Warrior’s Super Fan Breaks Down Warriors vs Broncos Series
By Instagram: @moosejawwarriors_history
Twitter: @MJWarriorsFun
Moose Jaw Warriors v. Swift Current Broncos - via SC Broncos Twitter
There have been some seasons in the recent past where it seemed like the Moose Jaw Warriors had everything they needed to win their first and only WHL championship.
Go back no further than the 2018 playoffs.
The Warriors, with Tanner Jeannot, Brett Howden and Jayden Halbgewachs, had won 52 games that year, logging the single greatest regular season in franchise history.
But then they were faced with the Swift Current Broncos in the second round of the playoffs and Swift Current beat them.
It was heartbreaking.
Stuart Skinner blanked the Warriors three times in the series, and the Broncos finished Moose Jaw off with a 6-0 destruction, in Game 7, right here at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Remember the 2018 Swift Current Broncos? They beat the greatest Warriors team in franchise history before winning the WHL Championship
The Warriors were pretty good the year before that too.
But Swift Current punted them in those playoffs as well.
If there is one thing the Broncos know how to do, it’s stick it to the Warriors.
The dreaded Broncos, once again, have the chance to dash the Warriors hopes for a championship.
Both teams made quick work of their Round One opposition.
Moose Jaw swept the Brandon Wheat Kings and Swift Current did the same with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
So both clubs are coming in to this series well-rested and high on the vapour of victory.
The Moose Jaw Warriors are pretty darn good but Swift Current should definitely be a stiffer match then the Wheat Kings were.
They have the talent and depth to hang in with the Warriors every step of the way and they’ve got six blue-chip NHL drafted stars on the roster.
One thing is for certain; you’re not gonna want to miss this series.
Now let’s get into a Series Breakdown.
Season Series:
During the regular season, these two teams faced off with each other five times.
Moose Jaw won three of them, out-scoring the Broncos 18-17, even shutting them out once back on November 28th.
But that was before Matt Savoie was in town.
The Warriors have been particularly dominant since he joined the club.
In Swift Current’s defence, Conor Geekie wasn’t a Bronco in November either.
The former Wenatchee/Winnipeg Ice teammates both joined their respective clubs later in the season.
So the November scores might not be perfectly representative of who is on the ice.
Best friends and former Winnipeg Ice teammates Conor Geekie and Matt Savoie are now battling each other in the WHL Playoffs
Their most recent meeting was on February 19, when Conor Geekie set up 4 goals in a 5-2 Broncos victory.
But Savoie actually sat that game out with an injury.
However, the two teams were at full strength when they played back-to-back nights at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current back in January.
Moose Jaw won both those games. That looks good on the Warriors.
They beat the Broncos in back-to-back road games when both club’s had their playoff rosters on the ice.
Offence:
Conor Geekie is undoubtedly the Broncos biggest scoring threat - pic via Southwest Booster
Both teams have exceptionally great offence, although I’d give the slight advantage to the Warriors.
Both Matthew Savoie and Jagger Firkus average more than 2 points per game.
Nobody on the Broncos scores with that same proficiency.
Conor Geekie came pretty close, scoring 99 points 55 games but Jagger Firkus was the league leader in Total Points and it’s very likely Savoie would have been had he played a full season.
Plus with Moose Jaw you’ve got both Brayden Yager and Atley Calvert who scored 95 points each.
Yager would easily have surpassed 100 points if not for the time off he took to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors too.
What the Broncos might lack in Super-power scoring, they certainly make up for in depth.
Conor Geekie is undoubtedly the Broncos biggest threat.
He is a first round draft pick of the Arizona Coyotes.
He went 11th overall in 2022. He was drafted two picks after Savoie and one pick earlier than Warriors’ star defenceman Denton Mateychuk.
Geekie joined the team in January and has been a wrecking ball ever since.
To be fair though, Geekie has been a wrecking ball his entire WHL career.
His Winnipeg Ice team (the same one Matt Savoie played for) has eliminated the Warriors in back-to-back seasons.
If the Broncos pull this one off Geekie could go down in history as the Warriors’ All-Time nastiest nemesis.
Clarke Caswell was the Broncos top scorer in the regular season - via Twitter
The Broncos scoring doesn’t end there though. The team is incredibly deep. Clarke Caswell led the Broncos in points during the regular season with 77.
Connor Hvidston, Matthew Ward, Rylan Gould, and Josh Filmon all averaged one point or more per game.
Their top scorer in the first round series was Luke Mistelbacher, he’s red hot right now and had 53 points during the season.
Luke Mistelbacher had 4 goals and 3 assists in the first round series against Lethbridge - Swift Current Online
Even the Broncos third line can score, as it will likely have guys like Brady Birnie and Caleb Wyrostok on it.
Compare that to the Warriors third line scorers, Lynden Lakovic, Pavel McKenzie and Rilen Kovacevic, who are pretty excellent depth role players but don’t score quite as regularly as the Broncos depth guys.
Although the Warriors third line was definitely more impressive in the first series.
Kovacevic had four points and Lakovic scored an overtime game winner. Even Owen Berge scored twice in the series.
He’d only scored twice all season.
The Warriors would certainly benefit if that sort of production continued against Swift Current.
The Warriors scored 297 times in the regular season then unloaded another 24 in the first round against Brandon.
Swift Current scored 286 times and added 17 more against Lethbridge’s stingy defence.
The Warriors are gonna need depth guys like Lynden Lakovic to keep scoring - Moose Jaw Today
Defence:
Moose Jaw allowed a few less goals in during the season than did the Broncos. 228>239.
Those numbers are pretty close but that is a promising statistic for Warriors fan.
The Warriors will definitely need to make sure that trend continues during this series.
Owen Pickering was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2022 Entry Draft - The Hockey News
Both teams have first round draft picks anchoring their defence.
And strangely enough, these two defencemen are actually cousins who grew up playing on the same teams together as kids.
Warriors’ Captain Denton Mateychuk was selected 12th overall in 2022 (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Broncos’ giant D man Owen Pickering was taken 21st (by the Pittsburgh Penguins).
Cousins Denton Mateychuk and Owen Pickering Imagine being 14 and trying to get past this duo when they played for the Eastman Selects - via Twitter
Pickering isn’t the only player in this series who the Penguins drafted.
They also took Brayden Yager in 2023 and in 2021 they took current Broncos defender, Ryan McCleary.
McCleary, another massive presence, totalled 36 points and had a plus/minus of +31.
Those numbers are similar to the Warriors’ Kalem Parker.
Broncos Defenceman Ryan McCleary was drafted by the Penguins in 2021- via Twitter
As with the offence, the Warriors have a slight edge on the defensive end too.
Depth defenders like Lucas Brenton, Aiden Ziprick and Vojtech Port will be relied upon to keep the Broncos scoring to a minimum.
It’s true that the Broncos defence might be a bit better defensively than the Warriors defence.
But the Warriors defence moves the puck much better and pitches in on offence far more often.
Ryan McCleary, Caleb Wyrostok and Tyson Galloway - via SC Broncos Twitter
Goaltending:
The one area in which the Swift Current Broncos have a clear advantage is in net.
Reid Dyck is an excellent goaltender.
Dyck’s 2.70 GAA was far better than Jackson Unger’s 3.08, and his .911 Save Percentage is marginally more impressive than Unger’s .908.
Reid Dyck - via Ed Fonger/SC Broncos
Dyck had an impressive shutout in the Lethbridge series but for that to happen against the Warriors’ potent offence would be doubly impressive.
The Warriors will get create plenty of good scoring opportunities and Dyck will certainly have his work cut out for him.
The Warriors might not average six goals a game, like they did in the first series but they will still be incredibly difficult to keep off the board.
Prediction:
On paper, your Moose Jaw Warriors certainly look like they should win this series; although it definitely wouldn’t be quick and easy.
The Mayor of Moose Jaw predicts the Warriors in five but I think he’s being incredibly optimistic.
See Related - Mayor Says Warriors In Five - Takes Shot At Swift Current’s Mayor
I think this series will go a few games longer than that.
The Moose Jaw Warriors have “the problem”.
It’s the same problem the Toronto Maple Leafs have.
It’s the same problem the Toronto Blue Jays have.
It’s the same problem the Edmonton Oilers have and the Dallas Cowboys and plenty of other great sports teams.
Maybe it’s an organizational thing.
Maybe it’s a mass character defect.
I don’t exactly know what “the problem” is. I just know that it exists.
Moose Jaw’s baseball team, the Miller Express suffers from it too.
They just can’t put it all together when it’s most important.
Plain and simple, despite having all the pieces in place the Warriors just can’t seem to get over the big hurdles necessary to win the big races.
They just don’t win championships.
Warriors fans are used to nightmare endings
The Moose Jaw Warriors have a long history of ending great campaigns with a whimper.
Some people tell me things are different now and that this team is “for real” but I’m not convinced.
You know who doesn’t have “the problem”?
The Swift Current Broncos.
The Broncos have won 3 Ed Chynoweth Cups before, beating the greatest Warriors teams in the process.
They’ve even won a Memorial Cup before.
They’re a club that knows how to rise to the occasion and take advantage of opportunities and they’re a team that knows how to break the hearts of Moose Javians.
That factor alone is why I think Swift Current will win this series.
It’s gonna get worse before it gets better. Or maybe it won’t get better at all.
I’m calling the Broncos to win in 7.
Obviously I really really really want Moose Jaw to win and I’ll be watching every game with bated breath and I hope with every ounce of blood in my body that the Warriors win this.
But I have to be honest here.
I’m just not confident the Warriors have what it takes to win when it counts the most.
This has nothing at all to do with the talent on the ice.
The Warriors are more talented than the Broncos.
Maybe it’s a curse.
Maybe I’ve just become so accustomed to the disappointment.
Or maybe I’m just good/bad at making predictions like this. Only time will tell.
I can see the Warriors completely dominating large parts of games, potentially even winning some by four or five goals.
But I can also see the Warriors starting out slowly and a couple late game collapses.
All I’m saying is brace yourselves for the heartache.
Go Warriors Go!
Broncos in 7.
Here is a series schedule:
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