Wednesday Wrap

Already March! Can you believe the regular season is almost over? It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming everyone back for camp. This year's wrap up of the season is even more sentimental than usual. With the end of the regular season comes the end of the Crushed Can. Sure it has its difficulties, but we are still going to miss that old barn.

Where else can lights obstruct your view, you can get a real work out just getting to the top of the section and snow comes through the walls when it really gets wintery out. It has been very good to us.... but the new place is going to allow us to take the Warriors franchise to the next level. It's a very busy time in Warriorville.

Here is a story from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix about the building... http://www.thestarphoenix.com/sports/Moose%20gets%20ready%20empty%20Crushed/4357132/story.html
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How about last nights game? Very strange story line. Warriors Head Coach is ill and can't make it to the game. Pat's netminder Damien Ketlo takes a Spencer Edwards shot off the mask and goes down. Stays in the game... later takes himself out. Matt Hewitt is in. Pat's get a lucky bounce off the end boards that tricked Thomas Heemskerk for the go ahead goal. Cody Beach calls on the crowd mid-fight before landing a hammer on Ricard Blindstrand. Dylan Hood pulls off a hat trick.... and a fan tossed out his Calgary Flames hat for him. It might of been eventful, but the tribe came out on top.

Here is a look at Cody Beach's fight.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNuR0XthGCI
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With the start of March the Warriors wrap up their community appearances for the season. Six months of work added up to over 500 hours served by the team. Nothing short of fantastic. These players are something special. Hats off to them all.
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Some former Warriors are on the verge of nabbing the Atlantic University Hockey Conference Final. Here is the scoop courtesy of the St. FX website:

A third-period comeback and the clutch goaltending of Joseph Perricone has the St. Francis Xavier X-Men one win from the Atlantic University Hockey Conference final. The third-year netminder made 39 saves — including one on a Cory Tanaka breakaway late in the third period — as St. F.X. skated away with a 3-2 victory over the Saint Mary’s Huskies in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal Tuesday night before 2,700 fans at the Halifax Forum.

The X-Men own a 2-1 series lead and can advance to the league final with a win at home in Game 4 Sunday night at the Keating Millennium Centre."(Perricone) is our MVP; he’s a special player," said St. F.X. forward Bryce Swan, who notched the go-ahead goal at the 9:47 mark of the third period. "Joe’s a big-time player who loves these type of games. We’ll ride him for as long as he can while he has the hot hand."It was a quick right leg that helped preserve the win.

On a St. F.X. turnover in the neutral zone, Tanaka grabbed a loose puck and broke in alone from the blue-line. He faked to his right and fired a low shot but Perricone did the splits and kicked the shot out with his right pad."It looked like he was going blocker side," Perricone recalled. "I was expecting a shot so I planted my right foot because I didn’t think he would deke. Luckily I got my pad down and was able to make the stop."The Huskies, behind goals by Andrew Hotham and Ryan Rorabeck, entered the final frame with a 2-1 lead.

They outplayed St. F.X. in the second and outshot the X-Men 17-8 in the period. But rookie Jason Bast — who assisted on Spencer McAvoy’s second-period goal — knotted the score with a one-timer from the high slot that beat SMU goalie Neil Conway at the 5:16 mark of the third. Four-and-a-half minutes later, Swan, with 13 seconds left on a power play, deftly tipped a Phil Mangan point shot past a screened Conway.

"It’s a huge comeback and a huge win," Perricone said. "We had to win one on the road and now we’re going back to our home crowd. In this league, it seems home ice advantage is huge." As good as he was in the final 40 minutes, Perricone was fighting the puck in the first period. He misplayed a Colby Pridham shot from inside the blue-line which deflected off his glove but nicked the cross-bar. Moments later, he juggled a long shot from outside the blue-line by Chris MacKinnon.

"I came into the (dressing) room after the first and told the boys I would be better," Perricone said. "It was a combination of nerves and this rink can be tough to see. But I found a way to get some saves."He settled down in the second with some highlight-reel saves, including two on MacKinnon.After SMU successfully killed a five-one-three man advantage, MacKinnon stepped out of the penalty box and had a clear break from the X-Men blue-line only to be denied by Perricone. Shortly after, with MacKinnon alone in the left face-off circle, Perricone robbed the first-year forward with a quick glove stop on a shot labelled for the top corner.".....

Visit http://goxgo.ca/news/2011/3/2/MH_0302111849.aspx for the full story!
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Warriors named Kendall McFaull the February Player of the Month. Good work #2.
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The Warriors will practice today in preparation of two big games this weekend. Prince Albert will be in town Friday night and will no doubt be hungry for a win as they try hang on for a play off spot. Saturday night... back to Saskatoon. The Warriors have won just a single game vs. the Blades this season. Every game has been SO very close.
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Has enough winter yet? A fan said today, "the only thing that is getting me through this winter is the hockey games." They do help it go by quicker....

Stay warm out there.