By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
The Warman U15AA Wildcats are in the midst of having a stellar 2025-2026 season, currently sitting in first place within the North Division of the Saskatchewan ‘AA’ Hockey League.
As of Monday, February 2, the Wildcats currently have a record of 20 wins, two losses and one overtime loss after 23 games.
Technically, their record would also put them ahead of the Engelheim Prairie Storm, who are in the top spot in the South Division with a record of 14 wins, five losses and one overtime loss.
One of the Wildcats’ losses and two of their wins were earned last week, as the Wildcats defeated the Prince Albert Venice House Pirates 5-3 on Thursday, January 29 and the Saskatoon Stallions 7-1 on Sunday, February 1, but fell to the Saskatoon Outlaws 8-6 on Saturday, January 31.
Facing Prince Albert on the road, the Wildcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period thanks to a shorthanded goal by Cullen Stephenson, assisted by Jesse Scriven.
Incidentally, Scriven and Stephenson are the top two scoring leaders in the Saskatchewan ‘AA’ Hockey League this year, with Scriven having scored 45 goals and 43 assists and Stephenson being credited with 31 goals and 45 assists.
In the second period, Prince Albert was able to briefly tie up the score before Stephenson added another goal off an assist by Scriven and Reid Viden, giving them a 2-1 lead.
In the third period, the Wildcats cemented their victory with an unassisted goal by Cole Nakrayko (who is the fifth scoring leader in the league with 27 goals and 32 assists) and two more goals by Scriven, assisted twice by Stephenson and once by Carson Jones and Grayson Olmstead.
In net, Ty Keyowski stopped 45 of 48 shots for Warman, while the Wildcats made 32 shots on Prince Albert’s goal.
The Wildcats then faced off with the Saskatoon Outlaws in the MNP Arena at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex (WHCC). Previously, the Outlaws handed Warman a 6-5 loss in overtime at the start of January.
During their rematch, Saskatoon jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the first period thanks to three power play goals and one regular goal.
That left the Wildcats on the back foot for the rest of the game, as they scored twice in each period but ultimately were unable to catch up to the Outlaws. Scoring for Warman were Grayson Olmstead, Reid Viden, Zak Markowski, Maddox Hood and Cullen Stephenson twice.
Three assists each were contributed by Scriven and Stephenson, while Kaleb Johns had two more. The remaining assists were made by Cole Johnston and Cole Nakrayko.
Finally, the Wildcats hosted the Saskatoon Stallions on Sunday, February 1 in the KH Developments Arena at the WHCC.
This was only the second time the Wildcats had faced the Stallions, having played them in their season-opener on October 14 and earning a 3-2 loss.
This time around, the Warman Wildcats absolutely steamrolled the Stallions, jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the first period and adding four more goals in the second and third.
Scriven scored a hat trick for the Wildcats with two goals in the first period and one in the second, including one shorthanded goal. Stephenson assisted Scriven on two of these goals while Jake Mayo and Carson Jones assisted Scriven once.
Stephenson also had two goals and a third assist, while Warman’s remaining goals were scored by Viden and Nakrayko, who also earned assists. Finally, Cole Johnston and Jones also contributed one assist each.
In the net for Warman was Ty Keyowski, who blocked 32 of Saskatoon’s 33 shots. The Stallions’ record, like Warman’s, now stands at 20-2-1.
Coming up this week, the Wildcats are set to take on the Martensville Marauders at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday, February 5 and the Saskatoon Generals at 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 7. Both games will take place in the KH Developments Arena in the WHCC.
Warman U15AA Wildcats forward Cole Nakrayko turns around on the ice while playing against the Saskatoon Stallions at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex on Sunday, February 1. The Wildcats downed the Stallions 7-1.