Moose Jaw Express Pedersen Column

Re-printed with permission of the Moose Jaw Express Newspaper:

1 – IN THE HANGAR: It hasn’t been the start the Moose Jaw Warriors wanted. At press time, the Warriors sat in the WHL Eastern Conference basement at 4-8-0 as they stand in the midst of a late-October homestand. A huge measuring stick for their game will be Friday night when they welcome the Regina Pats (7-4-0-1) to the Temple Gardens Centre in a 7:00 pm faceoff.

2 – TRANSCANADA CLASH: On Oct. 23 the Warriors visited Regina in what was shaping up to be a great clash for Highway #1 supremacy with both teams sporting similar records. But it wasn’t the gauge The Tribe was looking for, as top 2028 NHL Draft prospect Liam Pue notched a hattrick and an assist in a 6-2 Pats romp. Regina scored three goals late in the second period to put it away. Learning lessons like that are what early-season games are for. Read on…

3 – FROM THE BENCH: Warriors assistant coach Rob Holoien joined the Mad Greek postgame show on Country 100 to discuss that game. “We liked our game to be honest,” Holoien told James Gallo. “It was a really good first, and half of the second, and then some calls don’t go our way. Lost a little bit of focus there late in the second (period) and that was the difference. 

“It’s part of the game,” the Melfort product continued. “You have to deal with it, you can’t lose composure and ya, there was some frustrations on our part. At the end of the day that can’t happen but we cleaned it up in the third and I was really proud of the boys the way they came out and battled. They could’ve quit and the score could’ve gotten worse.” 

Positive reinforcement. Very nice to see, and it will pay off.

4 – WILD TRADE: A pair of veteran defencemen are on the move after a trade between the Saskatoon Blades and Wenatchee Wild. The deal sees the Wild acquire 19-year-old Isaac Poll in exchange for 20-year-old captain Josh Fluker and a fourth-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft. Fluker, who is in his final season of WHL eligibility, joined the Wild as part of the blockbuster trade for current Tampa Bay Lightning forward Conor Geekie back in January of 2024.

5 – SCOUTING: Fifty-four players developed in the Western Hockey League have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch List ahead of the 2027 NHL Draft. Five players developed in the WHL have earned ‘A’ ratings, including defenceman Brock Cripps of the Prince Albert Raiders, forwards Noah Davidson of the Medicine Hat Tigers, Brock England of the Seattle Thunderbirds, and Kayden Stroeder of the Edmonton Oil Kings, along with defenceman Landon DuPont, who won a WHL Championship with the Everett Silvertips in 2026. Warriors defencemen Colt Carter (Drayton Valley, AB) and Cohen Williams (Cawston, BC) both made the list.

6 – CHL TOP 10 RANKINGS: Here they are for Week 6: #1 Spokane, #2 Val-d’Or, #3 Guelph, #4 London, #5 Quebec, #6 Victoria, #7 Flint, #8 Victoriaville, #9 Vancouver, #10 Brandon. The Memorial Cup will be played in Guelph in May.

7 – SJHL POWER RANKINGS: #1 Warman, #2 Melfort, #3 Weyburn, #4 Humboldt, #5 Flin Flon, #6 Nipawin, #7 Melville, #8 Yorkton, #9 Kindersley, #10 Estevan, #11 Battlefords, #12 La Ronge.

8 – FEEL THE RUSH: The National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush open training camp on the weekend in Martensville and will be playing the Calgary Roughnecks at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw on Nov. 14. The Rush return 19 players from last year’s squad and have 30 players in camp. They finished 13-5 last season and went all the way to the league final before falling to the Buffalo Bandits.

9 – RIDER PRIDE: After all the handwringing and angst that came with a late-season 4-game losing streak, the Roughriders finished with a pair of wins to conclude the regular season at 10-8 and a third-place finish. They line up against the BC Lions in the Western Semifinal on Saturday at BC Place Stadium, and go in as 6.5-point underdogs. However I’m picking the Riders to win!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Charity starts at home. … Insecure people don’t apologize. … Nobody copies the runner-up. … Former Rider Eddie Davis holds the CFL record for career knockdowns with 111. … Can you still call SaskTel for a wakeup call?

Y’er welcome,
RP

(For Moose Jaw sporting tips and scoops, email Rod at pedersenmedia@outlook.com)