Warriors’ Hunter fires back at ‘confident’ Pats
Back-to-back Regina wins the previous weekend serves as fodder for Moose Jaw
To be continued?
The regular-season series between the Regina Pats and Moose Jaw Warriors came to an end just when it was about to get interesting Saturday night as Moose Jaw got the last word with a 3-2 win at Mosaic Place.
After putting the final touch on a 6-2-0 record versus Regina, Warriors head coach Tim Hunter fired a parting shot at his opponents, who had posted back-to-back wins over Moose Jaw the previous weekend.
In the process of celebrating perhaps their two biggest victories of the season, the Pats allegedly gave their longtime rivals some bulletin-board material.
“We read a bunch of stuff from their players,” said Hunter. “If they ’re that confident that they feel they beat us two games, we won the series clearly after tonight’s win. We had already won the season series before tonight’s game.
“It’s a long season. There’s lots that goes on. They’ve cobbled their team together, trying to get guys to comply and be good teammates over there. Our team has been together for a long time. These guys grew up together and they ’re a very close team.”
After a lacklustre first-half performance, Pats head coach/GM John Paddock overhauled his lineup at the WHL trade deadline in hopes of icing a worthy host team at the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament.
In the process, Regina wanted to become a legitimate playoff threat to clubs like the league-leading Warriors.
“They ’re talking about how confident they are, (that) they could beat us,” said Hunter. “They don’t know. We were banged up (last weekend). We didn’t have everyone in our lineup and they’re healthy, so I don’t know where the confidence comes from.”
Regardless of the source, it clearly rubbed Moose Jaw the wrong way.
“The end of the last game we played them, they were kind of mocking our bench, but that’s hockey,” said Warriors forward Justin Almeida. “It gets heated. Everyone is emotional, but we knew coming into this game we had to focus on ourselves and obviously we wanted to show them what we have.”
Regina may get another shot at the Warriors — perhaps as soon as the opening round of the playoffs. For that to happen, the Swift Current Broncos would have to overtake Moose Jaw for first overall in the league standings.
Depending on how things shake out, it could also happen in the second or third round.
Asked if he feels good about a potential playoff matchup with Regina, Hunter responded: “No question. We’re a better team. That’s why we’re 20 points ahead of them.”
The Pats and Warriors are each jockeying for position as they head down the stretch toward the postseason, which is less than four weeks away.
Moose Jaw (46-12-1-2) is trying to hold off the Broncos, while Regina (33-25-5-1) has climbed to third place in the East Division — way back of the aforementioned front-runners.
With his team still a work in progress, Paddock appeared to be caught off guard by Hunter’s suggestion the Pats had disrespected the WHL’s No. 1 team.
“I don’t think we’ve talked like that at all,” he said. “We’re just trying to get better. We acquired better players than we had. We showed last week that we can be worthy (of top teams like Moose Jaw and Swift Current). It looks like we’re going to play one of those two teams (in the first round), so it’s going to be quite the battle.”
As for the Warriors? Their confidence remains high heading into the post-season.
“I don’t care who we see in the playoffs; we’re going to compete in the playoffs and win in the playoffs because we’re a good team,” added Hunter, whose club broke a franchise record Sunday with its 46th win of the season — a 4-2 decision over the Saskatoon Blades.
“That’s a great accomplishment for these guys. We’re proud of them. But we still want to try to finish first and get home ice and give ourselves the best playoff position, so there’s lots of work left to do.”