SWIFT CURRENT -- The Moose Jaw WINMAR Warriors capped the Sask Male AAA Hockey League pre-season in style on Sunday afternoon, taking a 4-1 victory over the Swift Current Legionnaires in Swift Current.
The victory caps a successful exhibition schedule for Moose Jaw, who finish tied for first in the SMAAAAHL standings with a 3-1-0-0 record. The Estevan Great North Bears (3-0-0-0) and Saskatoon Blazers (2-0-0-0) were the only clubs to go unbeaten in the preliminary campaign.
A relatively uneventful first period concluded with Swift Current getting on the board first, as Hunter Wilm scored on the power play with four seconds left in the frame for the 1-0 Legionnaires lead.
Moose Jaw took over from there, though, as Wade Franks scored on the power play at the 2:27 mark of the second period, and just over two minutes later Maxon Johnston made it a 2-1 Moose Jaw lead.
Johnston was playing his first game of the season with the club after being reassigned to the team by the Western Hockey League Warriors earlier in the week.
The Warriors scored another two quick ones early in the third to add some insurance, first with Kadyn Olfert making it a 3-1 lead at the 2:46 mark and Tobin Schaefer making it a four-goal game 29 seconds later.
Schaefer added two assists to finish with three points on the afternoon and two goals and five points in the pre-season, good enough for a tie for fifth in scoring. Rookie Deklin Larmer added three assists and caps the exhibition campaign tied for third in scoring with a goal and six points.
Kaleb Page picked up the win in goal for Moose Jaw with 22 saves, Josh Benjamin stopped 34 shots in taking the loss.
Other action on Sunday saw Notre Dame (1-4-0-0) drop a 3-0 decision in a match-up against the Alberta Elite Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Yorkton Kinsmen Maulers take a 4-3 overtime win over the Yellowhead Chiefs of the Manitoba AAA Hockey League.
The regular season is up next, with all the action kicking off on Tuesday as the reigning Telus Cup national champion Regina Pat Canadians host Estevan (8 p.m., Co-operators Arena). That’s followed by three games on Wednesday, as Moose Jaw hosts Swift Current (7 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre), the Saskatoon Contacts are at Battlefords (7:30 p.m., Access Communications Centre) and Yorkton is at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m., Duncan McNiell Arena).
