The Moose Jaw Warriors have put in some good work at practice over the past week as they prepare for a pair of home games this weekend against Lethbridge and Kootenay at Mosaic Place.

After an up-and-down performance last weekend in their split of two games against Red Deer and Prince George, the Warriors had some fast-paced practices to ensure that they’re on top of their game.

“It was really hard practices all week to make sure we’re ready to play against good teams and to show how hard we need to work to win the games,” said defenceman Dmitri Zaitsev.

The Warriors remain the top ranked team in the WHL with a 40-9-1-2 record through 52 games.

There hasn’t been many dips in play over that stretch and to make sure that continues, the Warriors are continuing to look for areas of their game that needs work.

“We were focused going into this week, we knew what we needed to improve on and our coaches gave us some new drills to do to put the pressure up in practice and get it feeling more like a game,” said forward Tanner Jeannot. “It went really well, the guys were into it and going hard all week.”

First up for the Warriors will be the Hurricanes. This is the second meeting of the season between the two squads after Moose Jaw won 3-2 in overtime two weeks ago in Lethbridge.

The Hurricanes overhauled their roster at the trade deadline, but still sit second in the Central Division.

Kootenay is right behind, seven points back, in third place in the Central. They’re also one of the few teams that has beat the Warriors this season, winning 2-1 back on Oct. 17. Moose Jaw has a 1-1 record against the Ice this season.

Both teams will provide a challenge for the Warriors, but one that they’re up for.

“It’s just about making the simple and playing hard,” said Zaitsev. “We need finish the game in the third, play a complete game.”

Jeannot added that the forward group helping out on defence will be key against these two games, who can both skate in transition.

“They work their butts off and they’re good teams,” he said. “They’re good in the D zone and they’ve got four guys joining the rush most of the time, so we need to track back hard to home plate and just play good defensively.”

The Warriors and Hurricanes meet on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place to kick-off at the weekend. The Pre-Game Show is at 6:40 p.m. on Country 100.