After Saturday’s game, the Warriors re-assigned a group of 15 and 16-year-olds back to their club teams.

Defenceman Drae Gardiner was one of the players re-assigned after putting together an impressive training camp and preseason with the Warriors.

He said he’ll be taking away a lot from this experience.

“Going out there for my first time I was a little nervous, big boys, you’ve got to keep your feet moving, but after I got into it, I felt comfortable and I felt good after how (Saturday) went,” said Gardiner, who will be playing Major Midget AAA in Calgary this season.

Warriors head coach Tim Hunter liked what he saw from Gardiner over the course of the past two weeks.

“He’s a really smart, high hockey IQ player that sees the ice really well and competes really hard for a small guy,” said Hunter. “He’s shown all the qualities of a good young player, he’s going to get better, he’s going to play Major Midget, have the puck a lot, run the power play, he’s going to develop, and he’s a great young prospect.”

Gardiner stands in at just five-foot-eight, but he said he doesn’t allow his size to hold him back when playing against bigger players at the major junior level.

“Ever since I was a kid, I knew I was going to be a smaller guy and I can’t let that get to me, I’ve got to play like I’m six-feet and that’s what I go out there to do, I’ll take on the bigger guys, it doesn’t matter to me,” said Gardiner.

“I feel like I got better as the week went on, once you get into it, you just play your game, have fun and that’s what it is all about.”

The Warriors also re-assigned 16-year-olds Matt Sanders, Jakin Smallwood and Cameron Sterling, as well as 15-year-olds Levi Thiessen, Peyton McKenzie and Jackson Berry.

2017 first round pick Daemon Hunt is the lone player from this year’s draft class that’s still in camp with the Warriors.