MOOSE JAW -- If there’s one positive to missing the Western Hockey League playoffs, it’s that you get quite a bit more time to prepare and line everything up for the following season.
For the Moose Jaw Warriors, a portion of that extra time was spent making sure that, first off, the team had a successful training camp and put everything in place to get the 2025-26 WHL campaign off to a solid start.
For general manager Jason Ripplinger, the plan has come together.
Despite having close to 110 players taking the ice through rookie and main camp last weekend, everything went as smoothly as possible, with the coaching staff and himself having plenty of opportunities to check out their prospects.
Now, it’s time to see how it all looks in game action, as the Warriors are set to travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos on Friday evening.
“I think obviously when you don't make the playoffs, you've got a lot of time to sit around and meet and make sure everything is organized,” Ripplinger said. “I thought the coaches, scouts, everybody in the organization, we were well prepared and I thought it was probably one of the best camps I've ever been around, so it was great to see.”
One of the main topics of discussion for onlookers heading into camp was the sheer volume of players. Most teams had 80 come in at most, with the Everett Silvertips even hovering around 60.
Ripplinger took a different approach, opting to send out a ton of invites after the WHL Prospects Draft and ending up with a lot of positive replies.
“After you do the Draft you have a whole bunch of players who you think highly of that are still available, so you invite them to camp,” Ripplinger explained. “Fortunately for us, a lot of the players said yes. Usually you get a lot more no's because players from out of province just want to stay closer to home, but we had all these players who wanted to come. Then we had some free agents with the NCAA opening up, and people just wanted to come to Moose Jaw.”
Camp itself was as competitive as expected, with a host of young players pushing the veteran core to the point that more than a few eyebrows were raised.
“We made it clear to the returning players to make sure they come in in good shape because there are young guys there that are chomping at the bit that want their spot,” Ripplinger said. “We have some veterans that haven't had a great camp, and I'm not going to single them out, but they need to be better because we had some young guys that came into camp that have been really good.
“So there's going to be some hard decisions to make and that's the business of it. We have to make sure we're making the right decisions for the organization and you can’t make decisions with your heart, you gotta go with your gut and make the right call that you feel comfortable with.”
The team is currently down to 38 players and that number won’t change much until after the exhibition campaign, when the Warriors will get down to 14 or 15 forwards, eight or nine defencemen and three goaltenders for the start of the regular season.
One area that’s currently settled is the overage situation. The Warriors have their three 2005-born slots already filled with forwards Pavel McKenzie and Ethan Semeniuk alongside defenceman Aiden Ziprick. Still, as is always the case after a non-playoff season, the trio will have to perform, otherwise changes will be made.
“They were around for the championship run, they bring a lot of experience and they're good teammates,” Ripplinger said. “So I'm hoping they come out and play hard. This is their last year in the WHL so they’re all playing for something this year.”
The Warriors will only lose a pair of players to NHL camps in the next couple weeks, as Washington Capitals first rounder Lynden Lakovic heads out on Monday and goaltender Josh Banini will soon be off to Edmonton Oilers prospects camp.
The Warriors will also play Saturday against the Broncos at the Southland Co-Op Centre in Assiniboia.
The Warriors play their lone home game of the preseason on Friday, Sept. 12 when the Saskatoon Blades are at the Temple Gardens Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
