Jaw.

"The Warriors are giving us a great opportunity here to showcase our skill and give us a fresh start," said Keenan. "Obviously we don’t have the start that we wanted in our WHL careers, so just coming over here, it’s a fresh start and we’re looking forward to it.

Keenan, who shoots right-handed, has one goal and two points in 11 games this season, while posting 11 goals and 32 points in 142 games overall in his career.

Kaeden, who shoots left, has picked up a goal and three points this season, giving him 11 goals and 24 points in 123 career games.

"I just try to bring a lot of energy out there, lay the body a bit and at the same time, I try to help out offensively, just try to chip in any way I can," said Kaeden. 

"We’re definitely similar players, we have some different skill sets, being different hands helps out, lets us get those one-timers going," added Keenan.

The Sedin twins, who played 18 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, are the most famous twins to play hockey together and were said to have a special connection on the ice. 

Kaedon said that he and his brother have built a similar connection over the years, "Playing together our whole lives, we’ve built a bit of that, but it didn’t come naturally, it just progressed over the years, he said.

The duo was practicing on a line with Danill Stepanov on Tuesday.

The Warriors and Raiders meet up on Wednesday night at Mosaic Place. Puck drops at 7 p.m. and the Pre-Game Show is on the air at 6:40 p.m. on Country 100.

Warriors goalie Adam Evanoff made 31 saves in Saturday's win over the Regina Pats. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Evanoff Back into Groove for Warriors

Adam Evanoff returned to the crease for the Moose Jaw Warriors in Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre.

It was the 18-year-old netminder’s first start in two weeks after 20-year-old goalie Brodan Salmond settled in for three straight starts for the Warriors. Evanoff looked strong, making 31 saves to beat the rival Pats.

"That felt good, getting that win after our loss on Friday, so the boys were happy with the win and we all contributed to it," said Evanoff.

Evanoff had struggled in back-to-back games, allowing five goals against Prince Albert in an overtime loss on Sept. 29 and four goals against Swift Current in a 5-4 win on Oct. 6, but he looked locked in this past Saturday.

"I have to build off that, I’m well aware that I wasn’t on top of my game for a couple of games there, so getting that one under my belt felt good," said Evanoff.

In five games this season, Evanoff has a 2-2-1-0 record with a 3.21 goals against average and a 0.901 save percentage.

He said he just stayed with his plan during the struggles as he looked to work through them, "When things are going well, you’ve just got to keep working through them, you can’t get frustrated, so it was just more of the same, just maybe some mental things to change that," said Evanoff.

Evanoff and the Warriors will look to carry their play over from Saturday’s win into their meeting with the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday at Mosaic Place.

Prince Albert enters riding a six-game winning streak after topping the Everett Silvertips, 3-0, on Tuesday.

"We know they’re a good team, they’ve brought in Noah Gregor too, so we’re aware of what he can do from lots of us being teammates with him, but we’re going to be ready for them," said Evanoff.