Warriors Anxious For Action

Fans of the Moose Jaw Warriors are going thru withdrawal these days, it's been a week now since they've seen there team in action.

The last time the guys played at Mosaic Place was last Thursday's regular season and home opener against Brandon. There last game was last Friday's road win over the Wheat Kings.

Head Coach Mike Stothers says it's hard having this long of a wait between games to start the season. "We've had some good practices, but you kind of get a little stale and guys get chopping at the bit for a game."

"I think I'd welcome it more later on in the season when the schedule is tougher. I'd certainly like it more if we had our whole team, with that, I mean the guys that should be coming back from the NHL," said Stothers.

Quinton Howden was at the rink yesterday for the first time since being re-assigned back to Moose Jaw from the Florida Panthers. He's listed as day to day due to a concussion he suffered during a rookie game. Joel Edmundson remains out with an ankle injury he sustained with St. Louis at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament. Cody Beach is out of the lineup until mid October as he serves a seven game suspension.

Collin Bowman and Dylan McIlrath are still at pro camps. McIlrath is overseas with the NY Rangers for pre season games, and Bowman is with the Connecticut Whale (Rangers AHL affiliate).

With such a long layover between games, Stothers says it's tough keeping the guys sharp going into the weekend. "You try to have the intensity and the emotion and battles on the ice, but then in the back of your mind you don't want any of your players getting hurt in practice."

"It's a fine line. You want them to battle their own players like they are opponents, but yet, you don't want anyone getting hurt and they don't want to hurt each other," added Stothers.

The Warriors open a five game home stand tomorrow night with their first meeting of the season against Prince Albert. Stothers says it's important for them to come out strong.

"You want to win your home games. We want to make it difficult for teams to come in here, and certainly know that it's going to be a long night coming in to play the Warriors. You want to establish yourself's with that home ice identity. We're looking to get ourselves back on track Friday night."

Catch the Warriors and Raiders Friday night on Country 100. James Gallo, Derek Kletzel, and Marc Smith are live from Mosaic Place with the Pre Game Show at 6:40pm.

Just a reminder to fans that season ticket packages are available to be picked up. There was a problem with the tickets when they originally came in last week, but the mistake has been corrected.

Season ticket packages are available to be picked up at the Warriors admin office on the north side of Mosaic Place.