Murray Wood: Of Easter bunny bells and Juicy Fruit gum
For Murray Wood, Easter brings to mind grandma's practical advice about repurposing, and some of life's little lessons.
The Moose Jaw Warriors knocked off their Highway 1 rivals and have punched their ticket to the Telus Cup West Regionals finals.
Moose Jaw defeated the Regina Pat Canadians 6-2 on Friday night in the tournament taking place at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.
“It’s awesome. It feels good to beat these guys for sure with the rivalry,” said Moose Jaw forward Ryder Gilroy, who needed to play at defence in the game as well. “There’s no feeling like it compared to any other team.”
Both of these teams met in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League finals. It took all five games in the series but Regina emerged victorious for their second straight league title.
Due to Regina hosting the Telus Cup West Regionals, they automatically received a berth in the tournament. That meant by qualifying for the finals against Regina, Moose Jaw was granted the SMAAAHL spot.
Now, Regina finds themselves on the brink of elimination as it is now a must-win game on Saturday afternoon against the Winnipeg Bruins. Puck drop for that game is set for 2:15 p.m.
“Tomorrow is Game 5. We win tomorrow and we move on. We have to take care of business,” said Pat Canadians head coach Ryan Hodgins.
It was a quick start between these two teams as Regina put the pressure on the Warriors early.
Moose Jaw navigated the early storm and found the back of the net first with Riley Brown beating Pat Canadians goaltender Adam Muntain.
Regina did answer a bit later in the period as Maddox Schultz, who was last year’s Telus Cup MVP, was left alone in the slot on the power play. He fired a shot past Moose Jaw’s Steven Wawryk.
Chase Petersen put Moose Jaw back up in front with a power-play goal of his own.
But Schultz scored his second goal of the period 57 seconds later.
Things got heated between the two in the second period with eight penalties called in the frame — five to Moose Jaw and three to Regina.
It was Moose Jaw while a man down who regained their lead, with Carson Deichert scoring a shorthanded goal. It was the only score of the period for either team.
In the third period, while both teams had a player in the penalty box, Moose Jaw captain Ryan Gibbs made no mistake after a turnover by Regina. His shot beat Muntain to give the Winmar Warriors a two-goal lead.
Maxx Fuessel and Maxon Johnston added goals to extend the lead for Moose Jaw to earn the win.
Tensions were high between the two rivals as 15 penalties were handed out to players in the game — seven to Moose Jaw and eight to Regina.
“We talked about this for the last week or two. It’s not a surprise we’re going to have battles,” Hodgins said. “No one likes losing. I hope they don’t feel good about it — I’m positive they don’t. I know this group and it’s a group that is resilient. No one likes losing. It’s how we’re going to respond.”
With Regina and Winnipeg already having a regulation loss, the winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the finals to meet Moose Jaw on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Moose Jaw has one more round-robin game, taking on the Thunder Bay Kings on Saturday at 11:15 a.m.
